I have seen lots of folks write about having their DG bolt rifle "slicked" up.
I am wondering how experienced folks would describe the unacceptable properties of a bolt rifle before it is worked over to "slick" it up.

All the bolt rifles I have had will allow the bolt to move a bit to one side or the other when all the way back. On most of the bolt rifles, if the bolt is moved to one side when all the way back, anything more than vvery light sideways pressure applied will cause the bolt to jam and not want to close.

POSSIBLE EXAMPLE:
I have a pre-War model 70 Winchester in 375 H&H. It was "slicked up" by a master gunsmith before it was taken to Africa, where it is credited with taking 3 lions, 2 Cape Buff and other game. One thing I notice with that rifle is that if I pull the bolt all the way to the rear and cock it to the right, ,my slicked up pre-war rifle does not tend to jam like that.

Yesterday I went to my local gun shop and tried 5 Rugers. Every one would have a hard bolt jam if the slightest side movement occurred when the bolt was all the way to the rear.

What have others seen.

Bob, to me, "slicked up" involves polishing and fitting the action parts, an lubricating them as well, so that the operation of the action is smooth and reliable. The most important aspect of "slicking up" a bolt rifle is in the feeding and ejection of cartridges. That's where most of the difficulty is found. Polishing or tapering the ramps and their edges until the cartridges to be used can feed and eject with 100% reliability takes some experience, for sure.

"How Do You Describe An "Un-Slicked" Action On A Bolt Rifle"


Further to Biebs answer which needs no adding to,
I call them Rough, Gritty.

.

Unslicked for a better word is basically a "tweeked" rifle for a even better word!

I would suggest that unslicked or untweeked guns are out of the box factory..The will slick up in time by themselves with use..

The best way to slick up a rifle is take the guts out of the bolt, gob on some valve grinding compand (fine grade) and run the bolt several hundred times, the use some finer compound in oil and run it 200 more times. Do not buff it on a wheel, but you can finish with 400, 600, 800, and 1200 wet or dry if your amind to. I glue square 1"x1/4" hard wood pieces to 10 inch welding rod with a flat ground for the wooden dowl, then glue the paper to that to polish the rails..The be sure to wash out the action and bore with hot soapy boiling water followed by hot scalding rinses, then oil profusely..From this point on time will wear the metal in to a very smooth action, and it just gets better..you are just speeding up the process or wear.

Actually just using and shooting a factory rifle will give you the finest of actions, but it takes a long time to do it.

On a custom gun I do the same but only use hones to polish out the action and rails. Hones are glassed on the 10" welding rod and I make a fancy burl wood handles for them and sometimes a final 800 grt. polish with the wood dowl finishes things up..the again clean as above.

But the first option is easy to do for the non gunsmith type but don't over do it.

BTW a bolt gun is ment to be worked hard and fast. But you can put enough pressure on any of them from the side and make them hang up..They are loose in the bolt body to make them usable in mud, sand, and the worst nature can shell out, thus the perceived problem you have found.

Bob,

I have a Ruger RSM and it can "bind" when you pull the bolt all the way and then put lateral force on the bolt. I can only think there's a little too much slop in the receiver. I can't say that polishing the action would help.

The Tikka rifles have bolts with remarkably slick slip. Right out of the box. They are not big bores, but they slip and slide with a little finger and raise an interesting question. I haven't investigated to see why they are so slick. The Tikka offerings stop at about 338WM, if'n I remember.

The reply provided by Mr Atkinson is exactly what I was hoping to see, so that I would could acquire a greater understnading and also a greater appreciation for the work that must be done to achieve the true "slicked" action.
Thanks all.