have a Browning BAR that the bolt is locked closed. no shell in chamber. you can not pull bolt back to open.
you must remove the forearm to work on this rifle,but being that the bolt is locked up,how do you get it back,so you can remove forearm?
all suggestions welcomed
thank you

I don't have my manual at the office with me but I don't believe the bolt has to be back to remove the forearm. With the gun upide down, barrel pointed away from you (remember if you can't open the bolt you don't know that it's empty), remove the sling swivel stud. Pull up and forward to remove the forearm. You often have to jiggle it quite a bit to get the forearm to move as they are fit pretty tightly to the action.
Good luck,

According to the NRA gunsmithing book, the forearm must be removed with the bolt open. It is the first instruction given and states specifically that you must open the bolt first.

Jim

Capt Parker,

Have you attempted beating on the bolt handle with a hardwood block and hammer like Belk suggested? The bolt does have to be open for the forend to clear action arm and support rails.

I had one like this in the shop a few years ago where the timing latch had broken and jammed itself into the receiver. You can remove the butt stock and trigger assembly for a better look.

Remove the recoil pad or butt plate to gain access to the take down bolt in the butt stock. With a long screwdriver, remove the stock bolt and then the stock. Reinsert the bolt back into the stock bolt plate at the rear of the trigger guard to use as a leverage device and to maintain control of the plate during removal. Assuming the rifle is on it's back, bottom up, tilt the stock bolt down to cause the plate to pivot out from under the trigger guard assembly. This may take some doing. Be patient!

Once this plate is out of the receiver, you can slide the trigger assembly from the receiver. Make sure the hammer is in the cocked position first. If it isn't, you will need to reach into the action with something to cock the hammer prior to removing it.

This should give you better access to the bolt to further inspect for anything out of place that is visually obvious. Let us know how you are progressing. Good luck.

Malm

Before you start to work, run a cleaning rod down the barrel, mark it, and after withdrawing it measure the length to where it bottoms out just to make sure that chamber is empty!

While not recommended you can remove the forend without the bolt being in the rear position depending on how tight the forend is inletted. Take apart a wooden clothes pin and slide them under the front of the forearm as you pull away from the barrel while sliding the forearm foreward. Think about it as if you were shouldering the rifle and pull down and foreward. You must be very careful when doing this or you will splinter the forearm. I would first remove the trigger assembly as previously recommended and make sure it is not something in the bolt or trigger assembly. I wouldn't force anything as the tolerances are fairly tight for a semi-auto. If none of this works find a gunsmith that knows Browning BAR's.