Can't Remove Bolt From Rail Assembly?

Joined
Jul 9, 2016
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Hi All,

New 15-22 Sport owner here. Happy with my new rifle for the most part aside from some continuing FTE issues (actually somewhat common for my rifle) across different brands/mags. I just received my Volquartsen extractor, and am hoping that this will fix my issues, otherwise I'll try messing with the ejector/sending the rifle back to SW.

I'm trying to give the rifle a really good clean before I go shooting tomorrow with the new extractor, and this includes the BCG. All of the videos I've watched of cleaning the BCG show people easily removing the spring/guide rod (which I can do), and then simply sliding the bolt off the black rail assembly. However, when I go to do this, the bolt "sticks" once the edge of the rails becomes flush with the bolt face and will not slide out easily. I'm not sure if it is gunked up (doesn't appear to be, it slides easily at all other positions), or if SW manufactured the new models so that the bolt can't come off the rails? Looking at the side of the bolt where the rails sit, at each end of the bolt I can see that (for about 1/4 - 1/2 inch) it tapers down. For a majority of the run inside from the edges of the bolt there is a deeper depth which makes me think that maybe the bolt is supposed to be held in place on the rails?

I really don't want to force the bolt off the rails and chance breaking anything without knowing that the bolt should, in fact, be able to come off the rails.

Any insight would be appreciated!

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
You just may have found you problem. Your rail sound like it is bent. The bolt should ride easily and smoothly down the rail. This is important because it affects the timing of the ejection and feeding of the next round. I know allot of people have dropped there BCG, slid right out the back and on the ground bending the rails. My rails were not that great from the factory so I straightened them and sanded off the bur on the edges. I then lightly polished them and put a coating of teflon on it. Bolt moves quite freely now and is more reliable.
 
Give it a firmer push off the front of the rails.

Mine is a newer version and the bolt comes off with just a snag at the front of the rails.

If you're having FTEject issues, send it back and make S&W fix it.
 
Same story with the 15-22 I bought 3 months ago--the bolt stays on the rails after the spring and its guide are removed. The bolt moves freely on the rails but when it reaches the end it stops with a definite click like it hit something hard. The open ends of the rails are smooth and even so they don't seem to be what's stopping it. Kind of a mystery?
 
Same with my new 15-22 Sport. When I first got it and cleaned it prior to shooting it I thought the bolt stayed on the rails. Upon cleaning it again after shooting it the bolt came off the rails, albeit after hitting a little sticking point. Maybe that is by design.
 
Bonkers, you are correct with most of what you have stated but I would like to clarify some things. First, my extractor was sharp from the factory but I was having a lot of failures to extract so I took a closer look. The factory hook was sliding off the rim so I changed to angle of the hook which fixed the problem. The 22lr round is dirty and consistent and as you stated needs enough power to get full bolt travel. I polished and lubed the bolt and rails with a teflon coating that repels dirt. In doing so the bolt moves much freer which allows the lighter charge 22lr rounds to function. After doing these two modifications I was able to shoot 600 rounds without a single malfunction at the range that day and continue to do so. Prof that a little twerking can make a good rifle a much better one.
 
Bonkers nailed it. How blow back actions work is frequently mis-understood. One of the big issues I see is shooters not really getting the chamber clean. Pulling a bore snake thru may be fashionable and make you feel good but it's not really getting your chamber clean.

When the chamber isn't clean the fired case can't get free of it and push the bolt back like it should. That creates problems. Sometimes a better extractor will help hide the actual problem, a dirty chamber, but it doesn't FIX the problem.

I have two VQ extractors sitting in my spares box but haven't needed them. I clean the chamber with a .243 bore brush in a piece of cleaning rod chucked in a drill motor. That actually gets out the hard layer of carbon that forms that is all too easy to polish rather than remove with other methods.
 
Back
Top