Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Gre-Tan firing pin assembly is stiff to open bolt- Normal?

I ordered a Gre-Tan fluted firing pin assembly to replace the ISS on my BDL SS 300 SAUM. I lightly greased the cocking piece. It is very stiff to open the bolt though. By stiff, I mean that I can't operate it with one finger. Is this normal? Do they break in with use? It sure looks nice and has a much better lock time.

Take it all apart. Clean it with brake cleaner. Coat parts with dye chem. Reassemble and cycle. Look for rub marks (high spots). Polish to remove.

I would suspect a highspot or burr inside the bolt body or on the cocking cam.

Have you tried it in another bolt body ?

Have you called Gre-Tan ?

Haven't heard back from Gre-Tan yet. Even the amount of "force" to pull the cocking pice back during assembly/disassembly seems toughter than it should be.

I'll wait to hear from Gre-Tan first, then it looks like a little project may await.

Thanks JH!

Just for comparison, I removed the Gre'Tan and installed the original Remington ISS assembly. There's no comparison. The J-lock is much easier to operate. Something's amiss with the Gre'Tan.

There's a trade off between easier bolt lift with a lighter spring weight vs an adequate primer strike with a heavier spring.

Your ISS is several years old and has lost some oomph compared to a new Gre'Tan.

Actually, this rifle was purchased new just last fall, even though it was made in 2002. The ISS only has about 100 rounds of use. There's much more than a trade off in this case. The Gre-Tan flat out has a problem.

That ISS spring has been compressed for nine years plus......

I never said there wasn't a problem........

Greg Tannel said that it could be from a heavier spring tension which I understand. It is definitely more stiff. He also said to use a good anit-cease on the threads and cocking cam on the bolt body. I'll do a complete tear down and clean, re-assemble and lube and see what I have. I suspect that the additional spring tension and the sharp edges on the cocking piece gouged the cocking cam.

aalf, didn't mean to sound insulting to you. That wasn't my intension. Thanks for the feedback, and you are certainly correct.

I've honed out the inside of a bolt body just a touch to make some work smoothly. There isn't a problem with the Gre-Tan they just do match up without a little honing/smoothing.

As it turns out, there was a sharp edge on the Gre-Tan's cocking piece that was progressively digging into the cocking cam on the bolt body. This developed a little "ridge" making it difficult for the cocking piece to clear. A little smothing out and all is well. The only reason it's stiffer now is due to the heavier spring. A huge improvement over the ISS, no surprise there.

I'd expect better than "a sharp edge on the cocking piece" of an aftermarket "upgrade".

That was my thinking too, but the ridge could have been on the bolt from the factory since I didn't give it a detailed inspection at first. The sharp edge might not have caused it, but it was sure making it worse. All the edges are sharp on the Gre'Tan compared to the factory piece. It sounds like others have needed to perform small adjustments at times, so I don't feel too bad about it.

I know this thread is old but I just received the fluted FPA from gre-tan (brownells) and my bolt lift is so tight I thought I may have had a too-long scope base screw or something else screwy causing a bind. I have taken the shroud off now and cocking piece and will do some detailed inspection along with other parts. Bummed out. It definitely does not feel right regardless of spring power.