Model 11 firing pin spring??

[dbow]

Hey guys, weird question... Can you take the tension off of the firing pin by holding the trigger down when locking the bolt down? When you do this on my savage 11 it makes the trigger safe lose tension.

[thomae]

If, by "holding the trigger down" you mean pulling on the trigger as if to fire the rifle, then my answer is yes, because you are allowing the sear to release and thereby letting the firing pin go forward to the fired position.

I would never do this with a round in the chamber.

I understand that you might want to do this before storing your rifle for a long while in the safe. I don't think the main spring will lose it's strength because it is stored compressed (Others will certainly correct me if I am wrong), but also you won't damage the rifle by dry-firing it either.

I believe what you describe is a kinder, gentler equivalent of dry firing the rifle to release the main spring tension.