Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Model 70 Bolt/Safety wear issue

Who or how to repair this model 70 bolt/safety wear issue?

This is the 2nd time running across this wear making engaging the safety fairly difficult.

I bought a 7mm WSM locally and it shoots lights out, but the safety is difficult at times, even after a liberal application of grease after a thorough degreasing and deep cleaning.

I'm thinking the problem is where the safety lever cams the cocking piece back. The cam on the safety lever pushes against the red area of the cocking piece to hold it back in the safe position.

There is no wear on either part, but there was a serious lack of lubrication.

Looks like a worn cocking piece to me.

PM coming..

Did you manage to get some lube in there?
Seems like a good location for a bit if copper gun grease, less likely to dry out...

Yes, I used some Sta-Lube Extreme Pressure Anti-Seize Engine Assembly Lube and while it is a little better, I have talked to Redneck about fixing it, so it will be heading his way later this week.

Is it a three position or two.
In which direction is it difficult?
I think there are two or three drilled detents (you can see them in the lower right pane of WV's second image) and the thin boundary sort of curls over.....

OP your pic has nothing to do with stiff Safety operation. The picture shown would affect cocking. The bolt shroud would be rotated 90 degrees from your pic when ready to shoot and / or engage the Safety. The half moon area shown in red by a contributor is the issue. You could do it yourself if you are confident and careful or farm the job off to an experienced M70 gunsmith, i.e. Redneck for piece of mind. It is a common issue with Win 70's.

3 position safety, easy to release the safety, harder to engage and I am sending it to Redneck this morning

???????????????? My good fellow - you have absolutely zero knowledge of the NH M70 bolt operations.. Seriously not any flame - just an observation... Best wishes.

None taken Redneck
Trying to collect knowledge.
I have seen one or two three-position safety levers which are difficult to move out of the bolt locked position. I was curious if this was the same problem or a different issue. My first assumption was that the plunger which indexes the detents might be binding. It seems the simplest cause.

Note that in retrospect (I think) the two-position safety was discontinued by the time the 7mmWSM came around.

The area in blue is where the cocking piece rides. It is also the same spot where the bolt handle is sleeved onto the bolt. I have read (possibly on here) that this area is not properly hardened from the factory.

As someone mentioned, this is not your issue with the safety. Lee will get it set-up straight and timed correctly.

I sent the rifle to Redneck and it got back to me within a week after it arrived. The safety is smooth as butter and I had him tune the trigger, it's phenomenal.

Why Winchester/BACO thought they could improve on that design is beyond me.

Beyond me also... If the dumb bastids at Browning would have just refined the NH-style trigger they'd have saved a lot of customers.. But it's typical Browning - never do something simple when complicated is possible..

With all respect to Redneck and others, The NH trigger, in most cases, and IMHO, requires some work to be good. As you indicated, the NH-style trigger does need some refining. The problem I see with it is the amount of mass in the trigger/sear itself. Physics being what they are, if you lighten up the pull weight to under around 3 pounds, the trigger wont pass the "drop on the butt" test. I got around this on my NH M70 by skeletonizing the trigger/sear. It was a lot of work with a dremel, but will now pass the Butt drop, without tripping the sear with a 2 and a quarter pound pull. RJ

IF the trigger's left as-is, it can happen depending on the height you drop the rifle.. But - as has been noted many times, the so-called 'drop test' is something people probably did back in the 40s... It's a bogus test, period, and about as worthless as a screen door on a submarine.. When I redo a trigger, it doesn't need to have skeletonizing (sp?) to remain on the sear.. Besides, anyone (with any rifle) having a really light trigger also needs to use excellent safety practices when handling the firearm.. I.e., the safety stays ON until the owner's ready to fire.. Common sense, my friend.

Yes - the NH trigger requires some work, but the proper process can make the end result very good - and very safe.. Browning could have done the same thing for peanuts in cost - but they just COULDN"T leave it alone.. The dumbazzes...

I have seen this before. By your picture the breech bolt sleeve (bolt shroud) is out of time with the bolt. The lock (small plunger on left side of shroud) has engaged its notch too soon, or the bottom of the left side of the shroud is interfering with its rail of the receiver. Either way the cocking piece is not reaching its cocked detent on the rear of the bolt. Thus the bevel of the cocking piece is canted from the safety. May be a manufacturing problem? You need professional gunsmith help before you start grinding away.