A customer called and told me that he had dropped his rifle - and the bolt handle popped off. Apparently this is not an unusual circumstance... Before I ever got my shop open, another fellow here had the same thing happen. This - in an isolated desert community of 6,000.
Remington will fix it for free if you ship the gun to them, but there a turn-around time measured in months, so I decided to see if there was a better alternative.
I eventually turned up a gentleman in Alaska who will time and TIG-weld the bolt handle back on permanently, with a 2-day turn around time. (Two days or its free)
So I called Dan of Accu-TIG in Fairbanks, Alaska - www.accu-tig.com - and I got more info than I bargained for!
Dan was kind of snowed-in, and he was quite loquacious, to say the least. He was also very knowledgeable.
I found out that Remington silver-solders or brazes the handles on (depending on when the gun was made) by an induction process that localizes the heat. If you try to solder or braze it back on with a torch, both pieces have to be at the same temperature, and you wind up frying the bolt.
If you send your gun to Remington, they simply get a new bolt, stamp it with the appropriate numbers, and ship the gun back to you.
Dan tells you how to scribe the bolt in a strategic place so you can just ship him the bolt, and he can remove the brazing residue, time the bolt for proper extraction, then TIG-weld (heliarc) the handle on permanently.
By the time I could gracefully get off of the phone, I had learned which years Remington made titanium actions, how they are marked, got some tips on machining titanium - and a lot of other interesting information that had nothing to do with my question.
Having once spent three months alone in a remote cabin, I sympathized with Dan, but my ear was getting sore, so I rung off after 45 minutes or so.
Anyway, that's how I got my education about Remington bolt handles. I can recommend Accu-TIG's service, especially if time is an issue. - It's the fastest, and most permanent way to get a Remington bolt handle re-attached that I know of.
Click Image to see it larger.
