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Old September 10, 2016, 01:10 PM   #1
Sea Buck
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Join Date: September 9, 2008
Location: New England,Florida Snow Bird
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Help: Model 70 bolt will not close

Bought a circa 1980 Model 70 Featherweight. Bolt cycled at gun dealers. Took rifle home and removed bolt. (Pristine bore. Whole gun is NRA 98%.) Put on Talley scope mounts and 2-7x Leupold scope. Bore sighted. Perfect. Ran a patch through the bore. Reinserted the bolt and it will not close all the way. Closes about 60%. The handle sticks out like a 98k, and the safety will not function. What's up with this?? Any help would be appreciated.
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Old September 10, 2016, 02:14 PM   #2
Scorch
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Check your front base screws. One might be too long and go through into the locking lug ways.
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Old September 10, 2016, 02:43 PM   #3
T. O'Heir
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The firing pin cocked? Page 12 of the manual.
Manual is here. http://stevespages.com/pdf/winchester_70.pdf
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Old September 10, 2016, 05:11 PM   #4
Sea Buck
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Scorch: Thank you, I removed the forward scope mount and lo and behold I found a post 64 thread tap job. Looking down I can plainly see the bolt through the rear front scope base screw hole and the barrel threads on the front. The rear scope base screw holes are not tapped through. Thanks again..what a great forum.
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Old September 11, 2016, 09:30 AM   #5
jmr40
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The rear of the receiver bridge is machined lower than the front on most bolt rifles. The rear base has to be thicker in order for the scope to sit level. You need longer screws on the rear base. If you get it backwards when installing and put the longer screws on the front base they extend into the receiver and prevent the bolt from closing. Nothing wrong with the way the gun is drilled and tapped.
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Old September 11, 2016, 10:52 PM   #6
James K
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There is nothing wrong with the rifle, but you need to file/grind off some of that base screw. Gunsmiths have a little tool to hold the screw, but it can be ground off a bit with a grinder or Dremel tool or, if it is not too hard, a file. (Swapping the screws around might work, but you can't always count on it.

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