Bolt problem! Help!

[bassman]

This is my first question, but I have been reading for a while now. This is a great forum with alot of knowledge to be gained. Thank you in advance for your patience and info.
I have a model 16 large shank action originally 300 WSM with push feed bolt. I am converting to 260 REM. I am making the 300 WSM on another action, there is a reason for this but it is not relevant to my question. I ordered a standard bolt head for the 260 and when I installed it...well now I have a problem I am not sure I have read about here. I know that the short mags have a bolt head with "LONGER" bolt lugs, I had to adjust the firing pin protrusion to account for this. I set it at 0.052 to fall into the suggested 0.050-0.055 range. (I had never done this but I figured it out thanks to alot of thread reading here) My first question is: How do you know how much to thread in or out the rear piece on the firing pin cocking piece? I hope you know what I mean as I am not sure of proper nomenclature :o I just threaded it enough to allow assembly, but it looks like the more or less you thread it then the more or less firing pin spring tension you will have.
My next question involves the bolt itself. I ordered a fluted bolt from SSS to replace the factory bolt body. I also have a new bolt handle from stockade. I assembled the new bolt handle on my original bolt and all worked well with no problems. When I assembled everything with the new bolt body I could not get the bolt to close. I removed the rear baffle and everything works fine, bolt closes,firing pin falls just fine. It looks like the bolt will not engage the last little bit because the cocking ramp on the rear baffle is not allowing the final 1/16 inch of travel, when the baffle is installed. It also appears the fluted bolt body I got from SSS is a wee bit shorter than my original bolt body. I have been beating my head on the wall trying to decide wether I have done something wrong, but the rear baffle only goes on properly one way. Has anybody seen this problem before? How did you fix it? I can remove some material from the baffle to make it work, but I would rather know from you guys before I modify it because it will be permanent.
Sorry for long post but I wanted to give the full story for scrutiny in case something is wrong. Also the action is left handed.
Thank you all for your help and patience!

Bassman

[sharpshooter]

First of all, you need the correct firing pin. The longer pin that comes with the heavy magnun bolt head does not have enough range to get the protrusion and the compression length correct for the shorter bolt head. The protrusion should be .035-.040", and the compression length of the spring should be 1.900".

The bolt bodies have a tolerance of .005" on all the linear measurements, with overall length of 5.315-5.320", 5.196-5.201 to the handle cut and 4.906-4.911 from the hole to the handle cut. Bad news is that they may not be with in tolerance.
The Stockade bolt handles are not built to factory specs, and that is not neccesarily a bad thing, as it can be to your advantage. The extraction cam surface on the bolt handle is typically long. The good news is that it can be filed to fit.

[bassman]

Thank you fred for your response. I didnt know there were different lengths of firing pins...just learned something. Please dont think im being hard-headed, but just one more question. I reset the firing pin protrusion to 0.045" that makes my spring compression length 1.950" and that is the best I can get. Are these safe tolerances for operation? Can the longer firing pin be trimmed in the rear to allow the rear cocking piece to be threaded on a little farther? That would allow me to get into the tolerances you listed. I know it would just be easier to order a new firing pin from midway! ;D

My fluted bolt body is overall length is 5.282" My factory bolt body is overall length 5.320"
To handle cut it is 5.180" To handle cut is 5.200"
From hole center to handle cut is 4.885" From hole center to handle cut is 4.912"

The factory bolt is just about perfect with the numbers you gave me, and the fluted bolt is a little shorter.
Is the shorter fluted bolt still going to give me problems even if I get a new firing pin? Or do you think I will still need to modify the bolt handle and/or the rear baffle?

I know I keep rambling but please bear with me for one other question. :o
Is the barrel nut on a large shank still compatible with the wheeler nut wrench? I am having a hard time getting the wrench into the grooves. It seems like the wrench is just a little too small. The more I try it seems the more scratches I put on the nut. >:(

Thank you very much for your time!

bassman

[bassman]

Nevermind the stupid question about the nut wrench :-\ I got it to work...just tight!! :D

bassman

[sharpshooter]

The only place to trim the pin is off the tip, that's where the length difference is. The threads bottom out in the cocking piece, and you would have to trim and re-thread and believe me the firing pins are hard enough to wreck a die.
The spring compression needs to be a maximum of 1.900", otherwise the firing pin travel will be short, causing misfires and cold fires. The firing pin really has not much bearing on the bolt body length, as long as the bolt handle clears the notch in the receiver all you need to do is trim the cam surface until it closes without binding.

[bassman]

Thank you very much fred for sharing your knowledge, I appreciate it more than you know.
I will order a new firing pin instead of trying to modify the one I have. I just may need it later down the road. ;D
I will look closely to see where the best place is to modify either the bolt handle or the rear baffle. Looks like probably the rear baffle as it looks like there is not much room on the bolt handle.
This is a great forum!!!! ;D

bassman