Question about Sako AV action safety

[stickhunter]

I'm trying to diagnose an issue with the safety on my Sako AV action, and was wonder if someone with a similar rifle (2-position slide safety) could answer the following questions:

1) With the bolt closed and uncocked and the safety in the "fire" position, is there any movement at all when you attempt to slide the safety back to "safe"? "safe" should only engage when the bolt is cocked, but on my rifle, the safety can move back slightly and stay in a position between "safe" and "fire".

2) With the bolt closed and uncocked and the safety in the "fire" position, unlock the bolt and slide it back. With the action open, can you engage now move the safety to "safe" and if so, what happens when you now close the bolt? On my rifle, I can engage the safety with the bolt open, but when I close the bolt, the safety partially moves forward to the "fire" position (i.e., it returns to roughly the safe "in between" position describes in #1).

Unfortunately, I don't have another similar rifle to compare to, but I suspect something may not be quite right with mine. I understand the safety should only engage when the rifle is actually cocked and that middle position makes me wonder if something is worn or out of alignment.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Fire306]

I will check my out tonight to see if they do what you are describing. On the older Sako models, including the AV's the safety has to be off in order to open the bolt. Kind of a pain, but you get used to it in a hurry.
The newer models, I believe when the model 75's came out they added a small lever or button on the from of the safety tang that can be pressed so that the bolt can be opened while the rifle remains on safety.

 

[stickhunter]

I will check my out tonight to see if they do what you are describing. On the older Sako models, including the AV's the safety has to be off in order to open the bolt. Kind of a pain, but you get used to it in a hurry.

Thanks very much. I was looking at the design of the safety, which blocks the trigger and the bolt from opening, and believe that:

(a) it should be possible engage the safety while the bolt is retracted
(b) upon closing the bolt, the safety should be fully disengaged.

On my rifle, closing the bolt with the safety applied causes the safety to almost, but not fully, disengage. In other words, after closing the bolt, I can slide the safety further forward.

Conversely, when the rifle is fired (i.e., trigger/sear released), it should not be possible to engage the safety. On my rifle, I can still slide the safety partially back into a middle position between "safe" and "fire".

 

[Fire306]

I just checked my AV. It does exactly what you are describing, so I am assuming it it normal operation.