Shortest bolt lift
- Thread starter sixgunner357
- Start date
The Schultz & Larsen rifles you mention have a 54° bolt lift, not 45°. Some assumed that with 4 locking lugs on the Schultz & Larsen rifles, a bolt lift of 45° was to be expected (180° ÷ 4), but that is not the case. Years ago, Dubiel rifles in Texas had actions that featured a bolt with 5 locking lugs and a short 36° bolt lift. They were rare and are almost never seen today.
Not all 3-lug bolts feature a 60° bolt lift; the Sako 75s, 85s and 90s with 3-lug bolts have a 70° lift. Similarly, not all 2-lug actions feature a 90° lift; the Husqvarna/Carl Gustaf/Viking Arms 1900-series rifles have two lugs and an 80° bolt lift.
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The bolt lift is a bit of a catch-22 item in a "#### on opening" action.
One must compress the striker spring on opening the bolt, so that
means that the lesser the angle, the steeper the cocking ramp must
be.
This simply interprets to more effort required to open the bolt. For me,
as long as the bolt handle clears the ocular bell of the scope, I'm happy. EE
One must compress the striker spring on opening the bolt, so that
means that the lesser the angle, the steeper the cocking ramp must
be.
This simply interprets to more effort required to open the bolt. For me,
as long as the bolt handle clears the ocular bell of the scope, I'm happy. EE
Excellent point. Many rifles with a 60° bolt lift are considerably harder to cycle from the shoulder than those with a standard 2-lug, 90° bolt, because, as Eagleye notes, they are much stiffer owing to the force necessary to compress the main spring with such short travel over a steeper cocking surface. I would say that, of all my centerfire bolt-action rifles, the Husqvarna 1900-actioned rifles, with the 80° bolt lift, are the easiest and fastest to operate from the shoulder.
So, bottom-line: don't expect a short bolt lift to give you a faster-, smoother-operating action. It probably won't.
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sixgunner357
Member
Thanks for the clarification on the bolt lift of the S&L rifles South Pender. As Eagle Eye pointed out the short lift requires more effort to open because of cocking the mainspring but some of the old S&L rifles were #### on close which at the risk of derailing my own thread is a feature I like on the rifles I’ve had such as an old P14. Thanks for all the responses and information.
Yes, the Models 54J and 60. There aren't many of these around these days; only a few hundred M54Js were made, and only about 1100 M60s--as opposed to about 7000 M65/65DLs and M68DLs. I haven't handled a M54J or M60 (but have owned M65DLs and M68DLs), and I wonder whether the bolt closing would be very stiff, since the cocking occurs on that stroke and over a short camming distance.
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Does the cooking occur on the rotation or just in the process of pushing the bolt forward? My only experience with #### on close is an Enfield i hardly use and a m96 i only had for a very short time, but I recall the sear catches the striker during the last bit of forward travel of the bolt?
- Location
- Saskatchewan
delete
- Location
- Barrie Ont. Canada
I recall reading about Remington claiming the fastest locking time in ads when they brought out their M 788. With 9 rear locking lugs. Think they are still 60 degrees though
Prolly splitting hairs on these good points but is it better to have the bolt effort at front end (lift) as your already coming up/back off sight picture with recoil than at tail end (down) when getting back in scope or sight picture?
Speed of bolt operation and lock time are two different things. The Rem. 788 had fairly fast lock time at 2.3 ms., as opposed to the Rem. 700 at 3.0 ms., both far faster than a Mauser 98, for example, at 5.2 ms. Fast lock time does confer some small advantage in accuracy, particularly for target shooters. However, lock time has nothing to do with the speed and ease of operation of the bolt. The Rem. 788 had a 68° bolt lift.
Blastattack
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Winnipeg MB
BMS CAM Rifle has 22.5 degrees. Good luck getting one though.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
Blaser...0 degrees of lift.
Blastattack
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Winnipeg MB
Not including straight pulls.
I have a 54J and while it takes a bit more force (compared to a #### on opening action) the action is smooth as silk and is very easy to operate from the shoulder. The "feel" is nothing at all like a P14/M17 or Springfield.
Yes, that series of Schultz & Larsen rifles were super-smooth, weren't they. The basic action changed very little from the 54J through to the 68, with the main change being the cocking feature, from closing to opening. I don't think I've owned another rifle that had smoother bolt travel than my S&Ls. The action is so remarkably well made, fitted, and polished that there is almost zero lateral movement in the bolt when cycling it. Not hard to see why S&L rifles were and are so highly regarded.
