Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Steven 86 C help required

A friend brought over to the house a Steven 86C for me to look at. Clean old gun but there is a problem I have not encountered before. The bolt in a cock on closing and it is almost impossible to close. Far more pressure is required than my Pattern 1917 Enfield. Watch a few videos and theirs operate very smoothly. Has anyone encountered this before?

No, but you could start by putting dry erase marker on the bolt, try to close it and check to see if if it's excessively rubbing.

Rubbing is not an issue that I can see. The bolt is extremely stiff firing pin spring. To cock the bolt after it has been removed from the rifle I have to put it in a large bench vise and tighten firmly to be able to cock the bolt. Something inside the bolt is the problem.

The 86C should cock on opening. They have a very strong spring and a very short firing pin stroke. All but some very early Savage/Stevens bolt actions cock on opening.

Gene is it the bolt that determines if cocked on open or closing? If so, might it have the wrong bolt?

It could have the wrong bolt, after thinking about this for awhile I kind of remember someone having the same issue on another web site quite a while ago. I think it had something to do with the tab on the bottom of the cocking piece not correctly engaging the slot in the bottom rear of the receiver. That tab is held by the groove in the receiver so it gets cammed to the cocked position as the bolt handle is lifted. It might also be a problem with the cocking ramp on the bolt, there is supposed to be a small indent to keep the cocking piece in the cocked position, if that's worn it would cock but then release as the bolt is retracted.

Some pictures, comparison of tube & box magazine and early 'slow lock' & later 'speed lock' - cock on open.

Thanks everyone. GeneB, those pictures helped. The one I am working on is the speed lock according to Gene's first photo it is the same as the gun on the left. I ASSUMED, and everyone knows what that stands for, it was a cock on closing like the early Winchester 69's. The cocking piece at the rear of the bolt would itself turn after firing and lifting the bolt. After seeing the detailed pictures, I now realize that the cocking piece should not turn and instead stay in the recess milled into the bottom of the receiver. This is not happening with this particular rifle. There is enough play between the bolt and the receiver to allow the bolt to move enough when the handle is raised that the cocking piece is no longer captured in the recessed receiver notch. When I release the trigger, I can hold downward pressure on the rear of the bolt while operating the bolt to the rear, to keep the cocking piece in the receiver notch. Now with the forums help I know what the problem is, I just don't know what the solution is. First knee jerk thought would be that the part of the cocking piece that rides in the recess must be worn, however the bluing is completely intact on this piece and appears that since the guns birth, it has never been in contact with the bottom of the recess. If it were mine, I would gently start tapping on the top of the receiver, using a large shop hammer, till there was no longer "slop" between the bolt and receiver. Before I return the gun to its owner, is there another common cure?