Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Rem 700 not cocking on bolt lift

What is the fix for a 700 action that does not cock when the bolt handle is lifted? In this case it’s not a trigger adjustment problem. When the bolt handle is all the way up it doesn’t force the bolt back far enough to re-engage the trigger. Is this normally fixed by removing the bolt handle and moving it forward if there’s room? This is a new 700sa. Thanks.

Have you taken it apart to see if there is a broken spring or piece of metal jamming the mechanism? After removing the bolt, I usually use the sliding glass door frame and stick a dime in the bolt and then unscrew it...

No problems with the bolt itself. It does cock, but only with a little rearward movement to release pressure on the sear safety cam, then forward and down. Just lifting the bolt handle straight up all the way does not move the bolt back far enough to release that pressure on the sear safety cam and allow the trigger to reset like it should.

The timing affects the movement of the bolt to the rear, but the ramp that pulls the firing pin back should clear the cocking piece easily. That should release the pressure and allow the trigger weight spring to move the connector.

I suspect it is in the trigger.

Sear engagement?

I had one that the trigger was adjusted too light and it did the same exact thing.
Had to put more poundage on the trigger to get it to stop.

Just get a Timney.

I screwed with a varmint special a few weeks ago that had the 1st gen Mark Pro trigger , I tried to lighten the pull and in the process the sear would not engage. I had to get a ernie spring to get it 2.5 lbs. and the trigger still felt like crap.

I should have bought a trigger tech and been done with it.

Just throwing this out there....have you removed the firing pin assembly from the bolt body? If so did you screw it in all the way or by chance are you one revolution off and need to turn it in one more full turn???? Never tried it but one revolution from where it should be could leave it too far back to cock?? Just something to check!

Cleaning the trigger parts and using dry lube will usually fix that issue. A lighter spring will also be needed... and it will be a better trigger than the Timney.

Timney

mod7rem,
You aren't operating the bolt on a Mauser or Winchester.

Striker to Sear "HAND OFF" is the issue as any Remington to date is cock on open & cock on close(unless it's been modified).

Lift/rotate the bolt out of battery.
Firing pin is cocked/into detent radius @ 6o'clock in bolt body.
Pull bolt aft 1/8" to 1/4"
Trigger connector is reset.
Push forward & rotate bolt into battery.
Firing pin to sear safety bar is re-cocked .040"-.060" upon rotating into battery.

It's not Rocket Science!

" You aren't operating the bolt on a Mauser or a Winchester ". This is another way of saying, "you aren't operating the bolt on a rifle on which the extractor cam is located in the right place". If the rifle is made so the camming service contacts the receiver before the sear hits the cocking piece, the rifle is less likely to fire when the bolt is slammed shut, extraction is better, and, of course, the rifle will cock on opening. If Remington claims it was designed this way, this is company-speak for " we like to build these things to sloppy tolerances but it will be just fine if you get used to it and expect less." GD

This 700 sa that I’m talking about belongs to a friend of mine. He just bought the new action and had a barrel installed and asked me if I would mount a scope for him. This is the first time I’ve handled a Rem 700 or 7 that wouldn’t cock by lifting bolt all the way up and straight back down. I started with the trigger, which is an older style that locks bolt with safety on. I adjusted the trigger and found no problems there.
When I compare this 700 with my model 7, the bolt handle positions are different. My model 7 bolt handle is nice and tight to the receiver and gets full camming action when handle is lifted so the bolt is pushed back far enough to to lose contact with the sear safety bar and allow the trigger to re-set without having to actually pull the bolt back at all. The 700 handle is not as tight to the receiver and only gets partial can ramp contact so it doesn’t move the bolt backwards as far.
I don’t see how a different trigger will fix the problem on the 700 unless the measurements on the sear safety bar are different. It looks like the bolt handle has to be removed and repositioned.

OP,
ANY Remington & most Custom Clones are cock on open & cock on close unless they have been re-worked for striker to sear hand off.

Changing the trigger group or firing pin or firing pin striker will decrease or increase striker to sear hand off to some degree.

The measurements are present-measure it-out of battery,in battery & pin fall.

Locating & Timing the bolt handle for primary extraction will NOT change striker to sear hand off timing.

The hell it won't. If the camming surface contacts the receiver , on closing, before the cocking piece contacts the sear, you will have a rifle which cocks entirely on the upstroke. In recent years, more and more, I'm seeing 700's which have ZERO primary extraction and they certainly do not cock when the handle is lifted. Once the extraction camming surface is located as it should have been in the first place, lifting the handle starts extraction to a substantial degree AND the cocking piece is moved back far enough that the rifle will cock whether or not the bolt is withdrawn any further. GD.

greydog,
WRONG ANSWER.
(fix 10,000+ bolts/handles & get back w/ me as you haven't a CLUE)

Primary Extraction has NOTHING to do with firing pin cocking on any bolt action.

Once you rotate a Remington bolt handle out of battery you start to re-cock the firing pin.
(hint- that's what the cam surface is that's cut into the aft end of the bolt body.)
The firing pin STRIKER "detent's" into the radius cut at 6o'clock position.

Tip the rifle muzzle down w/ a cleared action.
Bolt slides fwd.
TAKE NOTE to how much protrusion you have from striker to shroud.

Push fwd & rotate bolt into battery.

TAKE NOTE to how much protrusion you have from striker to shroud.

Not my first rodeo
&
It's not Rocket Science

Sorry, but the primary extraction cramming surface as you call it has no effect on cocking. The cocking force is entirely the result of force applied to the cramming surface cut in the bolt body. That is all rotational via the bolt handle.

There may be some confusion in how I described the problem. There’s no problem with the camming ramp that is machined into the bolt body. When the bolt handle is raised, the firing pin assembly is definitely being moved back into position. But, the problem is the bolt body hasn’t moved rearward far enough to release pressure on the trigger assembly and allow it to reset and hold back the firing pin assembly when the bolt is lifted all the way up then back down. I think the problem is that the ramp on the receiver and ramp on the bolt handle are not getting full contact while lifting the bolt, and because of that the bolt body isn’t being moved rearward as far as it should be when the bolt handle is lifted. If the handle was welded/soldered a little farther forward on the bolt body, there would be max contact between those ramp surfaces, and the bolt body would be moved farther rearward when the handle is lifted all the way up.

Why else would other 700 actions fully cock the firing pin back into position, ready to fire, just by lifting the handle straight up then back down again but this particular action won’t without pulling the bolt back a little farther? I doesn’t make sense that both scenarios would be considered normal operation.

As Dan said the two functions are happening at the same time but unrelated. You stated the trigger weight spring had been "adjusted" and you likely went to a very light setting on a stiff spring.

The bolt body has moved back far enough but the spring is set so light it is not resetting. Raise the trigger pull or change to a lighter weight, longer range (at the lighter weight setting) spring and it will reset sooner than it has to, again.

Bingo!