Bolt disassembly

J

jaytothekizzay

New member
Just wondering how often you guys take your bolt apart, on a bolt action rifle. For cleaning. Rifle in question is a Savage AXIS in .308 . I shot it for the first time today, put 30 rounds through it, to get it sighted in. Cleaned rifle, through breach end. Also cleaned bolt face, and good wipe down of bolt. Do I need to disassemble the bolt yet?

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Yes you need to clean a bolt inside from time to time. Last fall I pulled down on a moose at just over 300 yards. Bang, but the moose was still standing. Loaded a fresh cartridge and shot again. Click! "Must be a bad primer," I thought. Ejected and shot again. Click! Panic time, down to the last cartridge in the rifle. Bang, down went the moose. The primers on the cartridges that did not fire were barely dented.

I took the bolt apart that evening. It looked clean, but some probing revealed crud at the interior front of the bolt prevented the firing pin from striking the primer with full force. Once clean, it worked fine. You can't tell by looking a fired case how well the primer is being struck, only be priming an empty case and firing it, then examining the primer.

Last summer the rifle worked perfectly, but when I really needed, it failed. My fault for assuming because it looked clean, that the bolt was clean. A 410 shotgun brush works great for cleaning most bolts.
 
I've owned many bolt action rifles 40 years w/o finding a real need to dis-assemble the bolts.
Hose the bolt with Brakeklean and blow out with compressed air. Re-lube with a suitable product and get on with life.
 
Every few years, maybe 2,000 rounds as the mood strikes me I wash the bolt out with Break-Free Powder Blast Gun Cleaner-Degreaser then lube the bolt inside with a light coat of Rem-Oil or similar and wipe the bolt down with Remington Rem Oil Gun Oil Pop-up Wipes. A bolt does not require much lube. On some rifles I will grease the bolt lugs. This may be helpful and the schedule simply depends on how often the rifle is shot and under what conditions.

Bolt Action Rifles - Cleaning and Maintaining your Receiver

Ron
 
I will remove a bolt to wipe it off with solvent and then lube it lightly prior to replacing it. Don't ever recall taking one apart to clean it in 50+ years of shooting. Nor do I recall seeing anyone I know take one apart. But I haven't put 2000+ through any of my bolt actions except for the rimfires.
 
Found a Utube Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oues2vw_zqA

It is amazing what you find on the web!

It is worth cleaning out the internals of a bolt occasionally, especially if you had a pierced or leaking primer as rust causing carbon gets blown into the internals. I suspect most of the antique rifles I have owned the owners never disassembled the bolt and got away with it.

I do recommend grease on the firing pin cocking cam. This will reduce wear. Mainsprings need to be replaced, for a seldom fired rifle, probably every ten years, competition rifles more often.

I took the bolt apart that evening. It looked clean, but some probing revealed crud at the interior front of the bolt prevented the firing pin from striking the primer with full force. Once clean, it worked fine. You can't tell by looking a fired case how well the primer is being struck, only be priming an empty case and firing it, then examining the primer.
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I have seen military surplus rifles misfire at the range. The owners never cleaned out the cosmoline out of the bolt internals. They are real surprised when I pull out the cocking piece and the firing pin is thickly coated with grease. I have wiped that off and the rifles will shoot again, but I tell the owners, replace the mainspring. Decades old mainsprings take a set and in cold weather, can cause misfires and hangfires.
 
I've owned many bolt action rifles 40 years w/o finding a real need to dis-assemble the bolts.
Hose the bolt with Brakeklean and blow out with compressed air. Re-lube with a suitable product and get on with life.
Click to expand...
I concur 100%.

Lots of gun repairs are the result of people taking things apart that don't really need it.
 
If you are one of those folks who just has to take things apart for the fun of it, and can't resist tearing a rifle bolt down to the tiniest itty-bitty piece, get rid of that Savage. The bolt has a zillion pieces and another zillion ways it can be assembled wrong. Leave it alone except for a light coating of oil.

Jim

P.S. If you own a Mauser, Arisaka, Swiss K-31, etc., please skip the lecture on my ignorance and how easy it is to strip a bolt. The Savage is none of those.

Jim
 
IF the gun is new, there is some sense to taking down the bolt and cleaning it, as guns are shipped with preservative oils/greases, which may not function well (or for long) as lubricants.

Other than that, there is very seldom a need to take down and clean the bolt of a modern sporter.

The old military bolt guns were INTENDED to be taken apart and cleaned, often. Corrosive priming (and combat conditions) meant that was important. with a modern sporter rifle, which are NOT designed with the idea of being detail stripped regularly, its best not to.
 
The old military bolt guns were INTENDED to be taken apart and cleaned, often. Corrosive priming (and combat conditions) meant that was important. with a modern sporter rifle, which are NOT designed with the idea of being detail stripped regularly, its best not to.
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They were designed for easy maintenance but the current designs are made for easy manufacture and low cost. Manufacturer's don't expect people to maintain their rifles and that means disassembling the bolt can be very difficult. But, if you don't clean the things out, replace mainsprings, and oil/grease the cocking cams, the alternative is a non functional rifle.

Maybe this is a rant against ball joints, tie rods, and universal joints that don't have grease nipples. Current designs are built cheap and non maintainable, the manufacturer expects you to buy another car/truck when the old ball joints wear out.
 
In most cases you can take an old tooth brush to clean the bolt face, grease the cocking areas & back of locking lugs. Wipe a little oil on the bolt body, that should do it. If you get caught in the rain that's a different story. Break out the Ballistol.
 
They were designed for easy maintenance but the current designs are made for easy manufacture and low cost. Manufacturer's don't expect people to maintain their rifles and that means disassembling the bolt can be very difficult.
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I won't argue about ease of manufacture and cost, but I do think that expecting people to not maintain their rifles isn't a large factor, if one at all. They do expect people to maintain them, but no longer expect people to have to constantly take apart and reassemble various parts of the action to do so.

Remember that besides being intended for military use (and cleaning practices), the common milsurp arms were all designed and used during BEFORE the general era of non-corrosive ammunition.

All the modern sporting rifles came about well after corrosive priming went away (other than military, especially foreign ammo) so there was never the need for making them "hands friendly" for detailed takedown.

All can be simply and easily field stripped for cleaning, which is normally enough to properly maintain them.

Pulling the cocking group out of a Mauser 98 bolt is a simple matter of pushing a button and unscrewing it. Taking the cocking group out of a Rem 700 bolt requires at least one tool. Different design philosophies.
 
No reason to disassemble the bolt unless something breaks. Absolutely no need for periodically disassembling it or for normal cleaning. Even with a brand new rifle. A BNIB rifle's bolt will benefit from swishing it around in solvent then blowing it out with air(gas station will do if the air is free. Ask one of the mechanics if it isn't.), but disassembly is not required.
"...They were designed for easy maintenance..." Battle rifles were and are designed for ease of manufacturing and ease of maintenance. Preferably without any tools.
 
The Remington 700 bolt is still basically the Enfield 1913/1914/1917 bolt and can be stripped the same way, using a penny to hold the cocking piece back.

But it sounds like folks are not familiar with the Savage bolt, which is a purple funeral coach (that is a hearse of another color). The Savage bolt has around 14 parts, more than any other I know of, and further more has be be adjusted when doing a reassembly to set firing pin protrusion.

On cars, just because you can have fun squirting grease doesn't mean the joint will actually last longer, only that folks think it will.

Jim
 
How often?

Um... I probably average something like every 200-500 rounds, depending upon the rifle.

Even then, most of the time when I'm disassembling a bolt, it isn't because it is dirty enough to require cleaning. It's because the rifle got absolutely drenched while hunting, and I need to dry and re-lube.
 
It's because the rifle got absolutely drenched while hunting, and I need to dry and re-lube.
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A perfectly valid point. Which reminds me of another reason to strip the bolt, (once a season) which is replacing the "summer" lube with "winter" grade lube or for really Arctic conditions (found in many northern states) NO lube.

If you use something that is rated for all temps, fine. IF not, or if you aren't sure, then you need to take things apart and apply the right stuff for the conditions expected.

Nothing teaches this lesson like taking the shot in subfreezing conditions, hearing a soft click and watching the striker SLOWLY CREEP FORWARD, thanks to lube that turned solid in the cold. NO lube is better than the wrong lube in extreme cold.

I fondly remember the Adirondack deer camps of my youth, and one of the things we did back then was to NOT bring our deer rifles in from the cold until the end of the hunt. Ammo, sure, but the rifles themselves stayed outside the cabin, so no condensation would form on them or in them. The alternative was to bring them in, and tear them down to clean out condensation, after they warmed up enough to stop "sweating". And not from fear about rust in the few days or week of hunting camp, but because the moisture formed would freeze again when you went back outside the next day, and likely render the gun inoperable. (frozen solid).

I love deep winter. These days, I love if from inside a warm place whenever I can. Now if only I could get someone else to chop and carry my wood, I'd love it even more. ;)
 
Yep.

During elk hunts, in particular, I often find myself battling rain, snow, or soggy trees (which, of course, pour down upon you as soon as you get close, even if it's a nice day).

One of my brothers runs a Remington Sportsman 78 (blued) and I run a Ruger 77 Mk II (stainless) as our "old-reliable" / "last-ditch" / "if-all-else-fails" option. Those two rifles are absolutely terrible for sticky/gooey/sluggish bolts when they get wet.

No matter what lubricant we use**, as soon as water gets into the action, it's like someone dumped a bucket of tar into the thing. We've never had it cause a big enough problem with a striker to worry us, but I once watched my brother take almost 20 seconds to open the bolt on that Rem 78 ... because that's as fast as it would move with the oil/water emulsion and the cold temperatures.

So, most of us now run as "dry" as possible if we know water is in the future. Then, at the end of the day, we do a basic field strip and wipe down with Rem-Oil wipes for the night (just to wipe it back off the bolt in the morning).

And we simply accept the fact that once the hunt begins, the rifles may have to live 'wet' until we have a chance to fully strip and clean them. If it is something we truly love, don't want sitting in moisture, and find ourselves carrying while caught in rain or 'tree melt' on what should have been a nice day, then we may break out the tool box and detail strip the firearm for a dry-and-lube session.

But the average hunting rifle ... that's their job. Moisture will happen. And, outside of extreme circumstances, we take care of it after the season.


**This year, I'm trying Slip2000 lubricants. I ran them last year, as well, but it wasn't much of a test. I didn't get wet or have to deal with snow during any of the 4 seasons I hunted. Crazy year.
 
A hunting rifle really isn't shot much, strip the bolt down only if there is a problem. A benchrest rifle is different, thousands of rounds are shot. Firing pin springs are changed from use , faster lock time & remove old oil , brass and fouling. It's good to know how to take care of your firearm & must have tools, like a stuck case remover. Very simple to use, but if you don't have one & you have a head rip off in your bolt with the case stuck in the chamfer, it seems like a nightmare. Comes down to things you should know.
 
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