I had my son (11) out yesterday deer hunting with his model 7, .260 Rem. Had a nice buck at 35 yards and the GUN WOULD NOT FIRE. It was tremendously frustrating for him, and more so for me. When pulling the trigger, with the safety on "fire", nothing happened. We cycled the action, putting another round in the chamber - same results. The deer eventually bounded away, not realizing how lucky he was.

Anyway, after a few moments spent consoling my son, I got back to trying to decide what happened. (This is a terrible thing - the first time I've been involved in a lost shot opportunity because of an equipment problem - and it had to happen to him on his first-ever chance at a deer.) I operated the bolt several times and after about 10 tries, the firing pin started to slow move forward. After another 30 or so cycling and dry-firing, the firing pin was "Free". I test fired a shot and dry-fired the gun a few times afterward, and it now seems to be o.k.

I have a theory regarding the cause of the freeze-up. The temperature was about 15 degrees, and we were in those temps for about 2 1/2 hours. I hunted with the gun the day before in a wet snow, and noticed several times that snow had fallen onto the action while walking through thick, snow-covered, brush. Is it possible that water got trapped in the inside of the bolt and stayed there overnight (even though I placed the gun in the furnace room at home to dry it.) and froze when exposed to the cold the next day? OR it may be that there is powder residue/grease/oil inside the bolt that accumulated over time or was placed there by the previous owner. I've had this gun about 4 years, but only hunted with it this year.

I guess I need to dismantle the bolt and clean it, or at least try to determine why it froze. Can anyone tell me how to do so, or is this best left to a gunsmith.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Brownells has a tool #488-001-000 Kleinendorst Rem/bolt disassembly tool for $29.95, that will make disassembly a breeze for you. Mauser38

Sounds like a typical maintenance problem. When guns get wet, they need to be taken down and dried. If you are going to be out in those temperatures you would be well advised to strip the bolt, wash, dry it and use a dry film lube that isn't affected by the cold. Be sure to tell the kid it wasn't the guns fault. Don't want him growing up to be a Remington hater.

If it was water, it would have run out in the furnace room. Sounds a lot like it may be hardened oil/grease in the low temps. What mauser38 said will fix it. Just working the firing pin loose like you described won't prevent a repeat of the event.

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:
What mauser38 said will fix it.

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083-034-128
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The idea being that it takes more than a disasssembly tool to correct the problem. The complete bolt assembly needs cleaning and servicing for use in cold temperatures. I would also add, in those temperatures, the trigger, being the fully enclosed, floating connector type, should be detail cleaned of ALL lube and serviced for cold temperature use as well.

Thanks guys. I just talked to my gunsmith and will be taking the gun to him. I will let you know what he finds.

I have seen two reasons for this happening.
1. To much "grease" around the firing pin spring. 2. Congealed oil next to the sear safety cam glues it in place. Disassembly and cleaning will solve the problem.

When you get all the grease cleaned out, reassemble and make sure the stock isn't holding the bolt up just a little bit. There should be clearance clear around the bolt. Just had one of these a couple days ago. Bill

“It may not be the Bolt”
I had the same problem one cold morning with my model 7 last year.
(Cycled 3 rounds in a row and lost an eight pointer) / The bolt dropped in two stages not hitting the firing pin hard enough to ignite the cartridge.

I took the bolt down, “you can use a coin like the manual says” I found it basically clean but sprayed it and cleaned the bolt walls - it still did not feel right (like a slight hang) so I shipped it to Remington. They returned it and the repair ticket said they cleaned the bolt assembly but that’s not what they did, they replaced the bolt because they had to engrave the old serial numbers on the new (used) bolt they gave me. Messy engrave job - I didn’t care if the gun worked and it did, but after 20 rounds the Rifle would fire automatically when dropping the safety to the fire position. If your bolt stop is sticky you can bet your trigger assembly is too.
Oil and cleaning solutions gel up and become crud especially in the cold weather.

So, I sprayed it down with brake cleaner [after I dissembled the safety parts] and dissolved the crud out then placed two drops of fresh oil in two places,the manual suggests (4) places. Never the less I experienced the crud trigger syndrome with another Model 700 (same trigger type) and used lock ease only to free it after that I never had a problem with that one rifle. My Model 7 is ok now but too much creep in the trigger pull so I’m going to replace the whole trigger with a Timney; it’s worth it because a $79 trigger is cheaper than a $600 rifle especially if it shoots good groups.

Went to the smith this afternoon with the gun. He stripped the bolt and found that the entire length of the firing pin was covered with a brown semi-tacky substance. He thinks it is Hoppes solvent. He said it dries like shellac. I am sure that is the cause of the problem. The sping held the firing pin when the gooey stuff was frozen.

This was a costly and easily prevented problem. I've always known that solvents and oils should not be over-applied or allowed to accumulate during storage. I have never had any problems with any of my other guns, but I bought this one used and never took the time to clean the bolt. Shame on me. I can promise that this will not happen to me again.