First range trip results 3/12/26:
The rifle shot great today! Groups were 0.66", 0.7" and 0.87". The two small groups were shot with 175 grain Federal Gold Medal Match and the larger group was shot with Lake City M852 168 grain match.











Tony.

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This is a virgin Remington 700 RR prefix stripped receiver. It has no wear marks at all and has never had a bolt installed. I pulled the barrel off this receiver for the previous owner 2 years ago. The barrel is new and un-fired. I just hand screwed it on for the picture.

This will be for Vintage Sniper matches. The stock should be an original M40 stock. I have the buttplate and sling swivels stashed away somewhere.

I'll need a complete bolt, M40 compliant barrel, scope mount, magazine, stock metal, maybe a new recoil lug and trigger assembly. Can I use an upgraded recoil lug in the VS matches?

Any advice will be appreciated while I comb through the M40 archives.















Tony.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: benny6,

I will be going with a Bartlein barrel.

Would this be the proper bolt? It appears to be new, unused.
[URL unfurl="true"]https://gunrepaircenter.com/F98079/[/URL]

I have the buttplate, but no sling swivels.


I forgot to include a picture of the brass pin in the left side of the stock.


The stock was damaged during my move in 2022. It had some serious dents.


I spent an hour or so steaming out the dents last night with a wet rag and an industrial heat gun. Here's the same spot after about an hour of steaming and sanding.


Here's another area that I'm working on. The dents were much worse but they're almost gone. After this, there will be no more dents. There were three dents in this image.


This stock is abandoned property. I was stripping this stock for a customer about 10 years ago. He was supposed to bring me the action to be bedded after the stock was done but he disappeared.

I haven't touched it in 10 years since I stripped it. It still has some stains I need to remove. I don't even remember how I stripped it. I might have used oven cleaner.




There is still some leftover bedding that needs to be removed by hand in some spots. I'm talking about the little bedding spots outside the actual intended bedding area.










I'm also thinking I should finish the action and bed the stock before I stain and finish the wood. No sense in committing all this time on a wood finish only to risk damaging the finish during the bedding process.

Realistically, I don't have the budget to go all-out on a historically accurate clone. I'll go with the Bartlein barrel and I don't mind using reproduction parts, as long as they're as good or better than the original. I just want to build a rifle that qualifies for the vintage sniper matches. I'll probably use a current production Leupold 3-9x40 hunting scope. I'd like to use the best trigger allowed, so if anyone knows what's the best performing trigger, please let me know.

Does anyone know where I can get the correct bottom metal, magazine, follower and action screws? I'm new to M40's and I couldn't tell what's right or wrong.

Are PTG bolts as good or better than the factory bolts?

Tony.

Looking forward to seeing the finished project.

I have always liked he M40A1. The Unertl 10X scope was bad ass on the rifle. US optics made a clone of it and Scmidt and Bender did a 3x 9 if i remember correctly. I can't wait to see the progress on this one. What color on the stain on the stock.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Blue Dog,

Well, the project is coming along faster than I expected. I managed to get in on a group buy that had just closed over on Sniper's Hide for a Bartlein barrel. I PM'd Frank at Bartlein and he made an exception for me and got me in on the buy after it closed. I paid $400 for the barrel which included shipping. The barrel will be ready around July.

I sold off a M14 scope mount and bought a new Remington factory replacement bolt from PTG for $270 after shipping. After discounting what I made from the scope mount, I only paid about $60 out of pocket for it.

I have a friend who's really good with stocks and he's going to do the final finishing of the stock.

Here's all I'm missing for the build:
-Bottom metal and internal magazine (will source from PTG ~$165)
-Trigger (Will go with a Triggertech Primary trigger ~$165)
-Trigger pins
-Bolt stop and spring
-Sling swivels
-Scope mount and rings (Current production Leupold base and rings ~$70)
-Scope (will go with a Trijicon or a modern Leupold ~$300 to $550)

Other costs to me will include the blueprinting bushings and alignment rod to blueprint the action. (~$400)

After that, it's all just time spent spent on the lathe blueprinting the action and turning the barrel.

I'll probably start selling off some other M14 parts that I have to fund this project. But I also have my final personal M14 to start building and I have to prepare for that too.

Tony.

The build is coming along nicely. I got the new bolt in from PTG and it fits great! Looks like primary extraction is dead on. I may just true up the receiver face and build this as-is and test it with the factory barrel I have just to see how it shoots. Later on down the line when I get my Bartlein barrel, I'll do the final blueprinting.

Wes is sending me a Jewel trigger and Phil is sending me a bolt stop and spring. Now I just need the bottom metal, mag and follower and some action screws and that will be it.

I also got the Leupold scope base in trade from a local guy.






Tony.

I'm doing a run of black oxide and figured it was time to get my barrel cut and crowned so I can have it bead blast and black oxide finished. I cut the barrel to length and crowned it this weekend and sent it off for refinishing...









This is a second barrel that I'm doing for a customer. I did it at the same time as mine...

Making progress, looking good.

The only thing I'd recommend is staying with the Triggertech over the Jewel. Jewel triggers have a great feel & break, and can be adjusted to very low pull weights. But I've seen Jewels jam in dusty & dirty conditions. And jam badly enough that they need an overnight soaking and air pressure to return to duty. Triggertech triggers don't seem to be so affected by grit.

Anxious to see how it comes out too. I am sure it will be a tack driving beauty

Many years ago and I do not remember much about it now. I acquired a Remington 700 heavy barrel M40 style bolt action 7.62. I was told the barrel was cut down and re-crowned by a famous barrel guy out of St. Louis iirc. I would remember his name if I heard it. I never did anything with it. I need to dig it out and do a few things to it and take it to the range.

My barrel should be done tomorrow or Tuesday. In the meantime, I squared off the receiver face. It only had 0.001" of runout at the face. I'm in the process of checking the threads and the bolt lug contact.





Tony.

I got the two barrels back from black oxide today. They came out very nice!







I used hight temp silicon plugs to plug the bores (not really necessary, as the USMC spec for M40 stainless barrels is to black oxide the barrel inside and out).



Stainless recoil lugs..


I'll start turning the barrel for mine when I'm done with my action.

Tony.

quote:

Originally posted by benny6:
I used high temp silicon plugs to plug the bores (not really necessary, as the USMC spec for M40 stainless barrels is to black oxide the barrel inside and out).

Nice.
I recall somebody didn't do that recently.

Ooooooh...Looking good Tony. Can't wait to see the finished product...

I turned a bolt body holder to check the bolt lug runout. Started off with a piece of scrap steel and turned it down to a 1/2" diameter, then chucked it in a collet and threaded it. (The firing pin gets removed and the holder threads into the firing pin threads)




I put my live center gently in the firing pin hole and checked the lugs. They were within about 0.0005" of each other.


Although I did check the bolt body and the handle end had about 0.008 runout and the body behind the lugs and at the nose had about 0.004" runout. I don't know if this is typical so I have some research to do.

After using my jig, I think I should have made it with a shoulder. I might make another.

Also, got my trigger in today...



Tony.

This rifle will be finished (with the exception of the stock finishing) this week.

This weekend I got warmed up on my thread cutting and turned a scrap piece and tested my measurements. It came out great!










With that done, I set up my Bartlein barrel in the lathe for final installation.












I actually made a mistake when cutting the Bartlein barrel that I did not make on the test barrel. My tenon length was supposed to be 0.955". I cut the tenon oh the Bartlein to 0.995". Not a catastrophe, by any means. I trimmed 0.040" off the breech end and adjusted my bolt nose relief the same. The bolt closes now.

All that is left is to cut the chamber and set the headspace. That will be done today, then it's on to bedding the action.

Since I'm in the chambering mode, I'll be halting M14 work this week and focusing on bolt action work. I have five Remington 700 barrels to chamber.

Tony.

Done. Headspaces right at 1.630".




Goodnight...

You have skills.

My project is complete (sort of).

I'm just going to let the epoxy cure one more night before I apply the final torque. After testing, the stock will be sent off for refinishing.

I made carbon fiber pillars.





I used a boring bar set to the diameter of a Remington 700 receiver and I contoured the tops of the pillars so they match the contour of the receiver.







I routed out all the old bedding and opened up the screw holes for the pillars.





This is what I woke up to this morning.





All cleaned up...























The scope is just temporary for testing. It's a 3.5-10x40, so it can't be used in the matches. When the time comes, I'll pull off my Trijicon and use that one.

Tony.

Beautiful rifle. Email me what you have wrapped up in that build might be Interested in one

Concerning the run out on the bolt body, I don't recall all the in process checks on these as I machined many a thousand, both steel and stainless, standard or short action and, magnum length. They were machined on Citizen Swiss lathes at a rather fast pace. One would be quite busy grabbing hands full of cutting oil soaked, hot bolt bodies, air hosing them off and fast gage and mic checks. I believe a 1/2-13 internal thread as well. A score mark is made internal with the thread tool on all stainless bodies so one can tell it's not steel. Manth-Brownell did have people less dedicated to quality who would machined whole shifts of parts, generally not arms related parts, as junk. Too much time on their f'n cell phones to make good product. As for what I know as the bolt head Benny, the lug end, those also were completely machined on a Citizen by their more skilled machinists. Milling ops as well were done right on the Swiss. There was a load of critical gageing and indicating to determine quality. Remington was known to reject entire shipments of parts should they find 1 bad piece. I don't know why the run out on your bolt body or would it be critical ?