heavy, gritty, rough 110 action

Bought an old, used flat back 110 off Gunbroker last week.

The bolt lift is heavy, gritty and rough. When lifting it feels like something is being dragged over ridges or a tiny washboard. I hate it. Nothing like any of my other 10/110's. SN is F178...
Someone engraved a 4-digit number on the bolt body under the cocking pin. It's rough and I can't file it smooth. Could this be the culprit?

Might a T&T job from SSS be in order or would that be throwing good money after bad?

Any advice appreciated.

Check to make sure the front action screw isn't hitting the bolt lug, if it's too long it'll drag when closing and opening. Pull the bolt apart completely and look for any rough edges. The 4 digit number is engraved from the factory, some have it and some don't.. I doubt it is the cause of your issues. Since you describe it as gritty, I'd bet the bolt internals are the source.

Somewhere in the home page of this forum is a tutorial on how the polish the bolt assy to help with this. I have done it to all my savages. To be truthful it has helped some tremendously and some not so much. I've tried the bolt lift kits without any noticeable difference. Some swear by them. I read here someone said working the bolt up and down 500 times helped more than anything. I would have to agree it did loosen my worst action up quit a bit. I polished where needed and wore blisters on my hand working it and it did improve things a lot. I've never shortened a firing pin spring as some suggest. I've always felt hard bolt lift is just a savage trait to be lived with. When I do come across an action that works easier than most I keep that one. If I want to sell a rifle I make sure my hardest to work action is on it.

Just my thoughts on the subject for what they're worth....Floyd

Yep, I found the culprit. The face of the bolt body(?) is chewed up. It's terrible. I am wondering if I dare to try to grind it smooth, just replace or send it out to be t&t'ed.?

Okay, I took the plunge and polished the face of the bolt body with a rounded, hard-rubber dremel and it made a HUGE difference. Now I will do the same to the rest of the parts and see how it goes.

Thanks, guys.

I looked for the tutorial on how to polish the bolt and cant find it. Which one is it?

I did not find it, either. I just dissembled everything and polished mating surfaces and anything that had rough edges like around the holes in the baffles and bolt heads, etc.

Finally, I removed the trigger and opened and closed the bolt 500x. That helped, too.

Now I am thinking it might actually be worthy of a T&T job by Sharp Shooter Supply!

I did the 500x, but first put Flitz inside the bolt mechanism to polish it a bit at the same time; seems to have worked well for smoother bolt. Of course, had to tear it down and carefully remove and lube before using.