Hi to all
I recently had a Gunsmith examine a rifle I want to buy, a CZ 550 .n 6.5 Swede. The previous owner claims to only firing +- 300 rds. Gunsmith says that because the bolt handle is making slight contact with the stock when closed, it will affect accuracy. How, I really cant understand why? Also, how does the bolt handle touching the stock affect wear on the lugs if any?
I will be buying the rifle but just want to know how all this affects accuracy/ wear?

Thanks in advance

That gunsmith is correct; as for the lug wear, I can't say. Learned that one from the benchrest guys.

Here is why you absolutely can't have the bolt handle touch any wood, particularly at the back. If it touches at the rear, then the bolt lugs might be held off the receiver locking seats. When fired, they slam backwards which is a bad thing. And if it is enough, it will chip the stock. If it touches sideways, well, you want to make sure the lugs are seated all the way down; the harmonics of the action are affected by that.
Lug wear; no. If it is seated enough to fire, it is seated enough; but you still don't want the bolt handle to touch wood; just the receiver. It is easy to fix with a little carving gouge and some inletting black.

Thank you for the replies. I find this subject very interesting. Goes to show just how many variables a shooter can overlook in the quest for accuracy.
I have been shooting/ hunting for around 37 years and this is the first time I have heard of this. Never too old to learn......

Most stockmakers want their bolt handle "slot" to be as narrow as possible for aesthetic reasons. More than a few novices have gotten it too narrow and or too shallow with sometimes disastrous results. Don't ask me how I know this.

First rifle I built 40+ years ago. Would shoot great one time, the next it would group like a shotgun and/or move point of impact. I had wanted a tight wood to metal bedding along with a tight (very) bolt groove.

At the range one day and a bench rest shooter next to me saw my frustration. Looked at my slot and said I was making contact. So I opened up to insure no contact. That helped settle things down and then doing a good glass bedding took care of the rest.

So now I still like a tight groove but I do insure there is no way the bolt can contact. I also use glass instead of spending those extra hrs trying for a perfect bedding.

Many years ago, a fellow competitor who freqyently out shot me, showed me a modification he had made to his rifle. It seems the bolt would actually over-rotate and the handle would bounce up whenthe rifle was dry-fired. This bothered him so he built up the handle cut-out to keep the handle from turning down quite so far. The rifle shot frequent sub 1/4 moa groups which was very good for the day. It seems contact by the handle with the stock wasn't doing much harm.
In general, contact by the bolt handle with the stock is to be avoided but the efects may not be quite as catastrophic as many would have you believe. Regards, Bill.

A friend of mine checked out his collection and found quite a few of his rifles had the bolt touching the stock. This chap has been hunting all his life too and never knew about this problem until he read this thread!

quote:

Originally posted by lal:
A friend of mine checked out his collection and found quite a few of his rifles had the bolt touching the stock. This chap has been hunting all his life too and never knew about this problem until he read this thread!

Yeah, but what size of groups is he getting on those animals?

dave