Help needed with M-25 bolt disassembly!

[RolHammer]

Bought a used M-25 Lightweight Varminter in .17 Hornet recently. I'm disassembling, inspecting and cleaning it before taking it out to the range (I'm sure it's good and all, but you never can be too careful IMO).

http://www.savageshooters.com/showth...ly-Disassembly

http://www.savageshooters.com/conten...ly-Disassembly

I'm hung up at the bolt. I simply *cannot* get the bolt assembly screw free. Went through the article and thread her and followed the instructions; cocking pin has been moved forward but nada - that thing is *not* budging. At this point, I'm concerned I might bend/shear the bolt handle if I put any more mojo into this.

Is the thing counter-threaded or something? That question comes up in the thread linked above, but it goes unanswered. The author of the article does not specifically mention it. Some owners appear to have had issues like I'm experiencing, others appear to have been able to get it free.

Any suggestion/guidance is welcome.

[Lake trout]

Bought a used M-25 Lightweight Varminter in .17 Hornet recently. I'm disassembling, inspecting and cleaning it before taking it out to the range (I'm sure it's good and all, but you never can be too careful IMO).

http://www.savageshooters.com/showth...ly-Disassembly

http://www.savageshooters.com/conten...ly-Disassembly

I'm hung up at the bolt. I simply *cannot* get the bolt assembly screw free. Went through the article and thread her and followed the instructions; cocking pin has been moved forward but nada - that thing is *not* budging. At this point, I'm concerned I might bend/shear the bolt handle if I put any more mojo into this.

Is the thing counter-threaded or something? That question comes up in the thread linked above, but it goes unanswered. The author of the article does not specifically mention it. Some owners appear to have had issues like I'm experiencing, others appear to have been able to get it free.

Any suggestion/guidance is welcome.

Any idea on how many rounds shot out of your 17Hornet ? Can't picture that there's been enough rounds down the barrel to warrant taking the bolt apart for cleaning,the 17 Hornet only been around 8 to 10 yrs.. Birchwood Casey makes spray can of gun cleaner called Gun Scrubber... You could spray that into any openings on the bolt to flush any small amount of grime out of the bolt. Save you from taking the bolt apart. Flushing or dipping the bolt into a coffee Can of Kroil then use of compressed air to blow off the bolt has worked for me.

[RolHammer]

According to the seller's information, the rifle was a year old, was purchased new, and had just under 100 rounds put through it (those fired brass were part of the sale).

No doubt excessively fussy on my part, but I just wanted to open up and inspect everything and ensure all was as it should be.

From your reply, I get the impression you weren't able to get yours open either?

[Lake trout]

Yep...same problem as yours..

[Hitides]

After you move the cocking pin to the fired position place the bolt on the floor and stand on the bolt handle with one foot, use a breaking bar or some sort of extension on your allen wrench and apply force.
Worked for me that way, make sure you have a good quality allen.

[RolHammer]

Tried that, actually - first with the allen wrench, then with an extension on the allen wrench, then with an impact driver. Thing's not budging, like not at all. The threaded end on the bolt handle starting to show some signs of shearing just above the point where it extends out of the bolt body, so I stopped and decided to check in here.

On my Model 16 .223, the equivalent bolt was very tight as well but nothing like this. Took standing on that to get it break free, but that approach bottomed out here.

[RolHammer]

Success!

Dipped the bolt in a container of penetrating lube, bolt assembly screw (BAS) end down. Left to soak for an hour. Removed & wiped down. Laid it flat, using a 1/4" allen wrench with long handle managed to remove the bolt. It was still really in there though - probably 40-50 ft-lbs torque. Cleaned & inspected, then lubed and reassembled. All good now.

In case the penetrating lube was insufficient alone, Plan B was to follow the penetrating lube soak with a heat gun on the bolt body until hot, then (in a well-ventilated area, with the heat gun off) spray butane from a refiller can onto the head of the BAS and into the allen key recess (very cold as the butane evaporates). The thermal expansion/contraction differences between bolt body and BAS would provide additional clearance. This didn't end up being needed in my case, but I mention it here in case it helps anyone else.