Long post, but I feel the need to disclose all information....
I recently acquired a 1970 Model 700 BDL in .270. These year guns will not allow the bolt to operate in the "SAFE" position, so the safety has to be in the "FIRE" position to operate.
When I bought it I took it all down and cleaned it well. It belonged to an older gentleman and I bought it out of an estate sale. I put an optic on it and fired roughly 30 rounds through it searching for the factory load it preferred. Once this was completed I cleaned the bore and put it away for hunting season. Since then I've had it in the field all season; killing 3 white tail so far with it with zero issues until now.
I was hunting and temps dipped to around -3* F. Fortunately, the blind is heated so after a couple of hours inside it had reached around 45* . After a 7 hour sit I decided to take a shot at a deer. I opened the window and propped, ready to fire. I clicked the safety off and squeezed the trigger....nothing happened.
No click of the firing pin....nada....trigger seemed as though the safety was still in the "ON" position. I then operated the bolt inserting a new round into the chamber...when the bolt closed BANG! This was super surprising as you an imagine! Luckily the gun was still pointed in a safe direction!
I bolted another round carefully into the chamber and noticed the deer still in shooting range attempting to figure out what had happened. I clicked the safety off and attempted to shoot again...same thing. This time I did NOT open the bolt, rather worked the safety back and forth for what felt like an hour...finally the trigger functioned as intended.
I was able to recreate this phenomena multiple times in the blind and immediately after I had come inside the house. I did bag the deer, but was so frustrated I put it in the safe to evaluate another time. I pulled the rifle out today and have not been able to recreate it again.
The rifle looks to be all factory with no trigger manipulation - I disassembled the rifle today and there is no grease or oil or other contaminants that looks to have caused an issue.
I have, before, had rifles with subpar trigger work that allowed them to "bump" fire...meaning with the safety on you could "bump" the butt stock against the ground and the firing pin would drop. This one does not exhibit any symptoms of that kind...
Thoughts?
I recently acquired a 1970 Model 700 BDL in .270. These year guns will not allow the bolt to operate in the "SAFE" position, so the safety has to be in the "FIRE" position to operate.
When I bought it I took it all down and cleaned it well. It belonged to an older gentleman and I bought it out of an estate sale. I put an optic on it and fired roughly 30 rounds through it searching for the factory load it preferred. Once this was completed I cleaned the bore and put it away for hunting season. Since then I've had it in the field all season; killing 3 white tail so far with it with zero issues until now.
I was hunting and temps dipped to around -3* F. Fortunately, the blind is heated so after a couple of hours inside it had reached around 45* . After a 7 hour sit I decided to take a shot at a deer. I opened the window and propped, ready to fire. I clicked the safety off and squeezed the trigger....nothing happened.
No click of the firing pin....nada....trigger seemed as though the safety was still in the "ON" position. I then operated the bolt inserting a new round into the chamber...when the bolt closed BANG! This was super surprising as you an imagine! Luckily the gun was still pointed in a safe direction!
I bolted another round carefully into the chamber and noticed the deer still in shooting range attempting to figure out what had happened. I clicked the safety off and attempted to shoot again...same thing. This time I did NOT open the bolt, rather worked the safety back and forth for what felt like an hour...finally the trigger functioned as intended.
I was able to recreate this phenomena multiple times in the blind and immediately after I had come inside the house. I did bag the deer, but was so frustrated I put it in the safe to evaluate another time. I pulled the rifle out today and have not been able to recreate it again.
The rifle looks to be all factory with no trigger manipulation - I disassembled the rifle today and there is no grease or oil or other contaminants that looks to have caused an issue.
I have, before, had rifles with subpar trigger work that allowed them to "bump" fire...meaning with the safety on you could "bump" the butt stock against the ground and the firing pin would drop. This one does not exhibit any symptoms of that kind...
Thoughts?