Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing J C Higgins Mod 50 Bolt issue

Looking for some direction about what could be causing my J C Higgins model 50 to on occasion not cock ? I've shot, hunted with this riflefor the better part of 20 yrs and never had an issue , but several times today, while I was at the range sighting in , it would chamber a round but when I squeezed the trigger nothing - tried it with an empty chamber first time no go after that no problem . Action is a commercial FN Mauser action built 40/50's . I istalled a Timney trigger a number of years ago so it's not the original two stage . Curious to find what is wrong. Trigger ? firing pin ? Any suggestions appreciated .
Thanks ,
Tortoise

Did you save the original parts like a good boy? Try them.

You might want to pull the firing pin assembly out of the bolt and see if there has been some crud buildup over the years.

If cleaning the bolt and properly adjusting the trigger doesn't help, look and see if there is wood interfering with the trigger. If none of that works, I would suggest replacing the cocking piece with a military one. The military ones have a 90 degree face that engages the sear; J.C. Higgins uses commercial cocking pieces with a lesser angle, 30-45 degrees or there about.

Check to see if the firing pin sear is overriding the trigger, It may be set too light or lost its settings

First off, the Higgins 50 didn't come with a two stage trigger, it used a proprietary two piece affair mounted to the bottom metal. That said, you stated it wouldn't cock. That you chambered a round and pulled the trigger and nothing. With an empty chamber, when you lift the bolt, retract it, then close the bolt, is the cocking piece beingheld in the rearmost position? Or, is it moving forward as the bolt handle is turned down?

My thoughts too. Does not cocking mean that the cocking piece is not being held or something else ?

Z1r
disassembled the rifle and the trigger pull adjustment screw had actually fallen off- luckily it was still in the stock - and yes the cocking piece is moving forward even after I replaced the screw . Any thoughts as to what I might try next ?

Sent you a PM