Last night I picked up my Model 70 Safari, .375 H&H to wipe down and re-oil. To my shock, I noticed some rust on the firing pin, where it protrudes from the breech bolt sleeve. Upon further examination, there was rust on the inside of the bolt sleeve and on the stem of the safety. Please refer to the diagram below for locations of rust.

I have not disassembled the bolt before, so I didn't wipe off any rust preventative allowing the rust to occur. The rifle also has not seen the first drop of moisture, with the possible exception of condensation due to temp. differences between house/truck/range. My only guess is that it did not receive a proper application of a rust preventative at the factory when it was assembled.

Can a do-it-yourselfer, with not too many tools and probably no real gunsmithing tools or knowledge disassemble the bolt to the point that I could remove the rust and apply the proper rust preventative, or should I take the bolt to a smith and have him clean it up for me?

Thanks for your help!

The areas shaded red are the locations I noticed rust...

Pretty simple, actually. Just put the safety in the mid position, remove the bolt fromt he action. Then push the little detent (#18 I believe), and unscrew the firing pin assembly. You should be able to get to anything you need to from there. If not, compress the spring, push the firing pin past the bolt shroud end and unscrew the end cap and you should be able to completely disassemble the unit for cleaning.
I believe the bolts and internal parts are usually shipped dry from the factory. If you have humidity problems where you live, you should perform this procedure on a regular basis. This is one of the reasons I like Winchesters- they can be easily field stripped.
I was hunting with a buddy one year and when he tried to shoot at a deer, nothing happened. After checking everything else out, we stripped the bolt and found his spring was rusted up so bad, the firing pin wouldn't move when the sear was released. A little brush work and a touch of oil and it was good as new.- Sheister

Sheister,

I did field strip the bolt by separating the "firing pin assembly" from the "bolt body assembly", and found that I do need to go a bit farther in disassembly, so that I can get the rust off the inside of the sleeve, off the end of the firing pin (the end that protrudes out the bolt sleeve, but is still within the bolt sleeve), and would like to get it out of the safety recess and off the stem.

I can try the extra step you suggested...and see how far that gets me! Thanks!

I tried making a little progress on this bolt over the weekend, to no avail...maybe a little more assistance, please.

In order to remove the "firing pin assembly" from the "breech bolt sleeve assembly", do I remove the firing pin spring retainer and firing pin spring retainer washer? By doing this, will the firing pin come out of the breech bolt sleeve, allowing me to clean it up and properly lubricate it?

Do I need any special tools to compress the spring, especially for reassmbly?

Would I be better served to not worry about taking it apart, but flush it with penetrating oil several times to remove as much rust as possible, then squirt some oil in, and be done with it?

Thanks for the help!

Trapdoor,
It's been awhile and I'm at work, so I can't refer to my rifle at the moment. Hope some of the gunsmith types correct me if I'm wrong here-

Take the firing pin assembly you took out of the bolt, put the firing pin point down on something that won't damage the tip, like a piece of wood or plastic. Now, grip the shroud and push straight down on it and the firing pin spring should compress as the firing pin cam end pushes up out of the end of the shroud. As the cam clears the shroud, you should be able to unscrew it from the firing pin. Then slowly let the pressure up on the shroud and let the firing pin spring relax and it should come out the forward end of the shroud. Now you should have it just about completely disassembled except for the safety and I just can't remember how to do that one without one here in front of me.
One caveat, take a good look at the firing pin cam piece and see how far it is screwed onto the firing pin before removing it so you can put it back on exactly the same amount when you reassemble everything. It should be nearly flush with the end of the firing pin.
Hope this helps- Sheister

Sheister,

That's exactly what I tried, only the spring compressed about another 1/4" and that was it, and I still had about 1/2" to go....

Bear in mind this is from memory too, but it seems like what you are saying is exactly what I tried to do...only it didn't work as I expected and as you prescibed above...

Its like the spring won't compress enough to let me push the shroud past the cam, to be able to unscrew it....

Before you disassemble the firing pin, go ahead and order a couple of these.

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/Store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=13744 (firing pin spring retainer)

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/Store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=13754 (firing pin spring retainer washer)

And the tool to make it all possible. http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/Store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=13148 If you don't have this handy little tool, there is not enough cuss words in a man's vocabulary to make it go back together smoothly. The reason for the additional parts is not that you will need them, but if you don't have them I promise your's will go flying off into never-never land.

For this and other bolt assemblies where I have to press the shroud down to compress the firing pin spring...I have a hole bored through the top of my work bench. Put the firing pin tip in the hole and press straight down. Makes it a WHOLE LOT easier than trying to do that while the pin tip skitters around on the surface.

AC

[ 07-28-2003, 23:24: Message edited by: Alberta Canuck ]

Albert,

How do you get this to work with a Winchester? Just putting pressure on the retaining clip won't yield anything because the clip resides in a groove cut around the pin. In otherwords, the spring will not compress from pressure on the retaining clip. The spring has to be compressed independently, then the clip removed.

Found this thread in a search for help in disassembling a Model 70 firing pin. Trapdoor seems to have found the same condition I have (can't compress the spring far enough per the recomended method).

A Google search turned this up. Turns out you need to address disassembly at the FRONT of the spring... Hope this helps others, too!

From: bartb@hpfcla.fc.hp.com (Bart Bobbitt)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Re: WIN MODEL 70 DISASSEMBLY
Date: 29 Jan 1994 15:04:44 -0500

On the M70 bolt sleeve, there's a cross pin behind the safety's top
end. That pin's about .040-in. in diameter. Here's how to remove it:

1. Remove the firing pin front locking C-ring and collar.

'Tain't easy. It requires some thinking before doing it. The firing
pin spring is preloaded to about 20 pounds of force. A good way
to do this is to grab the front end of the firing pin spring, just
behind the collar and C-clip, with a large pair of pliers. Hold
the pliers handles tight together, then place the sides of the
pliers against a vise whose jaw opening is a tad bigger than the
firing pin's diameter. Then press the bolt sleeve forward so the
spring is compressed back enough to slide the clip off. Be very
careful that the spring doesn't slip, then launch the collar and
clip off to never-never land at about 12,345 fps. I've done that;
there's a clip and collar someplace in my shop and they've been
lost for about 4 years.

2. Remove the firing pin spring.

3. Unscrew the firing pin lock screw from the bolt sleeve's left
side. That's the one that goes in at an angle.

4. Pull the firing pin back out of the bolt sleeve.

5. Clamp the bolt sleeve in a padded vise with the pin behind the
safety's head vertical.

6. Drive out the safety retaining pin with a small drift pin. You
shouldn't need to use much hammer force as it's typically easy
to get out.

7. Remove the bolt sleeve from the vise, then carefully push out
the safety. Be careful the safety's plunger and spring don't
fly out and end up in the darkest corner of the room never to
be seen again.

Now you can inspect the safety and the hole in the bolt sleeve it
fits in. If there's any burrs or very rough places, they can be
smoothed up with what ever tool does the job.

Reverse the disassembly procedure to get things back together. Again,
be careful about compressing the firing pin spring, then getting the
collar and C-ring back on. This is the second time those tiny parts
might be put into orbit. That happened to me years ago; and one of
them struck the bare light bulb above and off to the side of my work
bench. `Pow' went the light bulb; darkness prevailed......I thought
I had died! Never found the C-ring.

BB