Action remaining locked during unloading

Information on Malfunctions and Care of your Model 8 & 81
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McWilliams86
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Oct 05, 2019 12:17 pm

Action remaining locked during unloading

Post by McWilliams86 »

Hey y'all, new member and (relatively) new Model 8 owner, 32 caliber, no. 45000ish; today I've encountered something odd, in that when manually unloading (racking the action) the bolt does not want to cam out of the barrel extension without "assitance" (aka "mortaring" the rifle).

I have fired Buffalo Arms (40 rounds), Precision Catridge (6 rounds), and lastly, reloaded Graf brass (20 rounds). (All 170 grain round-nose)

The Buffalo performed very well, no issues, the Precision was loaded so hot the takedown screw backed off almost 1/4 round so thats collecting dust now, the reloads also performed flawlessly, each round cycling and firing with no issues.

Today I brought the reloads and after firing a few I tried to manually unload the last round in the magazine. I pulled the bolt handle and it acted like it was stuck. I pulled harder and the barrel recoiled all the way back; only by rapping the buttplate on the bench did the bolt unlock and round extract/eject.
I then loaded two more to see if it was a fluke and found that by pulling the bolt back about 1/4 of the way back and rapping the buttplate while pulling the bolt handle that the mechanism acted properly (barrel recoiling partially, bolt coming all the way back, you know the drill).

I have not had a chance today to dissasemble the rifle but I am curious if anyone else has had this issue and if was something other than a burr causing it to act up. Like I say, firing it cycles perfectly; working the action empty it works fine, but the addition if a round makes it not want to extract/eject without help.

I don't know if it is related, but occasionally the bolt will cam itself 90° while it is being cycled by hand and once after firing, I have to push it into place with a tool so it is straight up and down.
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81police
Posts: 2613
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 12:12 pm
Location: TEXAS

Re: Action remaining locked during unloading

Post by 81police »

Never seen this issue personally. It's def a call for disassembly, inspection & cleaning. I'd check out the cams in the bolt carrier.
Cam Woodall
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McWilliams86
Posts: 2
Joined: Sat Oct 05, 2019 12:17 pm

Re: Action remaining locked during unloading

Post by McWilliams86 »

Thank you for the reply, I will definitely give that a look over again, that's where I felt the issue lay to begin with; I was afraid of removing too much material for reliable function (polishing things up a bit) so im at 1200 grit and working my way down the action (barrel first, bolt and carrier, &c.)
Fred
Posts: 146
Joined: Wed Feb 26, 2014 11:10 pm

Re: Action remaining locked during unloading

Post by Fred »

McWilliams86 wrote: Sat Oct 05, 2019 12:47 pmoccasionally the bolt will cam itself 90° while it is being cycled by hand and once after firing, I have to push it into place with a tool so it is straight up and down.
In my M81 examples the spring surrounding the firing pin will keep the bolt extended with the lugs at the 12 and 6 o'clock positions. I'm not sure how well it functions without the firing pin spring. Perhaps your M8 was the earlier model that had no FP spring. That said, you should check that you have the spring for the catch on the left side of the bolt carrier at the 3 o'clock position. That catch sets the timing on when it can rotate into battery.
danny58
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Mar 20, 2019 1:28 pm
Location: Adirondack mtn's

Re: Action remaining locked during unloading

Post by danny58 »

I encountered much the same problem..hand ejecting un fired rounds. when i finally scrubbed the hell out of the chamber and lightly polished it, the rifle cycled like a dream. 81 yrs of crud in there. It cant hurt to try it. eliminate one area at a time.
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