Removing Bolt

Misny · Post by **Misny** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 1:14 pm

I have noticed that many times bolts are removed from .22 rimfire rifles. There are even "holsters" available to hold the bolts. Is there a reason for keeping the bolt out of the rifle, besides safety?

Jordan F. · Post by **Jordan F.** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 7:05 pm

Only reason I can maybe think of is that the bolt sticks up so high making it hard to close the gun case and maybe hard on the gun? But having said that I just keep it in the gun with the trigger compressed.

batty · Post by **batty** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 2:19 am

As well as safety and storage, it is also done for securty issues.

little_doodie · Post by **little_doodie** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:09 am

Its mainly for the guns safety.
the bolt sticks out alot further than the rest of the stock.
if the case was handled extremely rough it could crack or break the stock.
I have heard of many cases of airlines damaging rifles that have the bolt installed.
A good rule of thumb with shipping a rifle is to loosen the action screws, remove the bolt and sights.

WarWagon · Post by **WarWagon** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:07 am

Also makes the TSA easier to convince that the gun "is not loaded" when you're traveling, as ridiculous as it sounds. Most of those people haven't the faintest clue what they're looking at.

Eric U · Post by **Eric U** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 8:47 pm

In some rimfire and centerfire benchrest competition, you have to have the bolt out of the rifle before you can remove your rifle from the firing line. Many of those benchrest shooters use a holster to have a place to keep the bolt between relays.

For 3p and prone, the only time I remove a bolt is when I'm flying with my rifle in a hardsided case. I've had two stocks broken by the airlines, one wood and one aluminum...both times with a bolt in the action. That little extra pivot point is sometimes enough to crack a stock, even with an otherwise undamaged rifle case. Good luck getting the airline to replace your stock in this instance. I've never had a stock break when flying if I removed the bolt first.

Eric

Soupy44 · Post by **Soupy44** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 10:07 pm

A note from experience:

During the return trip from England for the Robert's Team - Pershing Team prone match in 2001, one person put her bolt in her carry on and they believed it was a firearm.

Might want to make sure to leave it in the case with the gun.

Rutty · Post by **Rutty** » Fri Apr 24, 2009 7:41 am

Soupy44 wrote:A note from experience:

During the return trip from England for the Robert's Team - Pershing Team prone match in 2001, one person put her bolt in her carry on and they believed it was a firearm.

Might want to make sure to leave it in the case with the gun.

No, they didn't believe it was a firearm, they correctly identified it as a firearm component which is an item prohibited in hand baggage. The purpose of the regulation is to prevent separate components being brought on board by a number of individuals and a improvised weapon being assembled in flight.

Rutty