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Old July 18, 2000, 12:04 AM   #1
Badger Arms
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Thanks for helping out. My Enfield's bolt jumps about halfway out of battery when I fire the gun. It's very smooth and shiny on all of the contact surfaces and smoother than silk in action. My problem is that I get the jitters whenever the bolt handle goes up like that. I've been told this is normal but Don't like it and don't know why it does it. Any comments. And no, it's not for sale either.

[This message has been edited by badgerarms (edited July 18, 2000).]

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Old July 18, 2000, 06:35 AM   #2
Bud Helms
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My Enfield was doing that and I discovered that I wasn't rotating the bolt completely down. There was one last little "snick" and it was locked. Just about an eighth of an inch bolt movement.
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Old July 18, 2000, 07:17 AM   #3
Harley Nolden
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Badgeramrs:
You may want to try this: As senop explained, one small extra push puts the bolt handle down on his gun and locks the bolt.

Try this:

Put some lipstick on the bottom side of the bolt handle, close the bolt. It there is lipstick on the stock, relieve some wood under the bolt handle. Do this until the lipstick disapears. Sensop, you may want to try this also.

Sometimes wholesalers will excnage the stock to make the gun more appealing and the fit is not correct.

HJN

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Old July 18, 2000, 07:33 AM   #4
vanfunk
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I experience this same phenomenon in my Savage-made No.4 MK1*. Whether the rifle is dry-fired or live-fired, the bolt knob jumps up about 3/4 of an inch from the fully locked position. I posted this same question over on the gunspot.com forum, under the Military Surplus category, and got some rational, compelling responses. I can't recall the mechanics involved, but it is apparently a very common occurrence and not cause for concern. Head over to gunspot and do a search for the thread. You may want to have a gunsmith look the piece over to be safe, but my guess is that you are experiencing one of the personality "quirks" common to the design. Good luck!
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Old July 18, 2000, 07:45 AM   #5
416Rigby
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Y'all,

This is entirely normal due to the peculiar locking mechanism of the Lee action.

Since the action cocks upon the forward travel of the bolt (not upon lifting of the bolt, like some Mauser actions do) all the remaining motions of the bolt are "dead". Hence, there is nothing really strong to retain the bolt in its locked position. A few degrees lift upon firing is not only normal, but was appreciated in war-time (and still is by competitive shooters) because it makes follow-up shots faster.

Hope it helps.
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Old July 18, 2000, 09:30 AM   #6
jeffer
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This is the result of millions of years of evolution. Sometime in the future these bolt guns will become semi auto then full auto!
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Old July 18, 2000, 11:06 AM   #7
Coinneach
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On the one paw, we've got people saying bolt jump is normal. On the other, my 4-1 stays locked closed even with max loads.

My head... oy my head...
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Old July 20, 2000, 10:37 PM   #8
Badger Arms
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I'm imagining that this is normal because I've heard of it so much. If a gun made in such prolific numbers were able to survive decades of service with a glaring flaw, I'd imagine it would be common knowledge. What I'd like to hear would be a soldier who used them in combat who could give us his opinion. I'm guessing it might not do this if it were a wee bit dirty.
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Old July 21, 2000, 04:18 PM   #9
TABING
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I've got 5 no1,mk4s and have never heard of or seen this, otoh, the enfield CAN fire even if the bolt is not completly closed and locked up, severe consequences will follow. I'd have this checked out by a competent smith if the above suggestions don't remedy this.
ALWAYS WEAR EYE AND EAR PROTECTION!
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Old July 21, 2000, 09:42 PM   #10
po boy
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>jeffer
thanks for the info I was worried I had a worn sear on my #4 it fires twice with one trigger pull guess its that evolution thang.... Originally posted by jeffer:
This is the result of millions of years of evolution. Sometime in the future these bolt guns will become semi auto then full auto!
[/quote]

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Old July 21, 2000, 11:44 PM   #11
Badger Arms
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Quote:
--------------------
TABING I've got 5 no1,mk4s and have never heard of or seen this, otoh, the enfield CAN fire even if the bolt is not completly closed and locked up, severe consequences will follow. I'd have this checked out by a competent smith if the above suggestions don't remedy this.
ALWAYS WEAR EYE AND EAR PROTECTION!
--------------------

Tabing, the problem is that I'm one of those competent gunsmiths. There is no magic to it, but since I'm not an engineer, I can't tell if it's ever going to be a problem. I guess I'll just have to live with it. Heck, worst thing that can happen is, uh, ouch.
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Old July 22, 2000, 02:49 PM   #12
Badger Arms
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Quote:
---------------------------
Try this:

Put some lipstick on the bottom side of the bolt handle, close the bolt. It there is lipstick on the stock, relieve some wood under the bolt handle. Do this until the lipstick disapears. Sensop, you may want to try this also.
---------------------------

Uh, I looked at the gun and the bolt handle closes on the receiver. There is no wood under the handle anywhere.
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Old July 22, 2000, 08:48 PM   #13
Robert Foote
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There is an Enfield board over on Gun & Knife with some knowledgeable folks there. You might run this by them. BTW, I have 5 LEs; I recall one doing the same occasionally; I didn't consider it serious.

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