Opening the bolt with the safety on.

[T-Man]

Hi folks. Long time since I posted here. I hope everyone is well.

Here's the thing:

I've got a Parker Hale (CIL) 1200.
I've just read a story on another board about some older Remington rifles that went off as the bolt was being opened. Scary.

I don't believe my rifle has the feature of being able to have the "safety on while opening the bolt". I think military Mauser 98's have this, but mine is a comercial Mauser.

Is this a good feature to have?
Worth swapping mine and getting a rifle that can do this?
What other rifles' have this feature?
Can my rifle be converted to do this?

Thanks for any and all advice and info.

Cheers,

Trevor

[StoneChaser]

Originally Posted by T-Man

Hi folks. Long time since I posted here. I hope everyone is well.

Here's the thing:

I've got a Parker Hale (CIL) 1200.
I've just read a story on another board about some older Remington rifles that went off as the bolt was being opened. Scary.

I don't believe my rifle has the feature of being able to have the "safety on while opening the bolt". I think military Mauser 98's have this, but mine is a comercial Mauser.

Is this a good feature to have?
Worth swapping mine and getting a rifle that can do this?
What other rifles' have this feature?
Can my rifle be converted to do this?

Thanks for any and all advice and info.

Cheers,

Trevor

Muzzle control does wonders help a guy's luck... as does loading a rifle only where safe to discharge.

All that aside, I have a number of Remingtons, some w/the lock on safe feature, others without. I prefer my bolt locked on safe personally. My favorite safety bar none is the Mod 70 3 Position... hard to beat that great design.

With your rifle I'd not fret the issue...keep 'er pointed downrange, finger off the trigger, and you're good to go.

StoneChaser

[Cariboo]

You can check to see if your action is prone to firing when the safety is let off by doing a simple test.

With the rifle UNLOADED and the muzzle pointing in a safe direction close the bolt on an empty chamber.

Put the rifle on "safe" and pull the trigger firmly.

Now take the safety off. If the firing pin drops while the safety is being turned off it means that either the sear is worn or someone unqualified has screwed around with the sear engagement in an attempt to lighten the trigger pull.

[Mauser98]

Well, there's a number of choices-some a lot better than others.

1. Have a gunsmith install a Winchester Model 70-style 3-position safety. The three positions are fire, safe with bolt free to turn but cocking piece blocked and safe with bolt locked and cocking piece blocked. The exiting slide safety would have to be disabled. This is an expensive option.

2. Disable part of the exiting safety. If your rifle has the typical P-H trigger the bolt lock is activated when you push the safety forward to lock the trigger. A metal tab slides into a slot in the bolt body, preventing the bolt from turning. It would be a simple matter to disassemble the rifle and grind the metal tab off. Of course, then the bolt could open when you don't want it to.

3. Assuming that there are no actual problems with your rifle, leave things alone and, as suggested by others, practice safe handing.

A neat feature of Mauser 98's(the P-H is a commercial Mauser 98) is that they are designed so that the firing pin can't fall when the bolt is open(or partially open). I've attached a picture to show the feature.