Have 60 live rounds fired on the gun, probably somewhere in the realm of a thousand bolt cycles while sitting at home. The bolt lift is HEAVY. Heavy to the point it lifts the rifle up when lying prone and cycling. It has 4 locking lugs, and a 90-degree bolt throw Is this just the nature of the beast with the design? Or is there more I can do to lighten the lift?
Gunsmithing Another heavy bolt lift question. Seekins havak bravo 6.5prc
- Thread starter Lucreau
- Start date
90-degree bolt throw is the norm, so that by itself is not the problem.
How is the lubrication on the firing cam surfaces? Way back in the days of my first bolt gun, I got the usual advice to dry-fire and cycle the heck out of it. A few hundred cycles in, the bolt lift got really heavy. Turns out that dry-metal-on-metal is not the right way to get that rolling-on-ball-bearings feel. A bit of grease on this surface is a good idea since the contact pressure is fairly high.
If the problem can't be addressed via standard field-level maintenance, contact Seekins and they will help.
How is the lubrication on the firing cam surfaces? Way back in the days of my first bolt gun, I got the usual advice to dry-fire and cycle the heck out of it. A few hundred cycles in, the bolt lift got really heavy. Turns out that dry-metal-on-metal is not the right way to get that rolling-on-ball-bearings feel. A bit of grease on this surface is a good idea since the contact pressure is fairly high.
If the problem can't be addressed via standard field-level maintenance, contact Seekins and they will help.
^^What he said^^
Greasing the cocking cam surface(s) is part of my normal maintenance routine for this reason. I have in the past gone down a bit of a rabbit hole regarding what grease to use, and my current selection is a paste with high MOS2 content (JetLube MP-50). That said, I am 100% certain that I have spent more time thinking about it than it deserves and that any half decent grease will absolutely be sufficient for the job.
Dry surfaces not only get hard to move but they start to gall. And once they gall they get really tight. Because you were actually transferring metal from one surface to the other and that becomes really rough. It doesn’t take a lot of pressure to gall.
If lubrication doesn’t help, an option is lapping with extremely fine compound.
One question... is the bolt hard to move with a cartridge in? Or also on an empty chamber. Because if it’s on an empty chamber, the issue is more likely with the locking lugs or something internal to the action. If there is a cartridge in, then you need to look at whether the cartridge is fully chambering or whether there is something going on with its size, chamber, shoulder length, etc.
I would not do any lapping on a new rifle without contacting the manufacturer first. While it is a tried and true method to smooth up everything from rifle bolts to interrupted screw cannon breeches, it is not something a manufacturer will be happy with if the gun is still under warranty. Let them deal with it first.
Cheers, Sirhr
PS Sorry about all the typos in the original. Edited and fixed. VTT sucks.
If lubrication doesn’t help, an option is lapping with extremely fine compound.
One question... is the bolt hard to move with a cartridge in? Or also on an empty chamber. Because if it’s on an empty chamber, the issue is more likely with the locking lugs or something internal to the action. If there is a cartridge in, then you need to look at whether the cartridge is fully chambering or whether there is something going on with its size, chamber, shoulder length, etc.
I would not do any lapping on a new rifle without contacting the manufacturer first. While it is a tried and true method to smooth up everything from rifle bolts to interrupted screw cannon breeches, it is not something a manufacturer will be happy with if the gun is still under warranty. Let them deal with it first.
Cheers, Sirhr
PS Sorry about all the typos in the original. Edited and fixed. VTT sucks.
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So it does it with an empty chamber or a recently fired case. Both feel identical. I put moly grease on all the lug areas to help, so
It doesn’t really feel gritty or grinding, it’s just a hard initial lift and then it lightens Up after it’s been rotated
Talk to the manufacturer. Might be that after 1000 rounds (and lube) things smooth up a lot.
If things don't smooth up, might be a candidate for lapping. But don't start there.
Sirhr
Thanks for the response. I’ll probably just wait it out until I hit that round count. I just took the bolt apart, cleaned and oiled/greased everything and it’s definitely better. I may just be too picky about it. It’s very smooth at least
