Threading Bolt Handle

[boostin53]

Today a coworker and I made a trade. I ended up with a Howa 1500 in 308 Win. with a brand new Shilen match barrel and muzzle break. Also came with a brand new Vortex scope. I love the gun and haven't even shot it yet!

One thing I do not like is the bolt handle. Its too small for my liking. What I'm wanting to do is turn down the factory knob and thread it 5/16-24 and make my own knob. I'm just having a problem trying to figure the best way to hold the handle in the lathe securely. Pictures on the interwebs show some sort of fixture used to hold it. I dont have a mill so that's out lf the question. What does the hive say? Any ideas? I really don't want the bolt handle flying and bouncing around the shop! Haha

 

[boostin53]

Here's the rifle. The barrel has also been freshly cerekoated (not sure on spelling)

 

[toolman]

I'm a gunsmith by trade and I do mine by sawing and grinding the bolt knob close to size, using a file to get as close as possible, then threading it with a die. I've tried doing on the mill and lathe, ended up with a messed up bolt and several broken carbide inserts, and started doing it by hand. One thing to watch out for is that some bolt handles are actually cast and may have voids in them. A full 90% of the later model Remington bolts that I do have voids in them, so I thread them using the method above and either use red Loctite or Rockset to do a near-permanent installation.

 

[toolman]

To clarify just a bit, if you can hold the ball securely, you can use an endmill to remove the bulk of the material. I'm playing with the idea of either building or having a custom annular cutter made to avoid all of the extra steps. At the moment, I cut the sides close to square, then cut the corners, creating an octagon, then grind and file from there.

 

[PatMiles]

Done by hand:

There are commercial jigs available to mount the bolt in a lathe and turn the factory bolt down to a cylinder that can be threaded. Check out YouTube.

 

[boostin53]

That may be what I end up doing. I don't want to spend money on a jig for a one time use. I really don't want to grind the bolt by hand either. But I'm seriously not liking the factory bolt handle.

I shot the rifle yesterday and also shot a friends Remington 700 with a bigger knob. I much rather have the bigger, extended knob.

 

[dulltool17]

Trepan it. 5/16 Id annular cutter in vertical mill.
If you have a die holder, you can thread it in the same set-up.

 

[boostin53]

Trepan it. 5/16 Id annular cutter in vertical mill.
If you have a die holder, you can thread it in the same set-up.

If I had a mill, I would do that lol. But no mill. Just two lathes. The mill is my next big purchase.

 

[Firestopper]

I'm no gunsmith, but have built and repaired a fair amount of weponds with excellent results. I recently posted this task on POTD after reading another members post. Since I was never formally educated in gun-smithing, I never would have thought of grinding and shaping the ball knob to accept a die for threading.
To accomplish this, I used a cutoff wheel, milled the surface square, drilled a hole. I then used the lathe to turn a threaded stud to be presses into the hole on the handle.
I then welded the two and blended the entire shebang. If you have a drill press, you can skip the mill and still accomplish this. The end results is very nice and appears like one piece.

 

[weaselfire]

Old school. Hacksaw, file, drill and tap. Takes longer, costs less.

Jeff