M1917 - Cannot get bolt apart
Hi guys,
Some of you who have read my previous posts may have heard about my grandpa's rifle that I inherited. It's a beautiful rifle and I really like it... Got the stock looking really nice again by treating it with some linseed oil (thanks to tips from here) and all the surface rust came off with minimal elbow grease. Looks to be a great gun and the rifling looks pretty good too. Can't wait to shoot it.
Only one problem: Haven't been able to get the bolt apart. Every manual and place I've looked up has said to pull the bolt open, put the safety all the way back and then close the bolt. However, when I do that, it requires a VERY large amount of force to push it forward (like I'm putting my entire body weight into it practically, and I weigh 210 lbs) and it still won't go. In fact, after I push hard enough, it forces the safety off and the bolt almost closes entirely minus the rotation.
Any thoughts? How can I get this thing apart and inspect the firing pin, spring, etc. and make sure it's all ok? Anyway to do it without having to use the above method?
Thanks much in advance.
Ah, from some research: There may be a problem with the safety or the trigger. I'm not sure how to diagnose the issue. Anyone seen this before or understand the inner workings of the M1917 series or Enfield rifles? They may be similar enough to be the same problem.
The gun does NOT fire when the safety is engaged. Nor does it fire when disengaging the safety (without pulling the trigger). It only fires after the safety is disengaged and the trigger is pulled. So it seems to pass a basic function test.
Is there another test I can try to verify proper workings of the safety and trigger?
Thanks much in advance.
I had a similar problem with an enfield years ago, i put the safety together wrong and it took a while for me to figure out what I did wrong,
sorry, but cannot remembet the fix, other than a beer or 2, severe cussing, and several attempts to get it right,
I was successful, but my fingers were sore from all the attempts,
Safety on, push bolt forward, a gap will open between the cocking piece and the bolt sleeve.
Place a coin (nickel) in the gap.
Release the bolt handle so the gap closes and the coin is held in the gap between the cocking piece and bolt sleeve.
Swing the thumb piece of the bolt stop and remove the bolt, while making sure not to disturb the coin.
Turn the bolt sleeve counter-clockwise until you can separate it from the bolt body.
Separate the bolt body and firing pin assembly.
Using a block of wood, place the point of the firing pin on the wood. Grasp the bolt sleeve and compress the main spring. Remove the coin.
When the bolt sleeve clears the cocking piece, turn the cocking piece a quarter turn, in either direction.
Remove the cocking piece.
Slowly and very carefully allow the main spring to expand.
Remove the bolt sleeve.
Remove the main spring from the striker.
There is a good amount of spring pressure, be careful.
