Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Forbes/Remington Bolt Stuck

This is a Forbes Rifle that has a bolt very similar to that of a Remington. The problem is that upon cycling the trigger and the firing pin is in the forward position, the bolt is stuck. I've disassembled it enough to see that it is the angled groove of the bolt, that when the bolt is rotated, binds up with the metal piece at the rear of the firing pin assembly. I am sorry I don't know the proper names for these parts. Anyways, as the bolt is meant to rotate this angled groove should slide the firing pin assembly rearward. I can only get the pin assembly to slide back with prying it on the other side of the groove.

Is there something that I can do, carefully, myself, or should I take this to a gunsmith? I have tried to search the internet for similar problems and solutions but no luck yet. Prior to the complete bind up, I was noticing the bolt lift would take some effort, but this rifle is new to me so I didn't think anything of it at the time.

Thanks for any help

Have you tried some good grease? There’s a lot of pressure involved in that camming action.

Trying backing out the front action screw a turn or two... it can bind on a bolt lug and mimic that...

And STOP Prying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good point. I’ve seen what Sitka deer mention happen a couple of times. Also had it happen when I used the wrong screws that came with scope bases for the forward base. Oops 😬

The problem persists even when the stock is off.

I've put some RemOil on all the sliding surfaces, but not much improvement.

And when I pried, it was with brass. I know not to mar up the delicate insides.

Any other ideas?

Drop the trigger out?

Send to POS back to the manufacturer to fix the issue.

Except they are long out of business.

Mel will work on it though. Have you called him?

I've not, I understand he'll fix these rifles for a fair fee. Though I think I'd rather find a good local 'smith to avoid the shipping.

Have you removed the trigger group to see if it persists with no engagement of the bolt's cocking piece and the trigger sear? I've had trigger housings on 700's pinch the sear to where it couldn't freely move like it should, in turn creating a bear of an effort to raise the bolt handle on a dropped firing pin. A few taps with a punch and hammer spread out the housing on the top end to where the sear could move like it should. End of problem. Might be worth a look.

Bolt lift problem

Yes, I’ve had the trigger taken out.

This sounds more serious than what I encountered with my Forbes rifle. You probably should send it back to Melvin if a local smith doesn't pan out.

Some cheap Herters ammo would not extract. Both the chamber and bolt race ways and contact surfaces were rough. Most of this was due to the heavy Parkerizinf rather than bad machining. I polished the chamber with 4/0 steel wool and fine grinding compound, then I flushed everything with Carb cleaner and put Flitx metal polish on the back of the bolt lugs and the camming surface of the action. I cycled it for about 15 minutes until it felt noticeably smoother. Flushed everything out again and put some engine assembly grease on the back of the lugs and Eesox on everything else. Now after shooting it more the action is very smooth and it has not had any extraction issues whatsoever,

Yours sounds more serious either something binding or the timing is way off to the point the bolt handle may even need re-welding. But it only hurts the Parkerizing to do the Flitz metal polish honing operation, so try at your own risk.

On the Forbes Melvin likes to replace some of the springs, the fire pin being one of them. On a Colt light rifle he likes to replace all the springs.

I would also pull the firing pin and check for binding, debris or crud to make certain there are no issues there. I polish both the pin and the interior of the bolt while I am at it.

Give ya a twenty. And pay the shipping to me. Rusty

I just spoke with Melvin, I’ll be sending it to him to work his magic. Thanks for the helpful responses.

If this is occurring even if the chamber's empty, then the issue is with the cocking piece and cocking ramp interface. Are both these parts SS? If so, I would bet you have a galling problem.. It could also (along with that) be a poorly shaped cocking piece nose and/or improper angle.. Any Rem 'smith worth his salt can cure that problem.. JMHO..