BLR issue, won't lock up

T

thepitchedlink

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Hey crew. I don't post a lot here these days, just too busy with other stuff. But I got an issue that's cramping my style here this season. My take down BLR, 358...won't lock up. the bolt wont go completely into battery. The lever does not completely lock "up". I took it out to check sight in and it was misbehaving. reloads would not come close to locking up, light primer strikes on other rounds....it's so close to lock up it appeared to by ok, but I guess Im glad it didn't fire as the bolt doesn't appear to be rotating into lock position. I wonder ift here is something stuck or blocking the bolt inside? I know these are a hand full to take apart, but I'm close to trying as it won't work worth a danm right now. Any ideas out there? cheers
 
How do things appear with an empty chamber?

I would suspect the reloads. Try factory ammo for comparison.
 
I had a similar problem with mine in 7mm wsm. As someone else mentioned the small base dies for the most part solved my problem. I checked each one out after resizing to make sure they chamber correctly
 
Well, I guess it is locking up.....a mate brought his over today to compare, his is the same, you can remove barrel after lever is up. So his behaves the same as mine....but mine has thesev light strikes. The biggest difference between his and mine.....his firing pin is very light to push, mine is heavy and slow....I suspect the pin is gummed up. Have soaked the pin/bolt with lighter fluid....blown out with compressed air. Much lighter. have now fired 4 primer only cases and they ignited fine. Will try some reloads tommorow if I have time....with gloves and safety glasses.
I'm still a bit confused about being able to remove the barrel end with the lever up....I thought the bolt would have rotated into battery adn locked the 2 pieces together.....but both guns act the same. so I feel this must be correct.
cheers for the replys.

Ps. I've had the gun 10 years, never been and issue.
 
the bolt head does rotate to lock into the barrel, as well it is free to slide open for t/d, wonders of the BLR action
With t eh two 1/2s apart, you can push on the bolt face and see/feel the rotation
Lock-up is tight and after several hundred rounds remains tight and accuracy doesn't fall off
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boxhitch said:
the bolt head does rotate to lock into the barrel, as well it is free to slide open for t/d, wonders of the BLR action
With t eh two 1/2s apart, you can push on the bolt face and see/feel the rotation
Lock-up is tight and after several hundred rounds remains tight and accuracy doesn't fall off
View attachment 824595
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Yes, thank you. I guess I just stupidly assumed that the barrel would be locked in unless the action was opened...so I guess I over reacted when I could remove mine. Got be thinking I had a problem and only confirmed it when I got to look at another BLR. I hope to fire it today and I really feel it is the firing pin being gummed up...even though the weather is still warm. But running a bunch of lighter fluid through the pin and compressed air has made it feel like my buddies. and primed cases are now popping off everytime.
 
Dismantling and taking down the bolt - can find all sorts of stuff in there - you do not mention a background, or whether you know it to have been working properly while in your possession - can find dried old grease, dead bugs, dried leaves and dead grass or needles from spruce or pine - a lot of crap can be found inside a bolt that can slow down a firing pin strike. What you did - soak in lighter fluid / then blow out with compressed air - a good start, if you do not dismantle it - an acquaintance was amazed at the amount of crud that came out of a bolt that he thought was "clean", when he ran it through an ultra sound cycle. Was most difference that I notice - old school ex-military rifles tend to be able to dismantle the bolt with fingers or stuff normally carried on a soldier - many modern commercial things seem to need a tool to dismantle and/or re-assemble - not all, but many of them.
 
She fired fine today...My other problem that was compounding this was the reloads I was trying were necked up Nosler brass. Beautiful stuff, but it appears that the new neck was collapsing a bit as the bullet was being seated....giving a slight bulge as the neck base. This I think was causing all my fail to chamber issues...and what I thought was "fail to lockup" as the bulge was just stopping the action form closing. Anyway, necked up Winchester brass and a clean firing pin seems to have fixed the issues. now to find a big mulie....thanks for the replys
 
thepitchedlink said:
She fired fine today...My other problem that was compounding this was the reloads I was trying were necked up Nosler brass. Beautiful stuff, but it appears that the new neck was collapsing a bit as the bullet was being seated....giving a slight bulge as the neck base. This I think was causing all my fail to chamber issues...and what I thought was "fail to lockup" as the bulge was just stopping the action form closing. Anyway, necked up Winchester brass and a clean firing pin seems to have fixed the issues. now to find a big mulie....thanks for the replys
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Trying to set up a RCBS die to crimp whilst setting a bullet in place can cause the small unnoticeable bulge to happen.
The use of a crimp die is highly regarded to prevent this.
Life’s learning lesson.
 
A case of operator mistakes on all levels seating die set to low crushing the shoulder in correct assembly of firearm
As per usual check over everything that was done by the operator
 
thepitchedlink said:
Hey crew. I don't post a lot here these days, just too busy with other stuff. But I got an issue that's cramping my style here this season. My take down BLR, 358...won't lock up. the bolt wont go completely into battery. The lever does not completely lock "up". I took it out to check sight in and it was misbehaving. reloads would not come close to locking up, light primer strikes on other rounds....it's so close to lock up it appeared to by ok, but I guess Im glad it didn't fire as the bolt doesn't appear to be rotating into lock position. I wonder ift here is something stuck or blocking the bolt inside? I know these are a hand full to take apart, but I'm close to trying as it won't work worth a danm right now. Any ideas out there? cheers
Click to expand...
If it locks up with no round chambered, then most likely it's your ammo.

Sounds like headspace to me - disassemble and thoroughly clean your dies, then set them back up carefully for the headspace you want to achieve. Use a piece of fired brass to determine this.

The other thing is maybe seating depth/bullet profile (front corners of the bullet jamming in the lands) - I've seen this happen with heavier bullets in other lever guns. Adjust your load for safety and seat deeper, or choose a different bullet.

If all else fails, try small base dies - a friend of mine had to do this with his BLR - it must have had a tight chamber. A trick to try is to size your brass, rotate it 90 degrees and then size it again. Wait a bit and repeat this process to undo the springback that happens when you size brass. That's what my friend had to do until he bought small base dies. I know it sounds silly, but this really did work for him.

These are good places to start looking anyway.

Good luck.
 
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