Hi all. A few weeks ago I bought a Savage Edge .7mm-08 with the camo stock, after I had the opportunity to handle one and found how good it felt for me. When I brought the rifle home and assembled it, I discovered that the bolt worked differently than other bolt actions I had in the past (it's been a number of years since I've worked a new bolt action rifle).
When I go to open the bolt, it works nice and smoothly until almost the top, when I have to give it a fair amount of extra effort to finish opening it all the way. It's hard to describe how this feels, but imagine there's some sort of plastic-feeling high spot the bolt has to go over before it can go up all the way. I don't recall any other bolt action I've worked that felt like that. I have two British Enfields, and neither of them have that "hump" feel. Last Saturday, I bought a Savage 340 .30-30, and that bolt worked smooth as silk, up and back.
I brought it back where I bought it, and the store owner advised that was normal; he said something about the bolt head. Maybe it is normal. Is this the way new bolt actions in general feel? Is this unique to the Edge? Is this something that smooths out with shooting? It's not really a deal-breaker, though I'll have to work it a lot (empty, of course) so that I can work it fast and effectively to get off a quick second shot.