after months of trying i finally got a deal at auctionarms.com on an anib m7mc in .308.. it has arrived at my gunsmith and has a j lock.. what should i do?? i have seen only bad things about the jlock..

I think what to do with the J-lock depends upon your personal situation.

I had a J-lock malfunction on a rifle in Africa last year. It locked up while firing the rifle. I had not been using the J-lock function. In fact the only time I tried it was when I first got the rifle - a Remington custom shop AWR.

When it locked up I had shot two rounds. The third round would not fire. Previously it had caused no problem during at least 150 rounds of test firing, sighting in and shooting at other animals.

It totally locked up and even using their green key would not release it. That rifle was useless for the rest of the trip. Fortunately I had taken two rifles and the Hartebeast had actually been hit hard enough the first shot that it died anyway.

When I got back I had a gunsmith disable the J-lock. I have no kids around the house anymore and don't keep ammo near the rifles anyway.

I wouldn't personally buy a rifle with a J-lock because it might just ruin the entire hunt. What would you feel like if after a week of hunting far from home you finally got a shot and the rifle wouldn't go off?

One cannot be too careful with guns however and ultimately the question of what to do with it needs to rest with you.

If you have other family around your guns you may want to leave it functioning. In that case the extra safety it provides would be more valuable to you than the possibility of the rifles failing to fire on a hunt.

In fact, if I had family around my rifles I probably would leave it working also. If I did however I would be sure to take two rifles on any expensive hunt.

tom ga hunter

Palmer�s is the first I have heard of one causing a rifle to fail. But what do I know. I think most people replace them because they are uuugly and out of fear that they will malfunction. Any way you can order a complete replacement for Brownells or Midway . This will be a new bolt shroud and all. Very easy to replace. All you will need is a penny and the edge of a table to hang the firing pin head on. Compress the main spring until you see the slot in the firing pin head, slide the penny into the slot and unscrew the firing pin. Replace the new assembly in reverse order.
For what it's worth I wouldn't want the wart on my rifle either. And for Pete's sake I don't mean the dinning room table.

Shawn