Blueprinting a Remington 700 Action

700 front finished — Blueprinted 700 action.

Blueprinting, or truing a rifle action ensures the receiver face, threads, lugs, bolt lugs and bolt face are square to the center line of the receiver.

In this article, we will start with a new Remington 700 short action receiver with a 308 bolt face. We will be performing the following steps in this order:

Disassembly
Ream minor diameter of receiver threads
Square the receiver lugs
Square the face of the receiver
Lap the bolt lugs
Square the bolt face

We ordered the following tools from Brownells to accomplish this task:

This article highlights our project and is presented for information purposes only. This provides an overview of the process and should not be attempted without the guidance and supervision of an experienced gunsmith.

New Remington 700 short action with a .308 bolt face.

Remington 700 action and tool kit. — Remington 700 action and the Remington 700 Armorer’s kit. The armorer’s kit contains everything we need to assemble and disassemble our Remington 700.

Use the tool to grab retract the firing pin — We use the bolt disassembly tool to grab and retract the firing pin

Once the firing pin is retracted, the firing pin assembly can be retracted

This tool is used to remove the ejector from the bolt. — The ejector tool tool is used to remove the ejector from the bolt.

The "claws" of the ejector tool slide over the bolt lugs. The tool is then turned clockwise, engaging the ejector. — The “claws” of the ejector tool slide over the bolt lugs. The tool is then turned clockwise, engaging the ejector.

Using a pin punch and bench block, we remove the ejector pin. We can now remove the tool and slide the ejector and ejector spring out of the bolt. — Using a pin punch and bench block, we remove the ejector pin. We remove the tool and slide the ejector and ejector spring out of the bolt.

Note the locations of both trigger pins. The front pin cannot be removed with the factory bolt stop in place. — Note the location of both trigger pins. The front pin cannot be removed with the factory bolt stop in place. The bolt stop, located on the other side of the trigger assembly blocks its removal.

With the rear trigger pin removed, the bolt stop and bolt stop spring can be removed from the rifle as well as the sear spring from the trigger assembly.

With the receiver disassembled, we secure all small parts in plastic bags to prevent loss.

We will use this Manson tap and reamer kit to true the minor diameter of the threads, square the receiver lugs and chase the threads. — We will use a receiver accurizing kit to true the minor diameter of the threads, square the receiver lugs and chase the threads.

The receiver accurizing kit contains two tapered bushings (top) a receiver tap/mandrel (middle) and a receiver reamer (bottom). — The receiver accurizing kit contains two tapered bushings (top), a receiver tap/mandrel (middle) and a receiver reamer (bottom).

The kit includes two bushings. These bushings are tapered. We will begun with the receiver reamer and gently tap our bushings into place. — The kit includes two tapered bushings to guide the receiver reamer and tap. We tap our bushings into place.

The reamer is guided by the bushings into the receiver. Do Drill cutting oil is used to provide lubrocation. We check the receiver lugs after a few turns to verify the tool is cutting. When the lugs are clean, we remove the tool and clean the area. — The reamer is guided by the bushings into the receiver. Do-Drill cutting oil is used to provide lubrication. We check the receiver lugs after a few turns to verify the tool is cutting. When the lugs are clean, we remove the tool and clean the area.

This is the best picture we managed to get of the interior of the action after we cut the receiver lug face. When we started the bearing surfaces were blued from the factory, now they are shiny and square.

Next, we use the bushings to guide the receiver tap. This chases the threads and ensures they are square.

The receiver tap double as a mandrel to square the front face of the receiver on the lathe. Mounting one end in the chuck and contacting the other with your live center would allow the lathe operator to true the front face. We elected to go a different route. — The receiver tap doubles as a mandrel to square the front face of the receiver on the lathe. Mounting one end in the chuck and contacting the other with your live center would allow the lathe operator to true the front face. We elected to go a different route.

The receiver facing tool is another option to square the face of the receiver if you don't have access to, or don't want to use a lathe. The bushing on the tool is guided buy the receiver tap. With a little bit of do drill, the front face of the receiver is quickly trued. — The receiver ring facing tool is another option to square the face of the receiver if you don’t have access to or don’t want to use a lathe. The bushing on the tool is guided by the end of receiver tap.

When in use, the receiver ring facing tool is aligned on the receiver tap as shown.

Using the receiver facing tool, the front of the receiver is trued. Here, you can see our progress after a few turns of the tool. We used Do Drill to lubricate it. — Using the receiver facing tool, the front of the receiver is trued. The tool is placed over the tap and turned by hand. Here, you can see our progress after a few turns of the tool. We used Do Drill to lubricate it.

After a few more turns the front of the receiver is now square. — After a few more turns, the front of the receiver is now square.

Next, we will lap the lugs of our Remington 700 using the bolt lapping tool. The tool, screws into the front of the action applying rearward pressure on the bolt face. The lugs, now contacting the newly square receiver lug surfaces, and can be lapped into place. — Next, we will lap the lugs of our Remington 700 using the bolt lapping tool. The tool screws into the front of the action and applies rearward pressure on the bolt face. The lugs, now contacting the newly square receiver lug surfaces, can be lapped into place.

600 grit silicone carbide lapping compound is used to lap the bolt lugs.

A little bit of lapping compond is placed on the front of the receiver lugs. The bolt handle is then raised and lowed. Periodically we check our work. It is critical that we do not get any lapping compound on any other area. — A little bit of lapping compound is placed on the front of the receiver lugs. The bolt handle is then raised and lowered repeatedly. We periodically check our work. Note; it is critical that we do not get any lapping compound on any other surfaces.

Note the shiny surfaces that have been trued. Once we have about 95% contact, we are finished. — Notice the shiny surfaces that have been trued. Once we have about 95% contact, we are finished. We then rinse all areas with TCE to remove any remaining abrasive.

This tool will be used to true the bolt face. — The bolt face truing tool consists of a carbide cutter (bottom) and a tooling block (top).

The guide is screwed into the receiver. The carbide cutting tool is then snapped underneath the extractor with a little bit of Do Drill. The action is held horizontally in a padded vise. The bolt is inserted into the rear and the tool is pushed through the hole in the guide. — The tooling block is screwed into the receiver. The carbide cutting tool is then snapped underneath the extractor with a little bit of Do-Drill. The action is held horizontally in a padded vise. The bolt is inserted into the rear and the tool is pushed through the hole in the tooling block.

The drill is run at low rpm for a a couple of seconds. The drill is removed and the bolt cutting tool retracted. — We attach a drill and run it at low rpm for a couple of seconds. The drill is removed and the bolt cutting tool retracted. If too much material is removed, firing pin protrusion can be an issue. We make sure to check our firing pin protrusion to make sure its safe and meets standards.

Here is our bolt face after a few seconds of cutting. Notice the outside edge of the bolt face is shiny. We will cut some more. — Here is our bolt face after a few seconds of cutting. Notice the outside edge of the bolt face is shiny, indicating the center of the bolt face was low. We will cut some more.

Our bolt face is now completely square to the action.

Our action is now blueprinted and ready for a barrel.

To order a new Remington 700 action or the tools we used, make sure you visit Brownells.

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