Bolt Fails to Cock Trigger

[DannoBoone]

So there I was at the range doing load work up. No warning at
all.....the rifle was shooting fine one round, but the next it
was like attempting to fire a round without cocking the bolt.
Has this ever happened to anyone shooting a post-64 Win Mod 70?


Anything I can do without taking it to a 'smith (they are as
few hen's teeth around here)? Everything looks tight, but
nothing doing as far as getting it to cock the trigger. Is it
the bolt or the trigger? Needless to say, the safety cannot
be moved to any position other than the one it's in....the
firing position.


This is a left-handed bolt, if that makes any difference.


Any suggestions? Thanx

[gunnut69]

It's likely the trigger has been worked on by someone who didn't know how. If the sear portion of the trigger is lowered appreciably it will not allow the trigger to reset and catch the striker. When the strike is caught the asfety notch is no longer aligned with the safety stem. Thus the safety can't turn into place. The factory won't sell these parts and most smiths are reluchtant to work on this problem.. but it can be fixed..

[Bigeasy]

I'd be thing trigger mechanism as well.  Is the sear portion of the trigger possibly chipped off?  Maybe the adjustments have worked loose?  If not,  Might be easiest to replace the trigger with an aftermarket such as Timney.  $60, $70 or so, and easy to install.  A gunsmith would probably charge at least that amount to fix yours, if you could find one.
 
Larry

[bilmac]

I've never looked at an M70 trigger, but isn't there an adjustment on it for sear engagement? Should be a little screw that adjusts how far forward the trigger will come and on the other end how far the sear will engage. On lots of triggers these screws are locked in place with a drop of glue. My guess is that the glue came loose and the screw moved.

[DannoBoone]

EUREKA!! Took the stock off again when I could get a lot
better look at it. There was a granule of powder within the
hole in the tang where the trigger/sear comes up to engage the
bolt which was preventing the sear to raise up.


Thanks to all for the suggestions!   :grin:

[Rangr44]

And yet again, the old advice hold true: When in doubt, clean it out.   
 
.