I have a question about a 1947 Model 70, one with a pre-war Type 1 receiver, paw shaped safety lever.
After I close and lock the bolt and put the safety to the intermediate position, if I open the bolt and push the safety to fire, the firing pin moves forward a bit. (To the position it is normally in when the bolt is open). Not all the way to fire.
I tried this with post-64 (USRAC and FN) Model 70’s and on those, the safety cannot be moved unless the bolt is locked.
Is this normal for pre64 model 70’s?
November 5, 2014
Hi Ron-
In short… Yes… It is normal operation for any pre-64 M70. Not just pre-wars… To satisfy Clarence I just went and did the test…
On a pre-64 M70, when the safety is in the middle position the bolt can be opened, but the firing pin is still being held in the “Safe” position by the safety. This position allows one to remove the bolt sleeve/firing pin/firing pin spring assembly from the bolt (for cleaning or maintenance) by simply depressing the bolt sleeve lock and rotating the bolt sleeve counter-clockwise. When removing a bolt that was opened with the safety in the “off safe” position, the firing pin is NOT held by the safety and removing the bolt internals requires compressing the firing pin first (like a Mauser).
Try this… Take your rifle and cock it. Don’t have it loaded… Obviously!!! Put the safety on (middle or full “on” position doesn’t matter)… Then flip it “off safe” like you’re ready to shoot. The striker will move forward about 0.100″ as the safety is no longer engaged and the sear is now resting on the trigger. Is that the movement you’re seeing?
BTW… If you ever use the option of the middle position to remove the bolt innards from the bolt body, try not to accidentally flip the safety “off” or you’ll have to compress the firing pin spring to where you can get the safety back to middle position to get the bolt reassembled. You either need strong hands or the right fixture to do that comfortably. DON’T ask how I know this!!!
Let me know if this makes sense…
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
Hi Lou,
Thanks for your insights. For me, the firing pin moves more than that – there is a clicking sound too.
Here are two pictures of the rifle with the bolt open:
First one is safety in intermediate position, bolt is open. Second, I pushed the safety forward, and firing pin moves forward by 1/8 inch, but not fully to fire.
(This is the position the pin usually is in when I remove the bolt after firing a round).
I uploaded the two pictures here:
Louis Luttrell said
BTW… If you ever use the option of the middle position to remove the bolt innards from the bolt body, try not to accidentally flip the safety “off” or you’ll have to compress the firing pin spring to where you can get the safety back to middle position to get the bolt reassembled. You either need strong hands or the right fixture to do that comfortably. DON’T ask how I know this!!!
I found out the same way. Having neither strong hands nor a fixture, I think I merely pushed the striker against a wooden post until I could flip the safety to the middle position. This happened with an ’03 Spfd, but the bolts disassemble similarly. The Army training manuals on the ’03 explain function, operation, repair, in greater detail than any commercial pub I’ve ever seen.
1 Guest(s)