280 Ackley build help

[870 ExpressMag]

I have all the parts to build my new 280 ackley, got a barrel from shilen, stevens 200 action, etc,etc. Well i made the poor decision to take it to my gunsmith for him to blue it all to match and then put together for me and bed the stock. Well i called last night and he was real short with me and told me he got a bad start on it, they sent him the wrong gages and then he called them so they sent him a reamer?!, so he got a bad start and put it aside. i was sorta shocked at what i was hearing so i asked if i should come pick it up...he said yep see ya in a few. So i went and got it. Seems kinda odd since i have had him do work for me for years and it's all been done very fast, for a good price, and great work. Anyways, i am going to do what i shoulda done in the first place, do it myself (except the blueing)...my only fear now is, did he, or did he not ream the barrel? how can i tell? this is my main concern right now....also he changed the bolt handles out for me (the only thing he did) and he said he had to "use a lot of force" to change em...but now that rear baffle that is also blued toward the back is very loose and wiggly on the bolt..how do i remedy this? thanks for any help guys, this is a very irritating situation

[Eric in NC]

First I would ask him if he reamed it at all. See if you get anything resembling a straight answer.

Second - you can check the barrel with go/nogo gauges to see if they protrude the correct amount from the breech of your barrel (forget what the correct figure is for each - sure you can find it).

As far as the baffle - it moves around but isn't floppy if that makes sense. It is tensioned by a spring loaded captive ball and should "click" into a longitudinal groove in the rear of the bolt body when you rotate it past the groove. If it doesn't "snap" into this groove - he lost the ball.

[870 ExpressMag]

i called and left a msg about the reaming, we'll see if he calls back with an answer. As far as the baffle, i want to remove it because i know somethings not right...how do i go about doing this correctly? i am sure something is missing or not right with it never had a savage with one this floppy

[870 ExpressMag]

just got a call back from gunsmith, told me he didn;t ream any on barrel

[nwkman]

Send it to Devin at Sinarms. He's a sponsor of the site. Great guy.

[GaCop]

+1 on Sinarms, Devin will do you right.

[870 ExpressMag]

Well, i wanted to do this myself in the first place, except for the blueing which is why i took it to the gunsmith, he insisted on doing the rest of the job so i left it. Now i am back to wanting to do it all by myself, again except the blueing as i have no means to hot blue

[870 ExpressMag]

i guess the few things i am wondering about now are....

first off how to properly remove the rear bolt baffle to inspect for issues?

and second, i see on www.reamerrentals.com they have 280 ackley headspace gages for rent, but they say original, when i talked to shilen they told me they use PTG SAAMI spec reamers, so i need SAAMI spec headspace gages, where can i rent those? i hate to put 60.00 out just to set this once

[GaCop]

They should be available from PT&G too.

[DanSavage]

To remove the baffle is very simple. Remove bolt from rifle and turn the baffle while sliding it forward toward the cocking ramp cut out. The goal is to get the ball bearing into the cutout in the bolt body and it will com off. Just play around with it and you'll get the hang of it. Sometimes when I put mine back together the bolt will not close all the way in the receiver, just rotate it and align it and you'll be good to go.

As for bluing why not get a bluing kit and do it yourself?

Dan

[870 ExpressMag]

i got the baffle off and everything appears to be there, just looser than i remember my other savages being, as far as the blueing, i was always under the impression that blueing kits didn;t do as nice of a job as hot blueing in tanks??

also i swapped out the orig trigger last night with the 3 screw i bought from NSS...everything went good, but when i get the trigger where i think it's good i can get it to fire when on safe, but it takes a lot of thumping on the trigger with the handle of a screwdriver..so i adjusted the sear engagement a little more but then i get the creep back...i probably won;t ever get rid of the creep with this trigger? i have it pretty good right now i added a 1/2 turn to the pull weight which put more tension on from the spring and then adjusted a little more creep out with the sear screw and it seems pretty good and right around 3.5 lbs...but i can still make it fire, by hitting the trigger with a screwdriver a dozen or so times pretty hard. Since i am working on the trigger and action only, no stock or barrel (so i cant bump stock on floor) whats the best way to test safety to know it's safe?

[Eric in NC]

A dozen whacks directly on the trigger? That is pretty safe. I go with working the bolt as fast and hard as you can with safety off (if it fires when you slam the bolt home you have a problem) and with bumping the butt of the gun on the floor pretty hard.

[870 ExpressMag]

well maybe i can go back and adjust some more then, all the instructions i find tell me to put lube on both sides of trigger but nothing on sear, but the original i took out had something on sear surfaces...what was it and should i put it on new trigger that i installed?

[870 ExpressMag]

also what should i put on screws to keep them set? at least one of them is coutersunk in hole so if i put something on it i am afraid it will fill wrench hole making next time to move it impossible

[Eric in NC]

Some people like moly grease on sear surfaces, some like them clean. I think putting grease on can change trigger pull depending on temperature etc.

I use nail polish on the trigger screws - keeps them from moving but not as hard to remove as loc-tite.

[870 ExpressMag]

now i think im ready for headspacing...just need to find someplace that has SAAMI spec headspace gages for rent