Defiance Ruckus action bolt wiggle/slop

A

allenhedk

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GunNutz
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I am new to custom bolt action. I just bought a used Defiance Ruckus action. The bolt is a little slop/wiggle when it is empty chamber. I wonder is this normal? I heard Defiance clearance is very tight.
i can push the bolt forward and backward when it is uncocked.
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No one will be able to tell you how it should feel, because that in itself is completely subjective.

A little "slop/wiggle" to you may feel very tight to someone else (especially if they are coming from an action with a floating bolthead).

You say when it is an empty chamber, I'm assuming that's with the bolt closed?
 
Is the barrel attached? and tight? I'd be VERY surprised if there is something wrong with the action? Do you know if the bolt was ever disassembled? etc?
Again where is the "wiggle"? can you be more specific?
 
Thank you for your input. there is no barrel attached. trigger is installed. I am not sure if the action if disambled properly since I bought a used one. here are two images. i can push the bolt forward and backward when it is uncocked. there is a gap between the bolt and action. 20220419_100211.jpg
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The forward/back wobble is quite normal, and will not cause any issues.

I'll admit it's not what I'd expect from a Defiance, however tolerances have to exist somewhere. When there's tension on the striker assembly, or a case in the chamber, the wobble will go away, so it's a bit of a moot point.
 
Alpheus said:
The bolt wiggles because there is no barrel installed.



Can you be more specific? Are you referring to something in the photos?
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These must be made different than what I am familiar with - I did not think most bolt actions had any contact between the barrel and the bolt - so how does the bolt "wiggle" occur when the barrel is not installed - I presume that you are alleging that it goes away when a barrel is screwed on? How does it do that?

So far as I know, with a chambered barrel installed, and a case chambered - the bolt is going to be able to move back and forth whatever is the difference between the headspace of chamber versus headspace of the case? The closer that can be, the better for accuracy, I had read - but I do not think it is ever "zero", unless the case is set up perfectly to same headspace length as the chamber was cut to??

As I understood it, if the guts of the bolt are installed, and a trigger unit installed - the cocking piece is under mainspring tension against the bolt lugs - so is normally no detectable fore and aft movement at all - until parts removed? or a different design?
 
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SomebodyTookMyName said:
The forward/back wobble is quite normal, and will not cause any issues.

I'll admit it's not what I'd expect from a Defiance, however tolerances have to exist somewhere. When there's tension on the striker assembly, or a case in the chamber, the wobble will go away, so it's a bit of a moot point.
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I had a rem700, the bolt move like that, but my Bighorn Origin doesnt. I was surprised the Defiance does that. I am going to ask Insite arms to make a barrel for me. If the wiggle does nothing to.the accuracy, I will accept it. The action is very very smooth. the Origin is smooth as well, but it feels different. I prefer the Ruckus.
 
The cutout has to be big enough to clear the bolt handle front and back, and I'm pretty sure it is irrelevant by how much except how it wiggles when the bolt is not cocked. The receiver holds the bolt forward against the slight extra cocking as the lug bevels turn the corner when closing the bolt. The bolt handle cutout just has to stay out of the way
 
Yes most actions will have play when not COCKED. as others have mentioned when cocked the bolt is held against the lug abutments via the rearward pressure from the mainspring acting on the trigger sear through the cocking peice. The bolt rotational play in the Defiance is a small gap the cocking peice falls Into when released by the sear so it doesn't strike the cocking ramp when firing. Some actions don't do this well and so the bolt handle will jump, trust me that play is a GOOD thing. The back and forth play is because the bolt lugs aren't captured in the forward axis except by the barrel face and probably the bolt handle contacting the receiver body. If the bolt nose recces is a little shallow then you may have less play when a barrel is headspaced because the barrel face is VERY close to the bolt nose. Again this is not a bad thing it just means it's a tight nose to barrel face fit. Nothing to worry about as many will confirm defiance are made to obsessive standards. The dimensions that matter are the ones that contribute to tight lockup when in battery, otherwize don't worry about it too much it probably doesn't matter.
 
I played with a new ruckus (bare) (and a few others) it had the wiggle you are describing. It's one of those things that you don't realize exists if you haven't played with actions in multiple unmounted/no-trigger configurations.

And then when you come across it the first time (like I did) then you wonder what's wrong with it until the mechanics of it are properly explained as the fine folks above me have done so well.
 
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