JWA said

Franklin Bradshaw said

Nephew has a tube fed mod 77. He says it’s bolt doesn’t lock open. I was wondering if it does ?  

 

Hi Franklin,

Some of the later Model 77’s have a “bolt hold-open” feature which is a small button on the barrel directly in front of the receiver on the right side.  Not all 77’s have this feature though as it was implemented sometime during mid-production.  A description of it appears in the 1960 Winchester catalog.

If his 77 has it he simply has to retract the bolt and then push down on the button and gently release the bolt while holding the button down.  The bolt should then catch and will be held in the rear (open) position.  It is a completely manual operation and the bolt is not automatically held open after the last round is fired.

Again, not all 77’s have this added feature though, only the late production models.

Hope that helps.

Regards,

  

Jeff, I’m resurrecting this thread because I picked one of these up today in very nice condition but the bolt hold open pin shown above is seemingly stuck. Won’t press down at any point along the bolt travel or at all.

Granted, I haven’t disassembled it yet, but wondering if you knew of a common issue there? Thanks!

Jeremy P said

JWA said

Franklin Bradshaw said

Nephew has a tube fed mod 77. He says it’s bolt doesn’t lock open. I was wondering if it does ?  

 

Hi Franklin,

Some of the later Model 77’s have a “bolt hold-open” feature which is a small button on the barrel directly in front of the receiver on the right side.  Not all 77’s have this feature though as it was implemented sometime during mid-production.  A description of it appears in the 1960 Winchester catalog.

If his 77 has it he simply has to retract the bolt and then push down on the button and gently release the bolt while holding the button down.  The bolt should then catch and will be held in the rear (open) position.  It is a completely manual operation and the bolt is not automatically held open after the last round is fired.

Again, not all 77’s have this added feature though, only the late production models.

Hope that helps.

Regards,

  

Jeff, I’m resurrecting this thread because I picked one of these up today in very nice condition but the bolt hold open pin shown above is seemingly stuck. Won’t press down at any point along the bolt travel or at all.

Granted, I haven’t disassembled it yet, but wondering if you knew of a common issue there? Thanks!

  

Hey, Jeremy. Ain’t them 77s the slickest you ever seen?  I had a mint tube feed for a short while before somebody twisted my arm and stuffed too many dollars in my pocket. Never even got to shoot it.  

The 77 stood out in Boy’s Life ads of 1954 – I remember the first time I saw the ad. But my Dad would have not bought an automatic for.me even if somebody had paid him to do it. A Sears single-shot was the limit. 

The 77 epitomizes, for me, the brief golden era of postwar Winchester when its gun design team produced some beautiful guns that couldn’t keep up with constantly inflating postwar labor costs. The 77, 88, 100, and 59 – and the little 55,  deserved better market response than they got. But they sure are pretty!

Jeremy P said

JWA said

Hi Jeremy,

The bolt hold-open is not a typical problem area but I have seen them gunked-up and stiff.  If they were reassembled incorrectly the spring can get jammed-up also.  Disassembly will tell the tale on your rifle though.

Sorry I couldn’t be more help.

Best Regards,

  

Jeff- I got her moving with a kroil soak and some light taps from a plastic mallet, but no spring tension. That was my next question was “is there a spring”…I’ll go ahead and disassemble and see what I can see from the inside since the barrel separates during takedown…

 

Zeb- Picked this one up off the Cabela’s “we don’t care about it” rack outside the gun room. They took a little off and Mike talked me into it.  🙂

  

It is an exceptionally nice specimen of a pretty cool rifle. And for the record Jeremy picked it up three times before I told him to buy it. I told him if he didn’t he’d be kicking himself before we got out of the parking lot. I learned that lesson decades ago, just trying to help! I saw a great project gun on the next rack and it reminded me I had her twin sister stashed in Houston. Road trip!

Mike

Jeremy P said

TXGunNut said

 

It is an exceptionally nice specimen of a pretty cool rifle. And for the record Jeremy picked it up three times before I told him to buy it. I told him if he didn’t he’d be kicking himself before we got out of the parking lot. 

  

True story. I’m still learning that lesson and I get spanked every time!

  

Floyd Hensley will verify I learned that lesson at his family’s gun shop over 30 years ago. If I picked a gun up three times I reached behind the counter for the clipboard with the “yellow sheets”. That’s what we called 4473’s back in the day. They priced guns pretty fair and if I walked away there was a very slim chance it would be there when I came to my senses. Besides, next guy to pick it up may be a clumsy dolt and ding YOUR gun.

Mike

TXGunNut said

Jeremy P said

TXGunNut said

 

It is an exceptionally nice specimen of a pretty cool rifle. And for the record Jeremy picked it up three times before I told him to buy it. I told him if he didn’t he’d be kicking himself before we got out of the parking lot. 

  

True story. I’m still learning that lesson and I get spanked every time!

  

Floyd Hensley will verify I learned that lesson at his family’s gun shop over 30 years ago. If I picked a gun up three times I reached behind the counter for the clipboard with the “yellow sheets”. That’s what we called 4473’s back in the day. They priced guns pretty fair and if I walked away there was a very slim chance it would be there when I came to my senses. Besides, next guy to pick it up may be a clumsy dolt and ding YOUR gun.

 

Mike

  

I’ve been on both ends of that deal, although my most memorable moments didn’t take 3 times. When Larry was set up on Main Street I would often run up there to see what was on his consignment rack.  Once, on a bright Winter day, I walked in to see a clean, prewar Savage 99 in 250-3000 — it stood out across the room. When I picked it up with serious intent, the Usual Suspects hanging out on their extended lunch breaks, started laughing. Somebody they knew was coming in after work to buy it. Never happen and Larry later said there were tears and gnashing of teeth. 

I later sold the little carbine because of its 20″ barrel with the 1:14 twist the factory insisted on for that chambering.  I’m sure an 87 grain bullet in a 24″ barrel would make the advertised velocity but a long 100 grain spitzer would keyhole from that short, slow barrel. I was unaware of the problem even though my experience with the cartridge in a Ruger 77RSI was considerable. The difference was Sturm, Ruger rifled its stubby 18.5″ barrel with a 1:10 twist. Like Newton had suggested to Savage to begin with, for the more useful 100 grain load. Overruled by the advertising department, apparently.

JWA said

Jeremy P said

Jeff- I got her moving with a kroil soak and some light taps from a plastic mallet, but no spring tension. That was my next question was “is there a spring”…I’ll go ahead and disassemble and see what I can see from the inside since the barrel separates during takedown… 

I am working on the other side of the world, away from my files and examples but I “think” there is a spring there.  I will be back from Antarctica on Saturday and can check the schematics then.  Sorry for the delay in confirmation….

Best Regards,

  

Antarctica, I’d love to go there.  One of the two continents that I have not set foot on. Let’s talk about this in Cody.

Well, in that case…. BE CAREFUL STAY SAFE.