Thread: Rem 700 halfcock

Originally Posted by dogmatix

The Lee Enfield legacy lives on and refuses to die.

Greetings @dogmatix and all,
I had not seen half cock on bolt action rifles mentioned fo a bit and hoped it had died a natural death. Back in the .303 days the Lee Enfield had both a half cock notch and a safety catch. Neither was very good and the rifle could fife from either position with a sharp blow to the cocking peice such as in a fall. Having the firing pin down on a loaded chamber was even worse. Due to this the Mountain Safety Council teaching was to use a half open bolt (position of semi readyness) when close to game. This is where the cartridge is held by the extractor and the action part open. The firing pin main spring was uncompressed and it took two separate motions to be ready to fire, forward to compress the main spring and down to lock the action ready to fire. It was a safe although somewhat clumsy solution.
Time passed and some hunters started using Mauser rifles and even commercial hunting rifles. The distrust of safety catches hammered home by the MSC persisted and some started to carry their rifles in what they incorrectly called half cock. In this postion the bolt was fully forward and the mainspring compressed needing only the bolt to be lowered to fire. Some rifles, particularly Sako's, were reasonably stable in this position but this was never designed as a safe way to carry a rifle and it was not. In a stumble the bolt could easily be lowered without the hunter being aware of it. Butchering the rifle to improve things does not help mutch. The Mountain Safety Council dithered and failed to address the problem but for me the only way to carry a rifle when sneaking up on deer is with a chambered round and a regularly tested safety catch applied.
Regards Grandpamac.