M70 bolt stuck

[Tom68]

Brand new Model 70, I haven't fired it yet.

Wanted to check my chamber in accordance with my instructions that came with my Redding dies: They suggest feeding a fired case, and if the bolt won't close, screw in the die another 1/32nd of a turn and re-size. Keep going until you size one that fits.

So, I tried this, remembering the owner's manual specifically states that a round can be dropped directly into the chamber--which was somewhat of a surprise to me, as I was unaware that practice was advised in a CRF rifle. Anyway, the bolt will NOT cam into batter, nor will it withdraw. it is plain stuck and I'm quite nervous about trying to use too much force to move it either way.

So, any ideas from the crowd, or should I give up now and take it to a gunsmith tomorrow?

[James K]

I assume you didn't get the bolt to lock, that is the bolt handle is still up. If so, and if the case is a fired one, just insert a cleaning rod down the barrel from the muzzle and tap it to remove the case and open the bolt. DO NOT USE A WOOD DOWEL!!!!!

IF the bolt is locked, come back and we will take it from there.

Jim

[Tom68]

I feel much better now. I just successfully did exactly that, then came back to check to see if I had a reply. Glad to see that you concurred with what I had already decided to try! Guess I was too impatient to leave well enough alone... I did carefully use a muzzle guide, though.

Thanks much for the response.

Tom

[kilotanker22]

I am glad that I stumbled upon this thread I too have a crf Winchester. I guess I know for future reference.

[jmr40]

There is no problem loading a new manuacture Winchester CRF rifle, or most any modern CRF rifle directly into the chamber. This is not the problem here. All older, and a very few modern CRF rifles should load from the magazine.

[Rifleman1776]

What is CRF? :confused:

[gunner327]

controlled round feed

[Rifleman1776]

Thank you. My language skills in acronymnese is limited.

[James K]

There is a fari amount of misunderstanding of the reason for "controlled round feeding". The usual statement is that it allows the rifle to be loaded under combat conditions where the rifle might be in a position other than perfectly upright. That is true. But the real concern in the early days was a bit different, and didn't show up until the advent of pointed jacketed bullets.

In a push-feed rifle, if a round is chambered and the bolt is not comletely closed due to haste or error, if the bolt is then pulled back to chamber another round, when the second round is pushed forward, its pointed jacketed bullet can be jammed into the primer of the chambered round, with interesting results. With CRF, the extractor grips the rim of the case as it is pushed out of the magazine; if the round is chambered without the bolt being locked and the bolt is then opened, the cartridge will be pulled out and ejected.

The designers of push feed rifles recognize the problem, but design the feed rails and ramp to keep the bullet point away from the primer of a chambered round, plus the use of soft point sporting ammo and the lack of a need for rapid fire combine to mitigate the potential problem. Push feed rifles, having no need for a large extractor cut, can be designed to handle very high pressures. So the designers chose to accept some of the known problems of push feed so they could make rifles that powder happy reloaders wouldn't blow up.

Jim