I simply cannot get past the notion one needs a rubber band to secure the bolt in place because the safety (which in and of itself is an issue) will not lock the bolt.
Your lack of experience with 700/721/722 rifles is showing again. The safeties DID lock the bolt down until 1982, when stupid people who apparently believed every round had to be run entirely into the chamber to empty the magazine started suing Remington--because they violated one of the basic rules of firearms safety, pointing a loaded rifle at objects they didn't want to shoot.
The Remington safety DID lock the bolt down for 35 years, from 1947 when the 721/722 appeared to 1982. I bought my first of several 700s in the 1970s--and half of the 700/722s I own lock the bolts down. So for approximately half the life of the 700/721/722 the safety DID lock the bolt..
Granted, the M70 safety allows the action to be opened with the safety on, by putting it in the middle position. But since the post-64 M70 was introduced both the PF and CRF versions have NOT allowed the rifle to fire when somebody put the safety in the middle position, anticipating having to push it forward when hunting dangerous game. This happens when the bolt-handle gets raised SLIGHTLY--and it can even happen with pre-64s. This is one disadvantage of the very long push-forward required with the pre-'64 type safety.
Which is why I prefer the 3-postion safety on CZ 550s (sadly discontinued) to the M70 type. The movement required is FAR less--and also locks the firing pin back, instead of just blocking the trigger. But so many hunters are convinced of the advantages of the pre-'64 safety they spend a lot of money converting 550s to pre-'64 safeties--when the factory safety was superior.
