Son buys used M70 30.06, goes to range, loads new win. ammo, fires- click, nothing happens, tries to open bolt won't open, safety seems to not work between fire & load unload positions! So we put gun away, get home try it again, surprise! bolt opens & ejects round. Look at primer & you can tell firing pin barely made dent in primer. Could someone please tell me how all this happened & what should I do? Thanks for any info.
PS. Gun looks to be in very good condition, like its been taken care of & does not appear to be very old.

Make sure the cocking piece is screwed in all of the way. If it's not then that spring loaded pin will not be clicked in the notch.

If that's ok then hold the bolt in your hand and put the sear on the edge of a bench and let it fall and twist into the fired position. Does the firing pin stick out far enough now?

Does the serial number on the bolt match the reciever?

DON: Thanks for the reply, bolt is the same serial number. Removed bolt out of another M70 in 270, to my very untrained eye, all the parts & pieces look to be in the same position, nothing broke or in backwards, etc. etc. I'm not sure about your other instructions, as the nomenclature of parts is beyond my abilities without a parts blow-up and description. Thanks for the help. Looks like trip to Petersons in Mt. Dora Fl.

Ok Don here we go again: Figured out about the sear against the bench, compared to my .270 bolt the firing pins appear to be the same. The small spring loaded pins appear to engage the same amount. Would any of the things you have mentioned have caused the safety to act so strange today?

You may want to take the bolt apart and make sure the firing pin/spring are not gummed up or rusted.
This might account for bolt being hard to open and the firing pin not hitting.

If that's not it, consider checking the head space.

What year if the Winchester? Is it a post 64? I bought one new in about 1965. It was a piece of crap. It did exactly what your's is doing. I had it fixed three time, then dumped it. I gave up on Winchester until they came out with the new classic. I expect some things to break down, but not that often.