Don't forget to clean your bolts.

[Rank Amateur]

You all probably remember my misfortune last year, the day before heading east, going to throw a few more rounds down range and the last round out of 3 went click! Slight dent in the primer.

Long story short, you have to tear the bolt down every few years and clean up the gunk and or rust. Just dripping oil down the firing pin hole will not do it. So if your bolt hasn't been stripped down in a few years, you might want to get it done.

Thanks to Hunt'nfish, I was able to strip and clean my bolt and was back in bussiness.

[Hunt'nFish]

Sage advice. Take care of your weapon and it'll take care of you.
I know most of us don't like to disassemble our rifles between seasons, zeroed and ready to go at all times. BUT, bolt/fireing pin malfunctions are the most common bolt gun failure and taking out the bolt for full disassembly and cleaning WILL NOT change your zero.

Observing Alaskan cold/wet weather preperations will make you rifle flawless in the field.
Complete cleaning followed by dry lube treatment is advised.
Dan in Alaska & CWH can probably share more helpful rifle prep procedure that work up there.
I'd be interested to hear how they prep their equipment.

Me...... I use a thin sprayed on coating of Eezox on my rifles. Drys to a thin film, displaces moisture and is VERY corrosion resistant.
Hunt'nFish

[blacktail hunter]

thank you for the info.

[fishgetter]

Do not know what kind of gun it is but I have never had to tear down a bolt on a Winchester Model 70 and mine are 35-40 years old. I just oil and use, I have never even thought about disassembling the bolt, is this something you can do at home?

Thanks,

[Hunt'nFish]

With knowledge, yes.

But taking the bolt to a reputible smith is worth the few $$. Just do not use any oil.....oil atracts dirt/dust and gums up in cold conditions.

WD40 is the worst thing you could use.

Swishiing in acetone or toulene followed by a hosing down w/ LSP would probably be ok....but Eezox or Break-Free is best.
Hunt'nFish

[DogZilla15]

.....and while you're at it, change the spring. Most folks never consider this and it is one of the major sources of poor accuracy in older rifles. The best primer in the world is no good if it isn't hit hard enough.

[StickFish]

Ken Jarret recommends using zippo lighter fluid to clean tripper mechanisms. Don't see why you couldn't use it for bolts as well. Leaves a very thin coat of lub when it dries, much thinner than Eezox. I would never drip oil into the firing pin hole. Gum city.

If you are headed to Alaska and frigid hunting - I would completely degrease the mechanism before leaving so there is no oil to slow the firing pin. Re-apply when you get home from that hunt of a life time

[cwh]

On a hunting rifle, assuming stainless steel, I have almost no oil. A LITTLE something on the cocking ramp, and I'm done. I clean the bolt/firing pin/spring out with brake cleaner usually when I first buy a rifle.

Tape the muzzle, go hunting.

It's not like we're out hunting in 30 below weather. Salt and water are a bad combo for rifles, but that's the reason for the stainless. Knock the rust off after you dry it out, and maybe oil the exterior then. If I were playing with blued rifles, I'd probably be hosing them down with something like Eezox.

[baltz526]

you guys are just sitting around making work for me. since the bolts for this years hunts are #1 mauser, #2 winchester push feed, #3 weatherby vangaurd. i need to dig deep in my cloudy memory for 3 bolt types disassembly and reassembly

[cwh]

What the heck are you shooting in a Mauser?

I bet there is at least one rifle in my gun safe that is older than me, has never had the bolt cleaned, and has killed more animals than I likely ever will. But I'd probably clean it before I went hunting with it.

[Hunt'nFish]

Eezox comes in two forms....aresol and oil bottle. I prefer the aresol. It thinned w/ an alcohol carrier that dries and leaves a thin dry film.

IPA/Eezox mix
However if you have the oil form, you can purchase 99% Isopropyl Alcohol for $2 in a pump bottle. Add a few drops of Eezox to the pump bottle and shake to mix. I use this a general purpose solvent when stoning trigger parts and cleaning trigger groups.

I also use this same mix as a follow up to cleaning a barrel w/ copper solvent.
Ammonia based copper solvents will rust/pit a barrel if you don't get it all out. A good scrubbing w/ the IPA/Eezox mix leaves the bore essentially degreased w/ only a very, very thin layer of Eezox. When I follow this procedure I do not need to fire rounds to burn the solvent out .... or "Foul" the barrel. First round goes to same POI as if fouled w/ 3rds.

Stickfish, good tip on the lighter fluid. I'd forgotten that one.
Although I'm not sure I want my rifle smelling like a Zippo. But good in a pinch should you find your firing pin soft hitting during a hunt.
Hunt'nFish

[StickFish]

Originally Posted by Hunt'nFish

Eezox comes in two forms....aresol and oil bottle. I prefer the aresol. It thinned w/ an alcohol carrier that dries and leaves a thin dry film.

IPA/Eezox mix
However if you have the oil form, you can purchase 99% Isopropyl Alcohol for $2 in a pump bottle. Add a few drops of Eezox to the pump bottle and shake to mix. I use this a general purpose solvent when stoning trigger parts and cleaning trigger groups.

I also use this same mix as a follow up to cleaning a barrel w/ copper solvent.
Ammonia based copper solvents will rust/pit a barrel if you don't get it all out. A good scrubbing w/ the IPA/Eezox mix leaves the bore essentially degreased w/ only a very, very thin layer of Eezox. When I follow this procedure I do not need to fire rounds to burn the solvent out .... or "Foul" the barrel. First round goes to same POI as if fouled w/ 3rds.

Stickfish, good tip on the lighter fluid. I'd forgotten that one.
Although I'm not sure I want my rifle smelling like a Zippo. But good in a pinch should you find your firing pin soft hitting during a hunt.
Hunt'nFish

Ken's paper talks about hosing it down with the stuff and letting it dry - I don't think it will leave much of an aroma, or at least I'm sure I smell lots worse than the rifle ever will

I called to clarify which lighter fluid - I'll have to look around but I think I still have it - Jim C gave it to me from some SCI function he went to

[Linejerk]

Good advice

[Spotted Owl]

I didn't read what the other posts said, so I hope this is not a repeat. This is what we do.

Every year or two we strip down and clean. Also when new. Strip the bolt spary liberally with break or carb clean, also the trigger mechanism. Spray well and scrub with a tooth brush to get in those hard to reach places. Spray again. Don't forget the inside of the bolt tube the spring the pin everything and the trigger mechanism.

Shake excess off and let dry. Shake again and let dry some more.

Then we use dri-slide https://www.russack.com/.

I have had my guns out in subzero weather, not often but they have been there. The oil gumed and got sticky. Then switched to this dri-slide and cleaning regiment, never had another problem. Goes on with an alcohol based carrier. The alcohol evaps and leavs a dri corrosion resistant and very slick coating the repels moisture and works very well. Helps with the dust and dry nasties out on the desert also.

Caution though thi lube will stain whatever it comes in contact with.



Owl

[scottishsetter]

You guys are great!!!!!!!

This thread is another reason to buy more new rifles!

[baltz526]

whitworth mauser 7mm rem mag

[huntinfool]

Originally Posted by cwh

On a hunting rifle, assuming stainless steel, I have almost no oil. A LITTLE something on the cocking ramp, and I'm done. I clean the bolt/firing pin/spring out with brake cleaner usually when I first buy a rifle.

Tape the muzzle, go hunting.

It's not like we're out hunting in 30 below weather. Salt and water are a bad combo for rifles, but that's the reason for the stainless. Knock the rust off after you dry it out, and maybe oil the exterior then. If I were playing with blued rifles, I'd probably be hosing them down with something like Eezox.

Ever hear of galling? By not putting some sort of grease behind the locking lugs you're asking for it. This is especially prevailent on stainless rifles, not so much with blued. Hunting in dusty conditions intesifies galling. Putting grease just behind the lugs helps the bolt open smoother and also prevents wear.

[Charlie Storey]

Something else that may require attention is the chamber. I was having trouble getting my bolt closed a few years back and it kept getting worse. I remembered all the fir needles that find a way into my rifle while hunting and wondered if some were getting into the chamber while unloading or something. Sooooo, I got a dowel about the diameter of the chamber and carved a shoulder on it, dipped it in solvent and worked on the shoulder of the chamber. Lots of stuff stuck in there, and when I was done end of problem.

[cwh]

I've heard of galling, but never seen it. Gunsmith recommended the same thing, but I really dislike unnecessary grease.

In a typical day of hunting, I'd probably work the bolt 3-4 times max. Just can't see putting something on the lugs that would attract other "stuff".

[DAB]

As for cleaning the bolt, I use gun scrub or brake kleen or berrymans, Take bolt out of rifle, spray every crack and hole I can spay the cleaner in and a lot of it then blow out with compressed air and redo one more time, then use a quality gun oil squirt every crack and hole so bolt is dripping with oil, once again blow excess oil out of bolt. The blowing out the oil also makes sure you have a light coating on all surfaces of bolt inside and out. Learened it from a gum smitty.
DAB

[Rank Amateur]

The bolts are not that hard to take apart, I would suggest doing it, it is amazing the build up that can occur inside. You may not be able to spray out all the gunk.

[cwh]

I found Eezox today at the sporting goods store - I'll give it a shot. A couple places on the Montana are getting kind of red...

[Dan360]

Originally Posted by StickFish

Ken's paper talks about hosing it down with the stuff and letting it dry - I don't think it will leave much of an aroma, or at least I'm sure I smell lots worse than the rifle ever will

You weren't too smelly the last time we hung out. But there were garlic fries involved......

[Dan360]

Originally Posted by StickFish

If you are headed to Alaska and frigid hunting - I would completely degrease the mechanism before leaving so there is no oil to slow the firing pin. Re-apply when you get home from that hunt of a life time

My Dad is a believer now because of an incident with a moose in Alaska. He was within 35 yards with a heavily lubricated Marlin model 36. He pulled the trigger and the gun made a click that was barely audible. He racked the lever and the same thing happen. At this point, the moose decide to chase him into an alder thicket, where my Dad thought he was going to die a painful death. My grandfather was able to run down a hill and put 3 shots from his 8mm into the moose, finally killing it. Since then, he keeps his fighting guns wet and his hunting guns dry.

Oh, and when you're all cleaning your bolts, make sure the safety is on if you have a Winchester M70 or other mauser type actions. I saw this with a sporterized mauser after the bolt locked up on a guy and he couldn't get the thing apart.

[adobe wall]

Tearing down a Mauser, Winchester push feed, or even a remington bolt are all pretty much the same. It kinda takes three hands or a buddy the first time, after that you can probably do it yourself. You just have to get the bolt shroud off the back of the bolt.

If I was spending money on a hunt (and I reckon gas money counts now that the stuff is around $4/gallon) I'd darn sure have the bolt stripped, degreased, and dry lubed before I left town.

I'd have no qualms about blowing out the bolt with gunscrubber as the stuff does work but there is nothing like a visual inspection of the spring/firing pin. Follow up with Remington's dry lube (good stuff).

Surely there is a photo session on bolt disassembly floating around on the web somewhere, if not I can probably do something tomorrow.

The one caveat I'd add is that you need to put the bolt back together properly! If you don't screw the bolt shroud back in far enough the firing pin protrusion will not be sufficient. In other words, the rifle won't fire.

The last bolt gun I had rebarreled, it came back from the smith with this very problem. I loaded the weapon, squeezed off a round to the very worst sound- a dry click. At that point I had no idea if it was a hangfire or a mechanical issue with the rifle.

Once I got the live round out of the rifle I removed the bolt and "decocked" it (or whatever you call dropping the firing pin) and it was just barely through the bolt. Turned the shroud one more turn and that put the pin out where it looked "about right" and all was good. Eyeballing firing pin protrusion is also not the smartest thing in the world as you can end up with too much and a punctured primer. Another reason to wear safety glasses.

hth, aw