Remington 14 woes
Remington 14 woes
Hi all. What a great forum. I have lurked here awhile but have not joined until now. Tool and die maker but not a gunsmith, I have rebuilt a couple of dozen guns in the last 30 years or so for personal use. A few years ago I bought a Remington 14 in 35 cal, serial 119XXX, that was only missing the bolt. I wound up buying a stripped bolt in the right caliber and set the entire thing aside, then recently saw a complete bolt on GB which I purchased. Now I am fitting the bolt. I do realize there were 2 bolt designs for this rifle. I put the complete bolt in just to see where I need to start. The gun feeds dummies fine, extracts fine, ejects fine. The problem is....I cannot get the sear to contact the trigger...it misses by just a little bit. With the buttstock off I can see this looking into the rear of the action. In addition, the trigger needs to be pulled forward in able to get the safety on. Is this designed for the sear to put pressure on the trigger and thus cam it forward so that the safety works? Do I have the wrong bolt? The other bolt is the different version, but I noticed the other bolt parts will not interchange on to it for me to try this bolt out. Once i get the firing pin to fall I will buy or make headspace gauges and check headspace on the thing. Thanks to all in advance. These 14's sure are complicated, but what a beautiful looking gun! I bought dies and components YEARS ago because I knew one day I would own one in 35!
Re: Remington 14 woes
Whoa!
Two versions of a Model 14 bolt, be great if that was only true!!
You are thinking that Version #1 was without the extension for the hook & lever safety system and Version #2 was with the extension. That is just where the story starts, there were at least five (5) different bolt body patterns to Version #2 alone and I'm thinking you probably need the last version OR a bolt for a Model 141 for which I have several in stock in .35 Caliber. This particular variation is very distinctive in that it has a milled cut right at the top of the bolt face, sort of a shallow crescent cut that's absent from all the other variations.
Most of the late 14's essentially used Model 141 design parts but exactly when that began, no one really knows but I'm "pretty sure" your rifle would use the last or M141 design. Hope this helps!
Jim Peterson
Charlotte, NC
nambujim@charlotte.twcbc.com
Two versions of a Model 14 bolt, be great if that was only true!!
You are thinking that Version #1 was without the extension for the hook & lever safety system and Version #2 was with the extension. That is just where the story starts, there were at least five (5) different bolt body patterns to Version #2 alone and I'm thinking you probably need the last version OR a bolt for a Model 141 for which I have several in stock in .35 Caliber. This particular variation is very distinctive in that it has a milled cut right at the top of the bolt face, sort of a shallow crescent cut that's absent from all the other variations.
Most of the late 14's essentially used Model 141 design parts but exactly when that began, no one really knows but I'm "pretty sure" your rifle would use the last or M141 design. Hope this helps!
Jim Peterson
Charlotte, NC
nambujim@charlotte.twcbc.com
Jim Peterson
Re: Remington 14 woes
Hey!
I checked my records and no question, the last style bolt I described should work..........or a bolt for a 141. They started using the "last" style at about serial 95,000 but like everything with these rifles they continued to use up old inventory so older style bolts were seen in rifles as late as 102,000.
.................and yes, you must pull the trigger forward to engage the safety.
Jim Peterson
Charlotte, NC
I checked my records and no question, the last style bolt I described should work..........or a bolt for a 141. They started using the "last" style at about serial 95,000 but like everything with these rifles they continued to use up old inventory so older style bolts were seen in rifles as late as 102,000.
.................and yes, you must pull the trigger forward to engage the safety.
Jim Peterson
Charlotte, NC
Jim Peterson
Re: Remington 14 woes
My barrel code is March 1930, serial 119XXX. Would the wrong bolt cause the problem described? I mean this thing sounds like a bank vault closing up and it closes tight so I assumed the bolt was correct, but again I am quite familiar with Winchesters but know next to nothing about these Remingtons. I'll try to post pics when I get back to my house next week.
Re: Remington 14 woes
While not knowing a lot about these rifles is not helpful in this case you are certainly in the majority. I know several large collectors of these rifles who cannot take them apart.
In an exchange of private messages we will either be sending me the rifle for a proper bolt fit/clean OR I will be sending an early 141 bolt to be tried and if it works payment will be sent.
Jim Peterson
Charlotte, NC
In an exchange of private messages we will either be sending me the rifle for a proper bolt fit/clean OR I will be sending an early 141 bolt to be tried and if it works payment will be sent.
Jim Peterson
Charlotte, NC
Jim Peterson
Re: Remington 14 woes
Well a BIG BIG hearty THANK YOU to nambujim for his trust and help getting this baby fixed! A new bolt and a cleaning seemed to do the trick. Have some factory ammo that I will try out next week and just cannot wait. Thanks again to Jim and this great forum.