Rough bolt action on Weatherby Vanguard
- Thread starter p5200
- Start date
Yes. Those are typically very smooth compared to most factory actions but yes, I'd put just a light coat of oil or atf on the bolt body too, for lube. Again, those are typically very slick actions. Same as a Howa 1500. Not quite a Tikka but good. Heck, a Tikka is slicker than a lot of customs, though. Keep oils out of the trigger, though. ATF is not bad as I've never seen it gum up unless it just got caked with dust/dirt, but not with just time, where lots of oils and most cleaning solvents will gum things up pretty fast without good maintenance. Plain old atf is actually about as good as it gets for a general gun oil.
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Had a 223 Rem with the same condition. Plus, the chamber contained tool marks causing the cases to bind in the chamber making very difficult to extract a fired case.
On the action, what I did was first clean the bolt exterior with mineral spirits to remove the factory preservative. Whatever the gunk was, it was part of the problem. Once I stripped the bolt of all factory preservative, I used a small paint brush and coated the bolt with mineral oil, a very light coating. It helped somewhat but the bolt just was not smooth, functionally ok but not smooth.
On the other problem, my smith polished the chamber and that solve that problem.
I was very disappointed in the quality of the rifle. It shot ok for a hunting rifle. I also like some of the design features such as the three position safety. But I wasn't crazy about the two stage trigger but it was crisp with no creep or over travel. The adjustment for pull required removing the rifle from the stock.
After owning several Tikka's I am spoiled rotten. They are just so superior to the other factory rifles I have had or inspected lately.
On the action, what I did was first clean the bolt exterior with mineral spirits to remove the factory preservative. Whatever the gunk was, it was part of the problem. Once I stripped the bolt of all factory preservative, I used a small paint brush and coated the bolt with mineral oil, a very light coating. It helped somewhat but the bolt just was not smooth, functionally ok but not smooth.
On the other problem, my smith polished the chamber and that solve that problem.
I was very disappointed in the quality of the rifle. It shot ok for a hunting rifle. I also like some of the design features such as the three position safety. But I wasn't crazy about the two stage trigger but it was crisp with no creep or over travel. The adjustment for pull required removing the rifle from the stock.
After owning several Tikka's I am spoiled rotten. They are just so superior to the other factory rifles I have had or inspected lately.
I'm beginning to think some of the bolt drag is the mag follower? I un latched the mag and pulled the follower down away from bolt. That seemed to lessen the bolt drag. It's starting to loosen up some the more I work the bolt. I think I'll use some mineral spirits to remove any gunk and try a little transmission fluid on bolt body. Thanks Folks!
I would also check the torque on the action screws. I have seen a few, from the factory, so tight as to bow the action in the factory bedding causing the bolt to bind. Reset to 45 front and 30 rear, inch pounds of course. And just like magic, the bolt ran great. Just a thought.
Paul
I would not use any automotive lubes on my firearms since most of them contain detergents.
Mineral oil (Hoppes Gun Oil) is benign. Used sparely, it works really well as a lube and preservative, at least in my experience. The best way I found to apply it to parts is to place a drop on each side of a small paint brush (a brush dedicated solely for this purpose) and brush the part. This places a very thin and light coating on the surface and that is all that is needed.
Liven The Dream
Gold $$ Contributor
Hobo Oil ?
And all above
And all above
...and then fix the bedding.
According to the manual the action screws are suppose to be set at 35 inch lbs front and rear. I'll try loosening and re torque the action screws. I'm kind of leary about messing with the action screws. I saw on another forum the triggers on two Vanguards were upgraded. After the upgrades both rifles began shooting 2-5" groups. Is that a possibility for me if I disturb the action screw torque? Actually, I won't know if things change because I haven't even shot it yet. I've got to get a scope rail yet. I did have a rifle that was bad about bolt binding with too much torque. I just wish what rifle it was lol! It's been a while. You may be right about the torque. I'll probably check it because there is just too much drag there. If I open magazine bottom latch, the bolt drops like a lead weight with gun vertical.
Coyotefurharvester
Silver $$ Contributor
No matter the torque 20,30,35 inch pounds you need to check for barrel movement as a result of tightening/loosening action bolts. Barrel movement usually means action/stock fit is not good.
Mark W
Gold $$ Contributor
That’s true, but Howas are generally well regarded for their accuracy. I have purchased two Vanguards because the price was right and they were both chambered in cartridges that wanted in my line up. Unfortunately, neither met my accuracy requirements, so they both went down the road. One of them had the ugliest bore that I have ever scoped and yes, I have looked at a bunch of savages.
Since I've already purchased mine I'll give it a try. If it doesn't shoot as well as I think it should it will be gone. I'll just go back to my Tikka if that's the case. Took bolt apart cleaned it all out. I then used different oil on it and it's much better now! It will actually slide back and forth on it's own now.
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