action tuning: Stevens 325 and Savage 340

[bill smith]

i have seen these rifles for many years at gun shows here in Oklahoma for sale for about $250 or so. i think they are pretty neat little rifles and i actuallyown a Stevens .30-30 myself. but, i have never seen one that didn't suffer from the same problem.....very stiff bolt operation. every one of these, including the one i own, has what i call a stiff bolt. by that i mean that the bolt does not open smoothly. i have buffed the heck out of mine in an effort to smooth up the mating surfaces, but that has done nothing to help.

my question is this......is there some secret to making this bolt work better or is it just something i must get used to? i appreciate any advice. thanks.

[Steve85569]

Bill,
I just picked up a 340 in 30-30. The action (bolt) opens smoothly and runs without any binding. Since these are "cock on open" actions, are you referring to the cocking action being stiff?

If that's the case you may have some old lubricant inside the bolt itsself. I would try first using a light oil (3 in 1) and exercising the action to see if that loosens it up. If not disassemble and scrub in ATF or other solvent oil being certain to lubricate when reassembling. JMHO (just my humble opinion)

Steve