Enfield bolt wont open - The Firearms Forum

frisco rps13 · 06-03-2012, 01:40 AM

My rifle was working fine just the other day. The rifle is not hot, that much I do know. The chamber is 110% empty. I went to cycle the bolt earlier today, and it locked up. Im beyond stumped.

Here is a short video of my dilemma. Please pardon the video quality, its late and done with my cell phone. On top of being agitated and tired.

http://youtu.be/_Rq8qIeVFqk

Anyone with any ides?

Thanks,

Ryan

jack404 · 06-03-2012, 01:59 AM

Sir welcome to the forum , from what i see on your video you have the bolt head out of line but in battery , thats a heck of a lot of force used to do that

the bolt head has to sit in the track yours is about 30 degreea to the counter clockwise on where it should be

there is no fix but to lift the bolt handle ( it had to be forced to get there so it'll be forced up again)

pull the bolt out , realign the bolt head and face

close correctly

open the bolt again and fit a spent round to check headspace , if too loose ( the onlt way i can imagine this happening ) then rotate the bolt head so it move out from the bolt body and closing the space for head space on the round

jack404 · 06-03-2012, 02:00 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjYG7...eature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LN6o...feature=relmfu

jack404 · 06-03-2012, 02:06 AM

pic to explain what i mean , from your Video

the bolt head should be flat but it has a distinct angle in the pic from your Vid

frisco rps13 · 06-03-2012, 02:12 AM

Is this what you are referring to? This is the only track I see, and the head is in it.

jack404 · 06-03-2012, 02:15 AM

thats sitting flush ... so it cant be .. pic tricked me sorry

frisco rps13 · 06-03-2012, 02:19 AM

Its cool, its not a very good video, was just quick with my cell phone camera, trying to get the point across.

Any other ideas?

jack404 · 06-03-2012, 02:43 AM

have you dropped the magazine and tried the bolt ?

all i can think besides the obvious ( slipped mag feed plate or slipped or locked trigger sear ) is something under the sear

frisco rps13 · 06-03-2012, 02:44 AM

Yes, I've dropped the mag and tried, to no effect

permafrost · 06-03-2012, 02:56 AM

Your safety is in the fully forward position, which should be the fully disengaged position, not the on safe position. That being said ,it acts like the safety is in fact engaged. Did you have to force the safety forward before you fired it? It appears to me the safety is engaged even though it shows not to be. You will have to disassemble the weapon to get it to release. Something is binding the safety in my opinion. It should rotate rearward ,but I believe the internal safety mechanism is still engaged since you can't get it to move. Possibly disconnected from the safety rotating lever.

frisco rps13 · 06-03-2012, 03:28 AM

No, I did not have to force it. It went forward smoothly. After making the video, i realized my error in "engaged" rather than disengaged.

Am I going to be able to disassemble it without removing the bolt?

frisco rps13 · 06-03-2012, 03:37 AM

Okay, I got the trigger guard/assembly and the stock off. Here is what I am looking at. To me it doesnt look right, but I am not sure. Bolt and safety still do not move.

P.S. If these pictures are large, I apologize, I don't know how to resize them.

frisco rps13 · 06-03-2012, 03:39 AM

Also, I know this thing is filthy. Its only been mine since Wednesday, and I havent given her a good scrubbin yet. No worries ; )

permafrost · 06-03-2012, 06:30 AM

How comfortable are you with serious disassembly? You might try pulling back on the cocking piece and seeing if the sear will drop down, clearing it. Where they meet in your pics don't look right to me. The shiny parts look incorrect. It sort of looks like the sear has been wearing on the end of the cocking piece and finally wore the end off enough to drop into the wrong engagement. This would make it impossible for the trigger to pull it down to fire. Look at the correct engagement in Jack's schematic. I believe he is right about the sear being now locked. A lot of metal shavings there that don't belong. The safety is a two piece assembly and must be reassembled correctly. I, personally would disassemble the entire sear and trigger mechanism along with taking the safety out . All of your parts need a serious going over. I bet the bolt will come out then. The No 1 MK111 is not very complicated ,but you do need some mechanical apptitude to be comfortable working on it. I'm not a gunsmith and only do it as a hobby. It's a call you have to make. Maybe if you wait a bit someone more knowledgeable with these will chime in.
http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=14433

Hammerslagger · 06-03-2012, 08:52 AM

Sir:

From your last photos, your sear appears to be engaged in a safety notch designed to prevent accidental discharge in the event that the striker should disengage from the firing position without the trigger being pulled.

Try pulling back on the end of the striker to its rear most limit of travel. Hold it there and pull and hold the trigger while letting the striker go fully forward. You should then be able to open the bolt. However, the engagement between the sear nose and the firing catch (step) of the striker may be defective, possibly having been modified to give a lighter trigger pull. If such is the case the rifle will require repair to be safe for use.

frisco rps13 · 06-03-2012, 02:47 PM

Thank you everyone for your input. I believe I have it fixed. Decided messing with it after being awake for 24hrs was a bad idea. Slept and then got back on here. Pulled the cocking piece back rearward and pulled the trigger and allowed it to fall. Reassembled the rifle and cycled the bolt several times. Seems to be in working order now.

Hammerslagger · 06-03-2012, 03:12 PM

Good to hear that you got it open.

This rifle should have at least a 4 lb trigger, measured by is ability to vertically pick up a 4 lb. weight and not release the striker. If the trip weight is much less than 4 lbs. (like 2 1/2 lbs) then the sear/striker engagement has likely been "messed with" and the trigger cannot be considered safe. Manual safeties and safety catches do not always function correctly, and are not to be relied upon.

Be safe, not sorry.

06-03-2012, 01:40 AM	#1
frisco rps13 Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 8	Enfield bolt wont open My rifle was working fine just the other day. The rifle is not hot, that much I do know. The chamber is 110% empty. I went to cycle the bolt earlier today, and it locked up. Im beyond stumped. Here is a short video of my dilemma. Please pardon the video quality, its late and done with my cell phone. On top of being agitated and tired. http://youtu.be/_Rq8qIeVFqk Anyone with any ides? Thanks, Ryan -->

06-03-2012, 01:59 AM	#2
jack404 Former Guest Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Australia Contributor Posts: 17,622	Re: Enfield bolt wont open Sir welcome to the forum , from what i see on your video you have the bolt head out of line but in battery , thats a heck of a lot of force used to do that the bolt head has to sit in the track yours is about 30 degreea to the counter clockwise on where it should be there is no fix but to lift the bolt handle ( it had to be forced to get there so it'll be forced up again) pull the bolt out , realign the bolt head and face close correctly open the bolt again and fit a spent round to check headspace , if too loose ( the onlt way i can imagine this happening ) then rotate the bolt head so it move out from the bolt body and closing the space for head space on the round Last edited by jack404; 06-03-2012 at 02:08 AM..

06-03-2012, 02:00 AM	#3
jack404 Former Guest Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Australia Contributor Posts: 17,622	Re: Enfield bolt wont open http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjYG7...eature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LN6o...feature=relmfu

06-03-2012, 02:06 AM	#4
jack404 Former Guest Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Australia Contributor Posts: 17,622	Re: Enfield bolt wont open pic to explain what i mean , from your Video the bolt head should be flat but it has a distinct angle in the pic from your Vid Attached Images Last edited by jack404; 06-03-2012 at 02:09 AM..

06-03-2012, 02:12 AM	#5
frisco rps13 Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 8	Re: Enfield bolt wont open Is this what you are referring to? This is the only track I see, and the head is in it. Attached Images

06-03-2012, 02:15 AM	#6
jack404 Former Guest Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Australia Contributor Posts: 17,622	Re: Enfield bolt wont open thats sitting flush ... so it cant be .. pic tricked me sorry

06-03-2012, 02:19 AM	#7
frisco rps13 Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 8	Re: Enfield bolt wont open Its cool, its not a very good video, was just quick with my cell phone camera, trying to get the point across. Any other ideas?

06-03-2012, 02:43 AM	#8
jack404 Former Guest Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Australia Contributor Posts: 17,622	Re: Enfield bolt wont open have you dropped the magazine and tried the bolt ? all i can think besides the obvious ( slipped mag feed plate or slipped or locked trigger sear ) is something under the sear Attached Images

06-03-2012, 02:44 AM	#9
frisco rps13 Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 8	Re: Enfield bolt wont open Yes, I've dropped the mag and tried, to no effect

06-03-2012, 02:56 AM	#10
permafrost Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Oklahoma, USA Contributor Posts: 1,771	Re: Enfield bolt wont open Your safety is in the fully forward position, which should be the fully disengaged position, not the on safe position. That being said ,it acts like the safety is in fact engaged. Did you have to force the safety forward before you fired it? It appears to me the safety is engaged even though it shows not to be. You will have to disassemble the weapon to get it to release. Something is binding the safety in my opinion. It should rotate rearward ,but I believe the internal safety mechanism is still engaged since you can't get it to move. Possibly disconnected from the safety rotating lever. __________________ Stand and Fight

06-03-2012, 03:28 AM	#11
frisco rps13 Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 8	Re: Enfield bolt wont open No, I did not have to force it. It went forward smoothly. After making the video, i realized my error in "engaged" rather than disengaged. Am I going to be able to disassemble it without removing the bolt?

06-03-2012, 03:37 AM	#12
frisco rps13 Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 8	Re: Enfield bolt wont open Okay, I got the trigger guard/assembly and the stock off. Here is what I am looking at. To me it doesnt look right, but I am not sure. Bolt and safety still do not move. P.S. If these pictures are large, I apologize, I don't know how to resize them. Attached Images

06-03-2012, 03:39 AM	#13
frisco rps13 Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 8	Re: Enfield bolt wont open Also, I know this thing is filthy. Its only been mine since Wednesday, and I havent given her a good scrubbin yet. No worries ; )

06-03-2012, 06:30 AM	#14
permafrost Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Oklahoma, USA Contributor Posts: 1,771	Re: Enfield bolt wont open How comfortable are you with serious disassembly? You might try pulling back on the cocking piece and seeing if the sear will drop down, clearing it. Where they meet in your pics don't look right to me. The shiny parts look incorrect. It sort of looks like the sear has been wearing on the end of the cocking piece and finally wore the end off enough to drop into the wrong engagement. This would make it impossible for the trigger to pull it down to fire. Look at the correct engagement in Jack's schematic. I believe he is right about the sear being now locked. A lot of metal shavings there that don't belong. The safety is a two piece assembly and must be reassembled correctly. I, personally would disassemble the entire sear and trigger mechanism along with taking the safety out . All of your parts need a serious going over. I bet the bolt will come out then. The No 1 MK111 is not very complicated ,but you do need some mechanical apptitude to be comfortable working on it. I'm not a gunsmith and only do it as a hobby. It's a call you have to make. Maybe if you wait a bit someone more knowledgeable with these will chime in. http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=14433 __________________ Stand and Fight Last edited by permafrost; 06-03-2012 at 07:02 AM..

06-03-2012, 08:52 AM	#15
Hammerslagger Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,099	Re: Enfield bolt wont open Sir: From your last photos, your sear appears to be engaged in a safety notch designed to prevent accidental discharge in the event that the striker should disengage from the firing position without the trigger being pulled. Try pulling back on the end of the striker to its rear most limit of travel. Hold it there and pull and hold the trigger while letting the striker go fully forward. You should then be able to open the bolt. However, the engagement between the sear nose and the firing catch (step) of the striker may be defective, possibly having been modified to give a lighter trigger pull. If such is the case the rifle will require repair to be safe for use.

06-03-2012, 02:47 PM	#16
frisco rps13 Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 8	Re: Enfield bolt wont open Thank you everyone for your input. I believe I have it fixed. Decided messing with it after being awake for 24hrs was a bad idea. Slept and then got back on here. Pulled the cocking piece back rearward and pulled the trigger and allowed it to fall. Reassembled the rifle and cycled the bolt several times. Seems to be in working order now.

06-03-2012, 03:12 PM	#17
Hammerslagger Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1,099	Re: Enfield bolt wont open Good to hear that you got it open. This rifle should have at least a 4 lb trigger, measured by is ability to vertically pick up a 4 lb. weight and not release the striker. If the trip weight is much less than 4 lbs. (like 2 1/2 lbs) then the sear/striker engagement has likely been "messed with" and the trigger cannot be considered safe. Manual safeties and safety catches do not always function correctly, and are not to be relied upon. Be safe, not sorry.