Winchester Model 70 Bolt and safety stuck ( revisited)

Sea Buck · May 25, 2019, 05:04 PM

Winchester Mod 70 XTR Featherweight bought at an estate sale. The rifle is ANIB. Not scratch, ding, blemish, burred screw heads etc. Ser no indicates 1981. Very pretty rifle. Added a scope and sighted it in. Fired 10 rounds. Went home cleaned it and back in the safe. Took the rifle out for a hunt this fall and the bolt will not open and the safety is in the fire position and will not move. I hesitate to force the bolt or the safety. Looking through the threads posted here and other forums, including my previous query, I can see no immediate solution to this problem. I do see a lot of Model 70 bolt and safety problems.
What I have done: I have removed the scope and mounts. The bolt seems to impacting something hard when attempting to open. I can hear an audible click. The safety refuses to budge. I have another model 70 same vintage and I know that the safety must be placed in the mid position to remove the bolt.
I need some help here. I am fully capable of disassembly of the bolt but I must be able to remove it first.

Dufus · May 25, 2019, 07:52 PM

You prolly can't move the safety because the firing pin is not in the cocked position.

Dufus · May 25, 2019, 07:54 PM

When you cleaned it, did you pull the stock?

If so, there might be some screws in the wrong places. Remove the screws from the action and try again.

Sea Buck · May 26, 2019, 08:40 AM

Yes about the firing pin/safety. No I did not remove the stock. The stock has never been removed. The rifle is ANIB, or was since I put 10 rounds through it last year.

Sea Buck · May 26, 2019, 10:11 AM

I used the wrong terminology. I should have said "The bolt will not cock". It is coming up hard against something after lifting the bolt handle only about a half inch. Looking at the schematic on the Midwest Gunworks web site for push feed bolts I see a roll pin through the blot lug for the ejector pin. Could this have backed out? Not much room there but it would only take 1 or 2 thousandths to bind. Maybe I'm all wet on this...not unusual.

LineStretcher · May 26, 2019, 10:39 AM

Did you remove the scope bases? Did you use Loctite when you installed the scope bases? Did you disassemble the bolt when you cleaned it? I'm grasping at straws here. I have seen problems occur with gunk on the lug faces but a really firm yank usually breaks that loose. The ejector pin isn't in a location that will cause your problem.

What it sounds like is that a scope mount screw is too long or Loctite dripped through the hole onto the bolt. I sincerely doubt the Loctite thing happened but I suppose it could. I'd grab the bolt handle and give it a good solid yank or two. If it doesn't come free, take it to a good gunsmith.

tangolima · May 26, 2019, 10:58 AM

You familiar with the fire control (trigger) mechanism of M70? Have you taking apart one? If not, you'd better take this one to a smith.

The trigger has 2 sears. The secondary sear (the big one) is in direct contact with the bolt's cocking piece. It has return spring to allow the cocking piece to ride pass it during cocking (lifting up the bolt handle after firing). If the secondary sear is stuck in up position, it will not allow cocking as the cocking piece cannot ride pass it.

There are more than one reason that could happen. You will need to pull the stock to clear it. It is probable that the trigger needs adjustment. You don't want to touch it if you don't know how.

-TL

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Sea Buck · May 26, 2019, 11:34 AM

LineStretcher: Yes. scope and mounts removed. The first thing I checked.
Tangolima: The secondary sear stuck in the up position sounds like the culprit. What are the reasons for this to happen. This is in all respects an unused rifle except for the 10 rounds fired for sight in.(four for sight in..six for fun). I found the trigger is stiff with little creep. I used factory ammo.

tangolima · May 26, 2019, 03:13 PM

More than one possibility. You need to pull the stock to look. Likely one is the primary sear re-engages after firing, which can happen when the trigger is out of adjustment. A bad combination of pre-travel and over-travel would do that.

Try lifting the bolt handle while pulling back the trigger. If it works, that will prove positive it is the case.

-TL

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

Sea Buck · May 27, 2019, 09:31 AM

Thanks TL.

May 25, 2019, 05:04 PM	#1
Sea Buck Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2008 Location: New England,Florida Snow Bird Posts: 312	Winchester Model 70 Bolt and safety stuck ( revisited) Winchester Mod 70 XTR Featherweight bought at an estate sale. The rifle is ANIB. Not scratch, ding, blemish, burred screw heads etc. Ser no indicates 1981. Very pretty rifle. Added a scope and sighted it in. Fired 10 rounds. Went home cleaned it and back in the safe. Took the rifle out for a hunt this fall and the bolt will not open and the safety is in the fire position and will not move. I hesitate to force the bolt or the safety. Looking through the threads posted here and other forums, including my previous query, I can see no immediate solution to this problem. I do see a lot of Model 70 bolt and safety problems. What I have done: I have removed the scope and mounts. The bolt seems to impacting something hard when attempting to open. I can hear an audible click. The safety refuses to budge. I have another model 70 same vintage and I know that the safety must be placed in the mid position to remove the bolt. I need some help here. I am fully capable of disassembly of the bolt but I must be able to remove it first.

May 25, 2019, 07:52 PM	#2
Dufus Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2014 Posts: 1,965	You prolly can't move the safety because the firing pin is not in the cocked position.

May 25, 2019, 07:54 PM	#3
Dufus Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2014 Posts: 1,965	When you cleaned it, did you pull the stock? If so, there might be some screws in the wrong places. Remove the screws from the action and try again.

May 26, 2019, 08:40 AM	#4
Sea Buck Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2008 Location: New England,Florida Snow Bird Posts: 312	Yes about the firing pin/safety. No I did not remove the stock. The stock has never been removed. The rifle is ANIB, or was since I put 10 rounds through it last year.

May 26, 2019, 10:11 AM	#5
Sea Buck Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2008 Location: New England,Florida Snow Bird Posts: 312	I used the wrong terminology. I should have said "The bolt will not cock". It is coming up hard against something after lifting the bolt handle only about a half inch. Looking at the schematic on the Midwest Gunworks web site for push feed bolts I see a roll pin through the blot lug for the ejector pin. Could this have backed out? Not much room there but it would only take 1 or 2 thousandths to bind. Maybe I'm all wet on this...not unusual.

May 26, 2019, 10:39 AM	#6
LineStretcher Senior Member Join Date: June 14, 2018 Posts: 619	Did you remove the scope bases? Did you use Loctite when you installed the scope bases? Did you disassemble the bolt when you cleaned it? I'm grasping at straws here. I have seen problems occur with gunk on the lug faces but a really firm yank usually breaks that loose. The ejector pin isn't in a location that will cause your problem. What it sounds like is that a scope mount screw is too long or Loctite dripped through the hole onto the bolt. I sincerely doubt the Loctite thing happened but I suppose it could. I'd grab the bolt handle and give it a good solid yank or two. If it doesn't come free, take it to a good gunsmith.

May 26, 2019, 10:58 AM	#7
tangolima Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2013 Posts: 3,827	You familiar with the fire control (trigger) mechanism of M70? Have you taking apart one? If not, you'd better take this one to a smith. The trigger has 2 sears. The secondary sear (the big one) is in direct contact with the bolt's cocking piece. It has return spring to allow the cocking piece to ride pass it during cocking (lifting up the bolt handle after firing). If the secondary sear is stuck in up position, it will not allow cocking as the cocking piece cannot ride pass it. There are more than one reason that could happen. You will need to pull the stock to clear it. It is probable that the trigger needs adjustment. You don't want to touch it if you don't know how. -TL Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

May 26, 2019, 11:34 AM	#8
Sea Buck Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2008 Location: New England,Florida Snow Bird Posts: 312	LineStretcher: Yes. scope and mounts removed. The first thing I checked. Tangolima: The secondary sear stuck in the up position sounds like the culprit. What are the reasons for this to happen. This is in all respects an unused rifle except for the 10 rounds fired for sight in.(four for sight in..six for fun). I found the trigger is stiff with little creep. I used factory ammo.

May 26, 2019, 03:13 PM	#9
tangolima Senior Member Join Date: September 28, 2013 Posts: 3,827	More than one possibility. You need to pull the stock to look. Likely one is the primary sear re-engages after firing, which can happen when the trigger is out of adjustment. A bad combination of pre-travel and over-travel would do that. Try lifting the bolt handle while pulling back the trigger. If it works, that will prove positive it is the case. -TL Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

May 27, 2019, 09:31 AM	#10
Sea Buck Senior Member Join Date: September 9, 2008 Location: New England,Florida Snow Bird Posts: 312	Thanks TL.