I just wanted to let everyone know what I found out about my Hein rifle. I took my .450 Dakota up to Mark Penrod to have him install a new recoil pad. He installed the pad and then called me to tell me that he had found a serious problem with the rifle.

When I got to his shop he showed me that when he tightened down the rear guard screw that the rifle would fire every time the bolt was closed without pulling the trigger. As he backed pressure off the screw it would drop the firing pin less and less frequently. The reason that I hadn't noticed the problem before was because I hadn't tightened the guard screws down to the torque that Mark had, I had only made sure they were snug. He thought that it was inletted very tightly and maybe something was pushing on the action in the wrong place and perhaps he could cut some material out of the stock and fix it. He called me the next day to tell me that the problem was much more serious than that. He said that the angles on the sear and cocking piece were all wrong and that the cocking piece was sliding over the sear allowing the gun to fire without the trigger being pulled. He also said something about stacking of tolerances and that it was grossly mis-timed. He said it was very sloppily and incorrectly done and should never have left Hein's shop.

Fixing it required changing angles and surface grinding and then re-heat treating. It is now proper. This was an accident waiting to happen and to think that I carried that rifle around in Africa in that condition. Scary! I cringe when I think what could have happened.

I don't know if they all have this problem but if you have a Hein rifle I would advise having it checked.

Andy

No doubt a very dangerous condition. Improper bedding alone can pull an otherwise precision action out of alignment causing a similar problem. Were the parts that needed reheat treating case hardened or something?

Well why doesn't this surprise me? BTW, I'm still waiting for one of the Hein aficionados to help out with banking info. Happy New year...jorge

quote:

Originally posted by Westpac:
Were the parts that needed reheat treating case hardened or something?

I'm not sure, I'll know more when I pick it up on Friday. I'll get a more complete explanantion of what was wrong and let you know.

quote:

Originally posted by adrook:
... if you have a Hein rifle I would advise having it checked.

Id say not many people will have that problem, cause the problem mostly never arrived!
I never viewed their receivers as spectacular in any case.

After reading this...the thought always comes back...Every "improvement" in the system 98 is a step backward. Granite Mountain and Stuart Satterlee figured this out long time ago

Amen!!!

Well,this is good to know,if, in the unlikely event mine ever shows up>

That's why a good Smith is worth his weight in gold. They are paid for just such rarities. This shows attention to detail and very good safety practices.

quote:

Originally posted by Duane Wiebe:
After reading this...the thought always comes back...Every "improvement" in the system 98 is a step backward. Granite Mountain and Stuart Satterlee figured this out long time ago

You mean like a Sako/Remington extractor that Paul Mauser used the design on the early Mausers and then switched to the claw extractor because it was more reliable and allowed controlled feeding from the mag. Yet Remington touts it as and advantage and improvement.

quote:

Originally posted by kcstott:
That's why a good Smith is worth his weight in gold. They are paid for just such rarities. This shows attention to detail and very good safety practices.

+1 I'll second that. I am forever indebted to Mark for catching this f-up and averting a potential disaster.

quote:

Mausers and then switched to the claw extractor

Which was also someone elses innovation predating Mauser's application...