I have a pre 64 mdl 70 .375 H&H about 1954 vintage. It is my back-up rifle for a March elephant hunt and while practicing two shot rapid fire the rifle is not cocking for the second shot. It only happens with a round in the magazine after I cycle the first shot. If I lift and drop the bolt it will cock. Also it will always cock if I dry fire and work the bolt. Never has happened before today and I never have dismantled the bolt to clean. Any suggestions?

Frist thing to do is give the rifle and bolt a good cleaning.

Sounds to me as if the bolt MAY BE loose enough in the action that the pressure of the round in the magazine MAY be pushing the rear of the bolt up enough for the cocking piece to override the sear as the bolt goes forward.

Another possibility MIGHT be that someone has fiddled with the edge of the sear or the front edge of the cocking piece itself in an attempt to "smooth" the trigger pull (maybe stoned it a bit). Any change at all in the angles on either one can sometimes lead to this sort of failure to hold the stricker back when the bolt is closed, especially if the bolt is worked hard and fast.

My immediate suspicion is that it is BOTH....a bolt that is a little bit loose (almost all are), and then some unskilled work on the sear or cocking piece.

Of course, there is every possibility I am dead wrong, but without seeing the rifle, those are my first two guesses.

But rather than fiddle with it yourself, if you are using it as a back up rifle for Africa, I'd suggest you want a "dead reliable" rifle when you go there. That says to me either take it to a reliable gunsmith before you go, or take a different rifle as your backup.

I bought the rifle fifteen years ago and since it was used I don't know if it was worked on. It only malfunctions when its worked hard in a double shot sequence. Since this is a new problem it may be a cleaning issue. I have never taken the bolt apart and cleaned it. How hard is it to disassemble a pre 64 bolt?

It is always possible someone before you putzed with the cocking piece and/or sear. That, along with 15 years of use could have worn it to the point of not engaging reliably when worked quickly, especially if the bolt is a little loose in the action, as most mass manufactured bolts are.

The mere fact that it cocks reliably when you lift and re-lower the bolt suggests strongly to me that MAY BE the case, and the fact that it just started recently suggests it even more.

As to taking the bolt apart, it is dead simple. Rather than me try to explain it, just go here and read the owner's manual. New or old, Winchester Model 70 bolts come apart the same way.

media.winchesterguns.com/pdf/om/model70_manual_om_s.pdf

The fact that you don't know how to disassemble the bolt also suggests it has never had periodic cleaning while you have owned it, so that may be the problem instead. Your car won't run reliably forever without proper maintenance, and neither will a gun.

Good luck either way.

Thanks AC, Will try to clean then if no luck it goes to the gunsmith. Its been a very reliable rifle up till now.
thanks gary