Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only 458 Whitworth Recent Acquisition and some help needed

I made mention in other threads of buying a 458 Whitworth Express rifle recently from the large estate being sold by the shop in Nevada. I got this off gbroker. Overall very happy with it. Condition to me is new unfired. It was dry and wood was dry and dull but as you can see it cleaned up very nicely. The trigger needed adjusted it had a fair amount of creep and heavy. The front sight hood was loose but I was able to bend it a little and tighten it up.

Now question I have is the bolt is not smooth. At least not as smooth as I would like it to be when you compare it to a well used 98k. It feels like its sort of grinding on the rails instead of gliding on them.

I have been working it but its not really changing. Is there anything I can do or is there any recommended smiths that could make this thing like glass? I'm in DFW and prefer not to have to ship it but open to knowing who does the work should it come to that.

Are you cycling with ammo?

A little polishing with some paste ought to do it.

This may sound stupid, but check your rear action screw. Make sure it is not sticking too proud. I've seen those rub on the bolt. The new mauser I bought a couple weeks ago was like that. Ground it down and reblued the end and all is good. Other than that, you can polish the bolt body, as well as the race ways inside the receiver. I do that to all of my Ruger m77's and they run like Model 70's when done. Same can be done to the mauser action. Good luck with it. I've had the brothers and sisters to that rifle in my hands and they are just as nice in person, as they are in the pic..

These are nice rifles! Mine below in .458 Win Mag. Bought NIB & seems OK. The Zastava action utilized isn't as smooth as the earlier FN equivalent. (I have a variety of both editions.) But it shouldn't feel what I'd term "gritty", if rising to that descriptor.
I'm surely no gunsmith and what BSA says makes sense. Decades ago, valve grinding compound was used on some bolt rifles to smooth cycling. But could be an appearance problem resulting.
Perhaps I'd try it with the striker mechanism removed and the floorplate hinged open perhaps next trigger removed to see if anything is unduly impinging.

Yet, IF you're expecting "glass hard" standard, an early Mannlicher Schönauer might fit your bill for that sort of hardness and the bolt support structure unlike the Mauser 98.

Last to mention the "human factor" of your perceptions/expectations too!
Just my take!
Best!
John

Re: tang screw...I've also seen this several times on Interarms Mausers. For sure take a look.

For me the biggest sources of drag are the outside, top, and bottom of the extractor, the sharp edges on the inside rear face of the rear bridge, often the top, bottom and leading edges of the bolt lugs (don't touch rear of lugs obviously), and the bolt body.

I once polished every part on a rough Mauser, part by part, then reassembing to test, and those things above made the biggest difference. Sort of depends on the rifle, I guess. I'm sure polishing the raceways will help but it never seemed to help my rifles much. Not sure why.

All of the above is maybe an hour's work (including cleanup) using a buffing wheel on your bench grinder (all the bolt parts) and a Dremel tool with a polishing bob (to break those sharp edges inside the rear receiver bridge).

The slowest approach is to use some sort of abrasive compound. Been there, done that, takes forever and makes a mess.

If the above doesn't get you where you want to be, send the barreled action to Birdsong for some Black-T. It's very slick.

Maybe other folks will have other ideas.

screw is not in the way...its just really rough looking around the rails and you feel that roughness in the action. Functionally its fine I just know that it can be better.


What kind of polish paste do I want?

Go to Midway. Probably 600 grit. Requires a fixture and a tool. May be better to send it out for a complete go-through by someone qualified for feed and function. Then I would have the bedding check as well as reinforce the stock if need be.

Here are some pic of the inside rails. Looks like raw metal. Is this normal? I'm guessing this is the cause of my grittiness?

Those raceways look like crap. I'd hit it with a file personally, then tackle it like I described in above post. When I polish out the raceways, it is with a piece of sandpaper stapled to a dowel cut to fit inside the receiver. Sorry to see that one in that kind of condition. I'd probably polish it out and then re-blue it and lightly lube it. Just me though..If you don't feel confident in doing it, take it to a smith to work it over. I was at that shop yesterday picking up a new rifle and looked at the 375 H&H Whitworth you were asking me about. Beautiful rifle. Good luck with your 458!!!

The gun is fine to probably most of the population and new unfired. That said I like my stuff right and I want it right.

Is there a go to expert gunsmith anyone recommends for stuff like this? There are smiths local but none that I know for sure are experts on this type of thing.

Dennis Olson in Plains, MT. He will do it right the first time.

Very interesting topic. I just picked up a Zastava M70 LH in .375 H&H. It's new or nearly so. I'm a true right-hander but have had to shoot bolt rifles from my left side do to a childhood accident that blinded my right eye. Only a few of my bolt rifles have had LH actions... I'm actually more comfortable with bolt handles on the right side, but this one intrigued me (and I've owned a few .375 H&Hs), so I purchased it with the proviso of returning it within 30 days if not satisfied. At the store, I nearly turned it down because of the "rough" action, but decided to bring it home and work on it - I'm a hobby gunsmith of sorts -. Having now done that for a relatively short time in the use of bearing grease, it has improved by at least 30%, and I think with more and continuous work on oppening and closing the bolt, then runniing it in and out, that will smooth it out enough to be acceptable, so I've decided to keep it. Plus, as mentioned, I'll use some 6 - 800 grit. It's a rather handsome and well built rifle.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

Great to hear Sir Bob. Expect to be reading about that one at your blog.

Thanks everyone. I had a good smith look at the rifle who advised me on the process to use and where to not get lapping compound. He said its not that bad as is and is 80% as good as it can be. He also advised finishing with crest toothpaste which he said was 1400 grit for polishing after a little 600grit lapping compound. I'll keep yall posted

Interested in hearing how you intend to polish, what your process will be. Done wrong, you'll make things more sloppy which will increase binding,