Always fully tighten the bolt at the wrist (pistol grip) last and loosen it first. This is so if there is any movement or strain between the action and the stock, it won't center at the thinnest part of the stock.
65 inch pounds. As long as you don't have a plastic trigger guard. If you do then 25-30 inch pounds.

This is what I've read..

Hey Guys,

A couple of things have happened since my last post on this rifle, Remington 700 (suspect BDL) 7MM Mag.

First, I received the 1964 owners manual from Remington, but it does not answer questions about screw or bolt torque, Vince, and Glockman mentioned some torques, and I will look back to see their recommendation. However, lacking their advice where does one find out what the recommended torques are for rifles and handguns,? A book, a website?

Also, I took the rifle to a gunsmith I regard highly and he says the barrel is questionable, and that he would recommend a replacement. The trigger pull is 3.5 pounds, and he says the bolt and action are in very good condition.

Having to replace the barrel is OK with me but that brings a few other issues to mind.

1. I think I want to go with a match grade , or at a minimum a select match grade. Your thoughts?

2. Who would you buy a new barrel from, and why? With me money is always an issue, but having a couple of other rifles I can save up for the repairs.

3. The current barrel is 23.750 at its connection to the action. I am unsure of how to correctly measure barrel length, but you get the idea.

4. Barrel type, should I stay with the Remington contour it has now, or would a Bull Barrel be an improvement? Weight is not an issue.

What would happen to accuracy, and velocity if I were to get a barrel 26 or 28 inches long.

Rife weight is of no concern, nor is carrying it through the woods, as I cannot hunt that way, so manageability is not an issue.

As always I know I can count on Y'all to provide many different opinions, and I respect what each of you has to say, so let me have it.

www.bergarabarrels.com...rrels.html
I've heard good things about Bergara Barrels. many to choose from. What do you plan on doing with this rifle? Hunting, long range shooting, etc? If you change the contour of the barrel you'll have to fit the stock as well. As far as bolt torque, too many opinions online. Contact Remington. What's your gunsmith say? You might be too anal on the torque issue, LOL. There are a lot of talk forums online that discuss this in detail. www.longrangehunter.com is one. Good Luck

Web sites for barrel manufacturers
Rock Creek Barrels
Lilja Precision Rifle Barrels
Spencer Rifle Barrels
ABS Barrels
Broughton Rifle Barrels
Bartlein Barrels, Inc.
Lawton Rifle Barrels
Satern Custom Machining
Barrel twists per Lilja's website
Caliber & twist rates from Lilja Web site

Where I hunt getting the gun on the game (deer, pig, coyote) is the biggest challenge and to me the longer and heavier the barrel the harder that trick is. No matter how much you spend on a barrel, if a non-experienced or a gunsmith that uses poor techniques, gets on it he can ruin it just the same. And in contrast I've seen really great gunsmiths pull out miracle rifles on $80 barrels. That's why I started doing it myself. I wanted to be independent of someone else's opinion. But since your trolling this is my 2 cents. No matter how cordial a gunsmith is, only results matter. When your talking to him listen carefully for excuses. Alot of barrel makers offer installation. Most heavy barrel guns have alot of other features besides the barrel that aid in accuracy. Even custom chamber dimensions. My pet 30-06 shoots @.75 3 shot groups at 100 yds. w a standard or #3 contour. It's got a fixed 4 power scope. I can't tell you how many new guys w 12x scopes and 10 pound guns jaws drop when they witness this. All this is just used as an example. I like Douglas. If you want to build a gun just for performance there is nothing wrong w this but its easier to concentrate on what really matters if you go into a job w a specific purpose in mind. Longer barrels offer higher velocity but a shorter barrel of the same diameter is more rigid. imagine trying to bend a 1" peice of 1" steel compared to trying to bend a 10" peice of 1" steel. See? Mel Forbes has built alot of lightweight accurate rifles so it can be done. It sounds like you want to build a heavy rifle so my advice is to go ahead and get it out of your system. You might even like it. Think about a tight neck cartridge that could take advantage of a really long barrel .264 Win. 270 Wthby. 7mm anything magnum. All do. Tight neck chambers don't use standard reamers so your gunsmith may have to purchase one or you may from Dave Manson or someone like that. if you use a 7mm you'll have .284" of bullet and you'll allow for .012" for brass on each side so your cartridge will be .308" at the neck. Allow for .002" expansion and bounce so your reamer will be .310" at the neck. You'll have to turn your brass to control neck diameter so excessive pressures are not encountered w brass that may be .015" on one side also this can put your bullet out of center and this little doo da can be purchased from Forster,Also cleaning becomes critical not just beneficial. If this doesn't sound fun it might not be for you. Just put a standard barrel on your gun and be satisfied w .75" groups at 100 yards.

Les, Hope this helps !!!

1) Just about any name brand barrel you go with will be a improvement weather or not it’s a standard, select or match grade.
Pac-nor list a difference of only $20 between their Standard Match and Super Match grade barrels. I’d spend the extra $20.

I like names like Pac-Nor, Krieger, Lilja, and Hart.
Also keep in mind that when you send a barreled action to one of these companies, they are going to charge you approximately $150 to square and true the action. Don’t argue get it done.

2)I’d send it to the barrel maker.
If anyone should know how to replace a tube, they should.
Had too many issues over the years with so-called gunsmiths in my area !!!

3) Remington uses ¾ inch of thread and ¼ inch recoil lug (I think that’s right ?) so you should have a 24 ¾ inch barrel.

4) I’d go with stainless.
Going with a different contour is a sure way to need stock work ???
Going with a bull barrel best to get new stock.
This is a issue that brings heated discussion every time.
Fact is skinny barrels will shoot !!! And no I don’t want to argue about it again !!!
The difference is, once heated, the skinny barrel will start to change POI a lot sooner than a bull barrel.
A increase in length will get you about 30 FPS more per inch.

glockman55,
The primary purpose of the rifle will be hunting, but I like to punch holes in paper too. I don't necessarily want a competition grade rifle, just one that has better accuracy than I have skill as a shooter, and I am real good.

This is turning into a total rebuild, and as I said the gunsmith came highly recommended and has done several jobs for me with excellent results, and no excuses.

If I am going to spend a few hundred dollars on this rebuild, a couple more do not matter to me if the results are awesome.

fnuser,
I am not looking for any custom cartridge dimensions. I fully understand the weight issues with a bull barrel, but am not familiar with things like barrel fluting; heat dissipation is a guess, and I suspect that it may also reduce barrel vibration. I just want to know what experienced riflemen think.

I respect my elders, and their wisdom. That is not an old fart smear on anyone on this site, as I am probably one of the ancient ones.

I could probably go out and find a new rifle that would meet all my expectations for less than this is going to cost, but I really want to rebuild this rifle.

As a side note Miz Dee doesn't like me buying any more firearms, but she is great on letting me perform maintenance. And, that is what this is.

I am a good rifleman, but not such a good technician, so this is why I have posted this here, I trust you guys to give me the straight up on all possibilities.

Didn't say you had to, just mentioning an option, Yeah Pac-nor does a really good job if you want someone else to do it for you. A friend uses them and I've seen fantastic paper groups from these barrels. They do custom contours also if there's something you want to try. Project guns are different things to different people and I've had exposure to a lot of different gun-nuts. At the begining of my post I stated that I was just giving my 2 cents worth. Sorry if you interperated that as disrespectful.

I need some help with reloading .308 for a M1A

fnuser
No way man, I did not think anything you said was disrespectful, on the contrary I thought you offered some good things to consider. If my response seemed harsh I certainly apologize, it was not meant to be.

Just trying to answer your questions.

I appreciate all your posts.

Leesczesny wrote:

I need some help with reloading .308 for a M1A

Try opening a new thread in the reloading section.

I have had Douglas barrels in the past and had very good results. They have all different profiles and internal finishes from "standard" which by any other name is a premier bore all the way to an air gauge that keeps internal tollerances to an absolute minimum.
Like you my weapons are for hunting but when I print a group on paper I want sub-MOA accuracy. There are a lot of names out there so why not ask your smith for his recommendation? That's how I came up with Douglas - it was the one my smith recommended.

Les, been thinking about this a little !!!

Since weight and the bulk of the rifle is of no concern and you want to just punch holes with this rifle on occasion.........................

I would suggest going with a heavier longer barrel and a varmint or tactical style stock.

Recoil will be reduced and the stock will aid in bench shooting.

In the process you could even make it look like your old sniper rifle !!!

To answer a few of the questions posed. My gunsmith suggested a Krieger barrel, 26 inches in length with a 1:9 twist rate.

I am a little concerned about the twist rate, I reload 140 gr, and 160 gr Barnes MRX BT's, and 175 gr Barnes TSX FB, depending on what I'm doing. I suppose I could eliminate he 140 gr bullets, I don't use them all that often.

I would think a 1:10, or a 1:11 would be a better rate. What do you guys think?

The Stock, I would like to keep the existing stock and modify it to the new barrel, but I am inclined to go for a modified 26 inch Bull Barrel, and am unsure that the stock can be reworked.

Does anyone have any experience with a change this radical?

The last thing is that I would prefer to send the whole thing to the barrel folks and have them do a turn-key job. That is I send it and it comes back complete. They can square and true the action and work the stock, and do anything else that is required, but I cannot afford to get ripped off.

I'd go for a 1:11 or 1:12 twist rate myself. Those 2 are ideal to stabilize the 168gr & 175gr SMK ammunition.

As for your "turn key" situation any competent gun smith dealing with the Remington M700 rifles can do it easily enough. You could have the gunsmith order the barrel themselves to install it instead of ordering the barrel then having a gunsmith install it.

The current M40 rifle (the M40A3) sports a Schneider Match Grade SS #7 and a McMillan Fiberglass A4 Tactical Rifle stock.

Dimitri

Les, most barrel companies only do barrel work, not stock work.
Companies like Pac-Nor don't even do finish work to the metal.

H-S Precision makes a excellent drop in pillar bedded stock.
You’ll have to get a barrel that works with it though. They do not do custom work