M95 Steyr is a hoss to cycle

C

Chester Goode

Inactive
If you pull back the cocking spur and then cycle the bolt it will save a lot of pain in your hand (I know that defeats the purpose of the straight pull, but....). A question for the experts....... the bottom of the extractor rides upon a rail and that seems to be the point where the most friction occurs. Would it help (and be safe) to file down and polish the rail just a little to lessen the friction (stopping before the point where the bolt starts to lock ?
 
It needs to be stiff to lock up properly. A regular bolt action uses the camming action of the rotating bolt to unlock while the straight pull is just that, you need to muscle it open. Not being an expert on the 95 I would caution against grinding and filing on anything unless I was an expert and knew exactly what I was doing. If I needed to ask strangers about it I would not feel qualified to do it. You might create a situation where the bolt unlocks upon firing and that would be bad.
 
Disclaimer: im not a gunsmith, take it to one before you start filing and polishing your gun.

That said, the bolt head should rotate and cam into place, locking just as soundly as a traditional bolt will regardless of the linear friction of the bolt as a whole.

That said... have you disassembled the bolt itself and cleaned and lubed it? If there is drag on the bolt head where it is actuated inside the bolt, it could add a lot of friction to the pull.
 
What do the rails (where bolt slides) look like? Mine were very rough when I purchased it. What do the lugs on the bolt look like? Have you disassembled the bolt completely? If your not sure how check out youtube. Is it only tight when loading cartridges or also when cycling an empty chamber?
In my case the lower rails are rough. I was able to take off the high spots with a China stone and smooth things up. I also cleaned the bolt inside and out. It's still stiff but it works smooth and I have no trouble.
 
I did disassemble the bolt. The previous owner had taken good care of this rifle and it was clean and very lightly oiled. The only roughness I can see is the rail on which the bottom of the ejector slides. My idea was to reduce friction in this area. I used some 220 black paper and my little dremel wire wheel VERY lightly, just to remove some of the roughness, and then applied some oil. I wanted to see if anybody had taken this approach and been successful. I have not loaded or shot this rifle yet, and have not seriously filed or reduced any surfaces in this area.
 
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Chester- sand paper/emery or a wire wheel is not the way to do it. The idea with the china stone is that it only takes the high spots. Emery would take both the high and low spot. So the surface would be just as rough, but at a lower point. A file would work the same as the stone but its much to aggressive of a cut. Ill try and take a pic of what im talking about later and post it for you.

Is it hard to close, hard to open, or both? Is this with a cartridge in the rifle or without?
 
Well, the action is harder to open than to close although both ways are pretty stiff. I haven't tried it with a cartridge as I don't have any yet.
 
At least that rules out a dirty or damaged chamber. Any galling on the lugs? Edges of the lugs or any internal burrs? Try turning the bolt head out of the receiver while putting pressure on it in one direction then the other. Have to narow it down.
Any smith's in the area that would take a look and give you some idea if or where it's binding?
 
I did not see any glaring blurbs in the bolt lugs when I had it disassembled. I hesitate to repeat the process as I must repent for the words I had to use for reassembly. I wonder.... what is the best that these rifles can be made to perform?.....
 
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