Bolt-Action Rifles of the 20th Century

Page Two

Gas-Handling Characteristics
I think that gas-handling characteristics are important in rifle design from a safety standpoint. Likely they will never come into play with modern cartridge cases and if a shooter is astute in his handloading. But I believe there should first be adequate gas venting from the interior of the bolt body with adequate holes in the bolt to vent high-pressure gas in a safe direction until it dissipates. Aside from the interior of the bolt, there should also be some method of preventing any escaping gases from either the interior of the bolt or around the outside front of the bolt from getting a straight shot at a shooter’s face. High-pressure gas from anywhere around the boltface should be safely vented as much as possible until the pressure dissipates.

So far, everything I have described is part of the basic 1898 Mauser system. Other rifles that include these features are the Model 70 Winchester with controlled feed and the Ruger Model 77 Mark II, to name two popular ones. However, there are features of other
rifles that I also like.

Trigger
I like a trigger that is readily adjusted by a competent gunsmith for all aspects of trigger control, from takeup to weight of pull to crispness to overtravel. Many rifles have this, and the Remington Model 700 series is well liked in this respect. While the famous Remington trigger comes in its own housing, the Winchester Model 70 trigger is exposed and the workings are simple and easily seen. A trigger should be positive in its mounting, and a rifle’s bedding should not influence the trigger/sear/striker relationship, for example. Nor should trigger action be influenced by the position of the rifle’s bolt in the receiver or whether the safety was engaged when the striker spring was compressed.

Safety
As for safeties, I like a safety that not only blocks the trigger but blocks the striker directly as well. The one on the Ruger Mark II is excellent because a shooter can actually see the safety lever block the striker when it is fully engaged and there is obviously no question whether the safety is engaged. This safety also blocks trigger movement when engaged. At the same time the Ruger safety, when placed in the middle position, allows the bolt to be cycled while still blocking the trigger. This latter feature is another that I find desirable. When the safety is fully engaged in the rearward position, the bolt handle is also locked down. In all, the Ruger Mark II is a practically foolproof system. It is at least as foolproof as the user. A safety is only as safe as the shooter.

Magazine/Feeding
Cartridges should be positioned in the magazine for positive and smooth feeding regardless of how the bolt is cycled. Rounds should not have a tendency to jam in the magazine box, and the follower should not have a tendency to rise cocked or misaligned. The bolt should positively engage the cartridge rim with no tendency to ride over the top of it, and the round should feed forward and into the chamber with a minimum of resistance. Ideally, a magazine box has a feature for protecting the tips of pointed lead-tipped bullets during recoil. The tips should not be bashed into the forward face of the magazine box.

The relatively new scissor cartridge lifter with its coil spring of the Browning A-Bolt is proving to work very well. Because it places even tension on both the front and rear of the cartridge, it causes cartridges to rise level without a tendency to tip as with the traditional flat M-shaped spring of the Mauser design that so many makers still use.

Provision for Scope Mounting
I have wondered why scope bases have so long remained nothing more than a screw-on feature to a rifle when they could be integral with the receiver, eliminating screws. Sako dovetail mounts are one means to do away with screw-on scope mount bases. More recently, the Ruger system has become very successful, and, in fact, I think Ruger has the inside track on scope mounting with its receiver-integral system. The Ruger system has a keyway to keep the ring square with the receiver, and rings for these bases are easily removed by loosening two large screws. What’s more, Ruger supplies rings with the rifles. The Sako tapered dovetail bases, while being integral with the receiver, are not as easily separated from the rings when the time comes.

Boltstop
I think that a boltstop should not be incorporated into the trigger or sear. It should be separate, or possibly part of the standing ejector system, as on the Mauser. The Ruger Model 77 boltstop is excellent because it has a spring-loaded plunger to cushion the bolt as it meets the resistance of the stop.

The boltstop should also be easily manipulated without a tool to remove the bolt from the receiver when needed.

Page One - Overview, Bolt Locking, Extractor, Ejector
Page Two - Gas Handling, Trigger, Safety, Magazine/Feeding, Scope Mounting, Bolt Stop
Page Three - Bedding System, Aesthetics, Rick's Two Favorites
Page Four - Comparing the Ruger 77 and Winchester's 70 Featherweight
Page Five - Blaser's Innovation, What the 20th Century
Has Brought Us For Rifles
Page Six - Lever-Action Bolt Gun?
Page Seven - Mauser Influence Spans the Centuries; Jamison's Top 50 Guns

This article was originally published in Shooting Times magazine in January, 2000.

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