General Gun Knowledge Type Stuff

SDMF

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Season is coming, sighting in scopes, cleaning barrels, etc is upon us.

1. You've got 2 of the same make/model bolt action rifles and you take the bolts out of both to clean, bore-sight, whatever. You get distracted by something come back to the bench and can't remember which bolt belongs in which rifle.

How do you figure it out without shooting and potentially damaging one or both rifles?
 


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Assuming both fit in the rifle as is, meausure a round against the head of the bolt where it would normally sit? I'm guessing.
 

Ericb

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In guessing head space or try and find some identifying rub marks that would match up.
 

SDMF

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try and find some identifying rub marks that would match up.

Pretty close. Each bolt will have the last 3-4 numbers of the rifle's serial number engraved on it. It's typically on the bolt body (not the handle) towards the back end.

IMG_1887.jpg
 
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SDMF

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2. You've taken your semi-auto shotgun apart to clean all of the dust out from early goose season. You get the barrel off, trigger group out, get things cleaned up and re-assembled but now for some reason, the bolt will not retract. It's stuck and you can't get it to cycle back.

There's probably more than one answer here, but there's a very common issue that causes this most often.
 

SDMF

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Clean only one at a time and avoid the potential problem from even occurring.

Fair enough, however sometimes it's nice to fill a few bbl with cleaning foam then patch them out the next day.

- - - Updated - - -

shoot only 30-06 and then you only have 1 gun

That would indeed suck. Only 1 gun. Pfffft, that's like having only 1 fishing rod.
 


SDMF

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3. Your bolt came out of your rifle just fine, but, now it won't fully close. It'll go in past the bolt stop but stops just shy of being able to run the bolt fully forward and turn the bolt down into the firing position.

What happened?

IMG_1888.jpg
 
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Enslow

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Head to Scheels and buy a .30-06 with a lot lifetime scope like vortex.
 

Ericb

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I think the fail safe answer is learn how to break down and put your guns back together.
 

SupressYourself

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4. (I did this one once.) You cleaned your AR-10, including taking the bolt out of the BCG. Upon reassembly, it will now chamber a round just fine, but extraction fails. The case comes out of the chamber, but is pointed to the side opposite the ejection port.

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3. Your bolt came out of your rifle just fine, but, now it won't fully close. It'll go in past the bolt stop but stops just shy of being able to run the bolt fully forward and turn the bolt down into the firing position.
What happened?

You left your beer can resting in the action.
 

SDMF

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4. (I did this one once.) You cleaned your AR-10, including taking the bolt out of the BCG. Upon reassembly, it will now chamber a round just fine, but extraction fails. The case comes out of the chamber, but is pointed to the side opposite the ejection port.

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You left your beer can resting in the action.

Bolt is rotated 180 degrees and now it's trying to fling empties down/in to the left instead of up/out to the right.

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I think the fail safe answer is learn how to break down and put your guns back together.

True, here's the most common culprit:

The tail section of the bolt isn't seated into the recoil return spring cup.

Wrong:

IMG_1883.jpg

Wrong:

IMG_1884.jpg

Right:

IMG_1882.jpg

Right:

IMG_1886.jpg
 


Davey Crockett

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Question : POS Herters 25-06 that feeds like a 24' foot windrow of koshia weed into a 410 massy combine. The bolt has a fixed extractor so if it misses the groove in the brass the bolt won't close resulting in the cartridge stuck in the chamber. Is there a cure ?
 

SDMF

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Question : POS Herters 25-06 that feeds like a 24' foot windrow of koshia weed into a 410 massy combine. The bolt has a fixed extractor so if it misses the groove in the brass the bolt won't close resulting in the cartridge stuck in the chamber. Is there a cure ?

Sharpie color a case and see where it's dragging. Polish accordingly. Might need to move the mag box lips in or out as well. You sure the extractor isn't already flexed/bent where it engages the case head?
 

Yoby

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Quick answer to all above...... don't clean your gun :gotone:

:::
 

Davey Crockett

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Sharpie color a case and see where it's dragging. Polish accordingly. Might need to move the mag box lips in or out as well. You sure the extractor isn't already flexed/bent where it engages the case head?



I haven't taken a good look. I have a habit of leaving my bolt open when I am sitting, Buck fever made me want the bolt to close real bad, when it wouldn't I tried hard . The gun had a curse on me, Even when it did go bang. Other than a quick look for rust it's been over 40 years since I have picked it up but if I remember right the extractor looked beefy. I'll take a pic of it this weekend.
 

SDMF

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[/B]

I haven't taken a good look. I have a habit of leaving my bolt open when I am sitting, Buck fever made me want the bolt to close real bad, when it wouldn't I tried hard . The gun had a curse on me, Even when it did go bang. Other than a quick look for rust it's been over 40 years since I have picked it up but if I remember right the extractor looked beefy. I'll take a pic of it this weekend.

Fairly common to bend a Mauser/Pre-64 Winchester extractor if you're trying to do anything other than allowing it to feed from the magazine. Laying a shell on the follower without snapping it down and then trying to ram it home will bend the extractor sooner or later. The bend will happen in the thin part of the extractor just behind the bearing surface of the right-side bolt lug.

The newer CRF rifles have the extractor beveled to allow it to snap over a round not fed from the magazine but it's still more difficult to engage the bolt down into battery than if you just feed it from the magazine.

With all of the taper on a 25-06 case is should feed slick as snot.
 
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