Winchester Model 100 Stuck Bolt

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NewfieAB

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So a friend of mine gave me a Winchester 100 that he has had for quite some time that when he went to use it last season he found that the bolt was stuck shut. He gave it to me as I have some experience working on my own rifles but I haven't worked on a model 100 before now. I already checked for a stuck case and the chamber appears to be empty. I've done some reading online about how the hammer can get caught between the bolt sleeve and the firing pin. I am able to pull the bolt back maybe 1/4" and the bolt head rotates about 90 deg before it stops.

Just wondering if anyone else here has ran into this issue and how to actually go about fixing it without tearing the rifle to pieces.

Thanks
 
NewfieAB said:
... without tearing the rifle to pieces.
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Disassembly will probably be required at some point, if that is not an option then I would take the gun to a gunsmith.

~~~

~ Make sure there is no ammunition in the chamber.
~ Remove the rust from the Gas Cylinder.
 
Go easy with the amount of force applied to the cocking handle. If it is broken off, you have a real problem.
One problem with the M100 is that to remove the barrelled action from the stock, the action must be opened all the way.
With the handle pulled back as far as you can, keep pressure applied. Drop a rod down the muzzle use a hammer to tap the rod against the bolt face.
You might need an extra set of hands for this.
What you want to do is to get the action open. A combination of pressure on the cocking handle and the boltface may accomplish this.
If you can get the action opening fully, remove the screws securing the forend and action (behind the trigger guard). With the action opened fully, you should be able to tip the barrelled action out of the stock.
 
.... and you will probably find the piston was rusted in place... maybe put some solvent in the barrel letting it run down into the gas port for a while.. it may soften the blows needed.
 
guntech said:
.... and you will probably find the piston was rusted in place... maybe put some solvent in the barrel letting it run down into the gas port for a while.. it may soften the blows needed.
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This is more than likely the issue with your gun. A friend of mine brought me his M-100 a few years back and it was as 'guntech" noted a rusted gas piston. some M-100's have all steel gas piston parts some have stainless parts. The steel ones don't fair well at times. When fired in cold weather condensation forms in the gas system. And sometimes they are stored in high humidity enviorments, regardless the gas system parts are prone to rusting up.
These M-100's were nice guns but they had there weak spots and faults. They must be kept meticulously clean in all respects. I find it greatly helps to keep the chamber clean and lightly oiled as well your ammo. When I was hunting mine regularly, it was cleaned nightly including the clips and ammo. Then there is still no guarantee it would not jam.

As previously mentioned the bolt has to be fully pulled back to get the action out of the stock. if you can get the spray tube of some WD-40 worked in there to soak the gas system parts that should hopefully free it up. You have nothing to loose at this point as it's not coming apart on it's own
 
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The Winchester model 100 like most SAs is very dirt sensitive.
The 100 is not a gun you hunt in the rain with and then throw into a corner and leave there indefinitely as the previous owner of my 100 apparently did.
I bought my 100 in 308 Win real cheap from a guy at my gun club as it was non-functional at the time of the sale.
I then stripped it apart and cleaned it with the help of a youtube video by some hay seed gunsmith from Maine who reminded me of Earl Scruggs from the old Beverly Hillbillies TV series.
The piston and bolt were frozen with dirt and rust and after soaking the metal parts in wd-40 and wire brushing the rust off I put it together and it shot fine.
Accuracy is not the 100s strong point.
My 100 will do about a 3 to 4 inch 5-shot group at 100 yards.
I've tried various loads in it.
I had a Leupold 2-7x33mm scope on it when I range tested it.
Any uncorrectable grouping over 2" @ 100 yds gets a scoped hunting rifle it's walking papers at my place.
It's on the to-sell-soon list along with a couple of other dust collectors in my safe.
 
Yeah i managed to get it fixed up after. There were two issues plauging it. First like most have mentioned the piston was dirty and rusted (looked like it had never been cleaned) and there was a factory load winchester nickle plated case stuck in there as well. Figured a brass rod would have caught the mouth of the case a little on the way down the muzzle end to give me some indication that there was something in the chamber. Either way some soaking in wd40 along with the brass rod and some tapping with a hammer and it wasn't to hard to come apart. I only assume the chamber was dirty too for the case to get stuck. The gun had been sitting for a couple years before i got to look at it.

I used the same video to take it apart, jim green i think is the guys name. He does have some interesting videos on youtube
 
NewfieAB, I'm glad you were able to get that rifle apart. A few months ago I did some work on a Win Model 100 for my nephew . . . at that time I found out that Winchester had a recall on those rifles, there was a problem with the original firing pins. If you were not aware of this and would like more info, feel free to send me a pm.
 
NewfieAB said:
Yeah i managed to get it fixed up after. There were two issues plauging it. First like most have mentioned the piston was dirty and rusted (looked like it had never been cleaned) and there was a factory load winchester nickle plated case stuck in there as well. Figured a brass rod would have caught the mouth of the case a little on the way down the muzzle end to give me some indication that there was something in the chamber. Either way some soaking in wd40 along with the brass rod and some tapping with a hammer and it wasn't to hard to come apart. I only assume the chamber was dirty too for the case to get stuck. The gun had been sitting for a couple years before i got to look at it.

I used the same video to take it apart, jim green i think is the guys name. He does have some interesting videos on youtube
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Jim green is correct. He owns down east gun works in Harrington, Maine. Sounds like a real ol' hick, but I think he knows his stuff.
 
The barrel in my gun is fine.
I normally would glass bed the action to try to correct the accuracy problems but so much of the stock has been gouged out to accommodate the SA action that the wood is paper thin in some places already so removing more wood is not an option.
Already have a synthetic Browning BAR that shoots sub MOA 5 shot groups so the 100 will likely be gone by spring.
 
I bought a Model 100 in 284 at an auction in Wainwright once and found out on arm of the action was broken. Gunsmith in Edmonton TIG welded it for me as WGP didn't have a spare part due to it being a part that breaks all the time. I later traded it to the same gun smith for another rifle for twice what I had into it.
 
Raton57 said:
I bought a Model 100 in 284 at an auction in Wainwright once and found out on arm of the action was broken. Gunsmith in Edmonton TIG welded it for me as WGP didn't have a spare part due to it being a part that breaks all the time. I later traded it to the same gun smith for another rifle for twice what I had into it.
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Apparently the 100s in 284 Win are quite rare and much sought after by Winchester model 100 connoisseurs.
My priority is hitting the target and if the 100s aren't any more accurate than my specimen the connoisseurs can keep the whole lot of them.
Too bad because it's a real pretty rifle.
 
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