Excessively stiff bolt lift, even after mods.

[mattri]

Thanks to all who posted- some interesting results today:

Had previously polished the bearing surfaces, the inside of the bolt assembly and the cocking sleeve.

Took it to a buddy's house and he looked at it as well. Upon further inspection it needed a little more polishing, not just on the mentioned surfaces, but on the faces of the washers holding the firing pin assembly together, the front of the bas and a few other parts.

Got all that sorted and it was better, but not great. Took everything apart again and noticed the cocking ramp had some deflection to it. The angle was not the same the whole way up the ramp. Used a dremel to smooth this out, changed the angle a little bit and smoothed the route the pin takes by quite a bit. Bolt lift was improved by a noticible amount.

Noticed that the spring tension from the firing pin mechanism was causing binding/friction. Used washers to reduce the amount of preload on the bolt assemble.

With everything re-assembled the lift is smooth and light- function is unaffected, couldn't be happier with the results. Will post a follow-up after putting a few rounds through it. Thanks again, matt.

[Stockrex]

http://www.steyrscout.org/savscout.htm

plz check the Bolt Smoothing part...

[mattri]

The first pic under bolt smoothing is most indicative of where I spent most of my time.

[thomae]

Used washers to reduce the amount of preload on the bolt assemble.
Thanks again, matt.


FWIW, You can also reduce the amount of preload by removing the firing pin assembly and unscrewing the cocking piece (the round nut with the hole through it) . Just don't unscrew it completely.
Then you don't need external washers.

[mattri]

I tried that but found that the cocking pin wasn't moving all the way down the ramp that way. I'm sure there are a dozen different ways to improve the bolt geometry, most are probably better than what we did but on this rifle it made a huge difference, it's absolutely not the same gun.

[Willoughby]

easyest fix is to lengthen the bolt handle
my 10 year old friend- who is even small for 10
got a axis & couldnt work the bolt handle -see my post in axis edge rifles-
I lenghtened the bolt handle by 1' & he has no problems now
polishing & shimming helped a small amount - but leverage can move the world
& if you have a welder its a fairly easy job - I weld a 5/16 bolt onto a 1' steel ball
then cut existing bolt knob off & add about an inch overal length
after a litle filing ,sanding with emory cloth & cold bluing it looks great
whole job takes about 30 -45 min
I know I could just buy longer bolt handles -but I like mine -
they just look better & I like a perfectly round knob -vs other styles
if you try this be sure to make the peice of 5/16 bolt pointed on both ends like a pencil
so it will have more weld surface area -this makes it a lot stronger