Stiff Bolt After Firing

[LibrarySalmon]

Hey guys, long time lurker here, first time poster!
Anyways, I have a few Savage rifles but the problem I am having is with my model 11. After firing the rifle, the bolt is hard to operate, specifically to lift up. Before firing, the bolt is silky smooth. I have not had the chance to fire live rounds through the rifle yet so this problem is experienced while dry firing.

Again, the problem is not extracting a spent casing but lifting up the bolt AFTER pulling the trigger.

I did some searching on the internet but have not found an answer to this specific problem. Any ideas fellas?? Thanks for the help!

[joe h]

After firing what you are doing is re-cocking the rifle. What you feel different is the firing pin spring cocking back into the firing position.
That tension will always be there but there are ways to make it smoother.

[LibrarySalmon]

But is it supposed to be fairly stiff like this? it feels like its a good 10-15lbs of pressure to lift the bolt up after firing. What are these ways to make it smoother?

[scope eye]

Bolt lift kits

http://www.savageshooters.com/showthread.php?19779-Free-Bolt-Lift-Kit-amp-140-Detent-Ball;)

Spanky

[Handloader]

Have you DRY fired the rifle to see if the lift is cartridge dependent (no cartridge, or an empty cartridge) or releasing the firing pin dependent. This will rule out if the additional torsional force is secondary to loading the bolt spring (cocking the bolt after firing).

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[joe h]

If you don't have one already then a big bolt handle makes a world of difference!

For the most part I just polish my cocking ramp. Some people cut firing spring coils(i wouldnt advise), some do the bolt lift kits.

[LibrarySalmon]

Yes I have dry fired and it does the same thing. I will look into a bigger bolt handle, I hadnt even thought of that and I'll also look into a bolt lift kit.

[thomae]

Since you are new to the forum, I'll insert my standard welcome blurb:


Welcome. I think you will like this forum. Lots of helpful folks are here willing to help you out.
Please take a minute to familiarize yourself with the standing rules of the forum. Most of them are here:
http://www.savageshooters.com/showthread.php?24732-User-Agreement


For what it's worth, many of the questions you may have (either now or in the future) may already have been answered, so please try searching for answers. If you don't find what you need, please don't hesitate to ask in the appropriate section of the forum.
In general, you usually aren't the first person to not know something or to have a specific issue. We've all been there at one time or another and are happy to help you learn from OUR mistakes instead of making your own.
- We also look forward to learning from YOUR experiences.


Again, welcome.

Now, I must admit that I had to pull my mind out of the gutter when I read the title of your post :rolleyes:.

If you do more reading you will find a number of ways (most involve polishing surfaces that rub against each other) to smooth out the feel of the bolt, but frankly, Savage rifles are known for their heavy bolt lift. A Time and True job will help smooth everything out, but not everyone is willing to pay for that.

[supergolfer18]

welcome to the world of shooting a Savage:thumb: I put a larger bolt knob on mine along with a bolt lift kit. Seems better but still not that smooth. Next will try polishing the cocking ramp etc....

[Chrazy-Chris]

Is the headspace good to go on it? I just got all educated and stuff on headspace and they mentioned this is one of the reasons why you want to make sure it is correct.

[trigger-finger]

What you are explaining us exactly how my Savage 11 feels. Silky smooth just lifting bolt. But after pulling trigger is about 19-15 lbs to lift bolt and recock so that trigger will fire again.

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