No.4 Mk.2 questions

[stevebc]

I just put a #2 bolt head on my '56 Fazakerly, and was reading the "First Line Maintenance Instructions" and noticed the following:

- there's zero bolt head overturn. It lines up perfectly with the bolt body, but goes no further. I know that excessive overturn is a problem, but could this be as well?

- in the half #### position, the trigger will pull and the cocking piece does move forward the same as it does when firing. The Operating Instructions (page 5-3) say, "When the sear is in the half #### position the trigger cannot be pressed nor can the breech be opened."
The bolt does lock in this position, though. Do I have a problem?

- the Operating Instructions also refer to a "first" and "second" trigger pull. Mine's "first" has absolutely no resistance whatsover until you come up against "second" pull. Another problem?
Thanks in advance, guys.

 

[cosmic]

Well - You'll likely stump all the internet experts with questions of this magnitude - including me! Regarding point 1), overturn is needed to allow the bolt to rotate to fully closed. You should be able to check if the bolt can do this in situ, without binding.
Point 2) is beyond my knowledge.
Point 3) - No problem, as long as the final pull is repeatable.

 

[tiriaq]

Is the lip on the half #### notch intact? The tip of the sear should be prevented from leaving the notch by this lip.
Is the sear rising high enough to engage the half #### notch fully?
There should be pressure for the first stage. The failure to engage on half ####, and the lack of pressure for the first stage suggest a problem with the trigger mechanism.
Your rifle is a Mk. II. Remove the forestock and observe the trigger, sear and cocking piece. You should be able to see what is going on, and why there are problems.
Why did you install the No. 2 bolthead? Have you checked headspace since you did? When locked, the thrust needs to be taken up by the bolthead being in contact with the bolt body, the threads should not take the load.

 

[stevebc]

Why did you install the No. 2 bolthead? Have you checked headspace since you did? When locked, the thrust needs to be taken up by the bolthead being in contact with the bolt body, the threads should not take the load

I installed the #2 head because the #0 head was closing on a .074 gauge, and since the #2, it closes on the .064, and won't close on the .074.

With the bolt out of the rifle, the #2 head screws in all the way, ie flush with the bolt body. However, in doing so the bolt head lines up with the body, but does not overturn. Here's the head screwed all the way in:

Is the lip on the half #### notch intact? The tip of the sear should be prevented from leaving the notch by this lip.

Here's the lip:

Is the sear rising high enough to engage the half #### notch fully?

...I'll remove the forestock and see how the sear is engaging. Someone has done a centre bedding job on this, will removing the forestock mean I'll have to re-bed, or will it all go back together as before?

There should be pressure for the first stage. The failure to engage on half ####, and the lack of pressure for the first stage suggest a problem with the trigger mechanism.

With the bolt removed, there is a definate first stage, with a weight of just under 1.5lbs. With the bolt in, second stage breaks at about 3.75lbs.

 

[cantom]

I just put a #2 bolt head on my '56 Fazakerly, and was reading the "First Line Maintenance Instructions" and noticed the following:

- there's zero bolt head overturn. It lines up perfectly with the bolt body, but goes no further. I know that excessive overturn is a problem, but could this be as well?

- in the half #### position, the trigger will pull and the cocking piece does move forward the same as it does when firing. The Operating Instructions (page 5-3) say, "When the sear is in the half #### position the trigger cannot be pressed nor can the breech be opened."
The bolt does lock in this position, though. Do I have a problem?

- the Operating Instructions also refer to a "first" and "second" trigger pull. Mine's "first" has absolutely no resistance whatsover until you come up against "second" pull. Another problem?
Thanks in advance, guys.

Someone may have done a bit of a trigger job on that rifle.
You could try a different cocking piece on it and see if the half #### issue goes away.

I see no problem with how the bolt head lines up with no overtravel. That's good.

BTW, when you did the headspace check, are you using light fingertip pressure to gently move the bolt handle down till there is significant resistance vs how it feels with the headspace gauge not there?

It's quite possible and easy to force it down even with the headspace being fine, there is a lot of leverage there.

 

[tiriaq]

Your cocking piece is fine.
You should be able to disassemble the rifle and reassemble it without affecting the bedding job.

 

[John Sukey]

If it ain't broke, Don't fix it!

 

[stevebc]

Someone may have done a bit of a trigger job on that rifle.

I suspect so. In fact, with the centre bedding and the relatively light trigger pull, I wonder if someone intended to compete with it.

I see no problem with how the bolt head lines up with no overtravel. That's good.

I didn't think there was a problem either, but figured I'd ask; I've never seen that happen before.

BTW, when you did the headspace check, are you using light fingertip pressure to gently move the bolt handle down till there is significant resistance vs how it feels with the headspace gauge not there?
It's quite possible and easy to force it down even with the headspace being fine, there is a lot of leverage there.

I just gave it "steady even thumb pressure", and didn't force the bolt beyond where it was willing to go.

I'm taking it out this weekend for a test of the aperture sight, should be interesting.

 

[tiriaq]

A light trigger pull was not part of match conditionning when these rifles were used for DCRA/PRA competition. Rifles had to be able to pass a triiger weight test, and 3.75lb would have failed.