Model 19NRA, bolt disassembly

[upinthehills]

Hi, last match I attended my 19NRA started misfiring. Each round fired when it was reloaded, so I think the ammo was good - it was Elay Target. It had misfired very rarely when I first owned but recently it became much worse. The firing pin appears to be in good shape, it is not peened over and appears to have the original edges on the pointy bit. Perhaps cleaning would allow it take a slightly longer stroke?

This is a late model 19 and I am very fond of it. I am the only person competing with iron sites in my local club matches and on a good day we can hold our own against the egg silhouettes.

I have found articles in the past on how to do this and also and exploded diagram, but now my internet search abilities are failing me! Any advice on how to proceed? I did get a set of pin punches. I have a 12FV I could practice on, but I know it's a different bolt design. I am good mechanically but have never dismantled a rifle bolt.

[J.Baker]

https://forum.snipershide.com/forum/sniper%C2%92s-hide%C2%AE-armory-supply/sniper-s-hide-rimfire-section/81842-how-to-disassemble-savage-model-19-nra-bolt

[upinthehills]

I saw that link in my searches, but it didn't show any contents. Do you see anything in that thread? I joined the snipershide forum to see if that would help access the content, but I think the thread poster just has dead links now...

[J.Baker]

Photo's in that thread are hosted on photobucket.

http://www.savageshooters.com/showthread.php?58601-Photobucket-embed-fix!!!

[upinthehills]

Thanks. It took awhile to figure out, eventually I realized I needed to clear my browser cache too.

The pictures are of two pages of an article that appeared in American Rifleman "Savage Model 1919 NRA Rifle". It contains an exploded diagram and a description of dismantling the bolt.

In my case I have a late model 19. It has the firing pin with a single finger, instead of two. In the description it says to drift out the "bolt pin". What needs to be understood is that the pin is only accessable when you have twisted the bolt sleeve to cock the firing pin and then twist the sleeve back after putting something under the head of the cocking assembly which protrudes out the back of the bolt. At this point the little hole near the bolt handle will line up with the bolt pin which is now no longer riding on the ramp in the bolt sleeve. I will say it took me some time to figure this.

After all this the bolt internals seem to have been pretty clean. A little varnish on the metal from not so good oil I suppose. I'm cleaning it with mineral spirits type stuff and will reassemble with just a very light touch of mineral oil.

I'm not sure why the firing pin does not protrude just a touch more than it does. It appears to bottom out on the extractor spring, but doesn't show marking from touching there or anywhere else really. I think there will be several frustrating cycles of building and checking and banging my head on the desk....

[CDSUSMC]

Hi, I had the exact same issue. Had to take a little off of the front of the firing pin were it comes in contact with the exactor spring. This helped a lot ,but over time the same issue came back to a lesser extent. Say every 10th round, I am now looking into the head space issues. Luckily with a two piece bolt it's a simple matter of shimming between the two sections. Take a look there also, might save you a bolt rebuild a time or two. As for the bolt rebuild, I made a fixture that pushes the firing pin forward and lines up the cocking pin with everything else. Love my NRAs, good luck.
Chris

[WalnutBill22]

Hi, I had the exact same issue. Had to take a little off of the front of the firing pin were it comes in contact with the exactor spring. This helped a lot ,but over time the same issue came back to a lesser extent. Say every 10th round, I am now looking into the head space issues. Luckily with a two piece bolt it's a simple matter of shimming between the two sections. Take a look there also, might save you a bolt rebuild a time or two. As for the bolt rebuild, I made a fixture that pushes the firing pin forward and lines up the cocking pin with everything else. Love my NRAs, good luck.
Chris
I think Chris is on the right track with the headspace comment. I had a similar problem with a M23A which uses basically the same action. I was getting frequent misfires. I had read several threads about correcting headspace by using shims over on the RFC forum, so I gave that a try. Now, I hardly ever get a misfire. It seems these actions are prone to developing excess headspace which is not always apparent by looking at fired cases.
I still have a few of the shims left, so if you want to give that a try send me a PM or an email, and I will be glad to send you a couple.