Bolt removal on Remington model 58 Sportsman

[SteelyNirvana]

I'm trying to remove the bolt from a Remington model 58 sportsman that I recently bought ( http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=452173 ). I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how to get the bolt out of this gun. I've got the trigger group out, the shell holders, and the bolt handle out. All that holding the bolt in-place is the bolt carrier that's attactched to the arms on the piston. I've held the piston down with a screwdriver in different spots inside the receiver, looking for a groove to push the piston arms in or lift up on the bolt carrier but I don't see anywhere to.

I'm usually pretty good at figuring things out but this has really got me stumped. I've looked for disasembly instructions for this model but there's not much out there on this model. I'm hoping theres someone on here who has done this a time or two and can tell me what I need to do to get it out.

Thanks a bunch in advance!

 

[Sam1911]

Did you remove the firing pin?

Hold the back of the bolt up a little and keep your hand behind the firing pin. Use a punch down from the top and move the retaining pin (you can see it in a small hole on top of the bolt just in front of the rear of the firing pin) down until the firing pin pops out the back. Remove the pin and spring and the bolt should lift off.

Reassembly is a little more fun.

This is how it works on my 11-48, and the bolt and the rear part of the carrier look identical to the 58.

-Sam

EDIT: I just re-read your post. Are you saying you've not removed the bolt carrier from the receiver, yet? Again, going by the diagrams on Numrich's site, it appears that the front and arms of the carrier are identical to the set-up on the 878. If that's the case, remove the bolt handle (which you did) and then slide the arms forward as you pull up on them. The slot in the top of the magazine tube has a round hole at the front end. When the arms get to that hole, the little button attached to them will pop up out of the gas piston and through that hole and the carrier will slide freely out of the front of the reciever. At least that's what I remember doing to disassemble my grandpop's 878. (Can't go look, though. My sister now owns it.)

 

[SteelyNirvana]

I just re-read your post. Are you saying you've not removed the bolt carrier from the receiver, yet? Again, going by the diagrams on Numrich's site, it appears that the front and arms of the carrier are identical to the set-up on the 878. If that's the case, remove the bolt handle (which you did) and then slide the arms forward as you pull up on them. The slot in the top of the magazine tube has a round hole at the front end. When the arms get to that hole, the little button attached to them will pop up out of the gas piston and through that hole and the carrier will slide freely out of the front of the reciever.

That's it! Thank you very much kind sir . I got it out easy as pie after I read that. I'm working on getting the firing pin retaining pin out now (I figure I've got it tore down this much and it's a 50yr old gun, it could stand a new one). Man, that thing is in there really good. I tried applying some heat but that didn't work. I'm gonna apply a few drops of Kroil oil and let it set overnight and try again tomorrow evening.

 

[Sam1911]

I'm working on getting the firing pin retaining pin out now (I figure I've got it tore down this much and it's a 50yr old gun, it could stand a new one). Man, that thing is in there really good.

Hmmm... I'm surprised it's in there very tightly. The one in my 11-48 just drops out when I get everything lined up. Make sure it's clear before you force it.

Lift the back of the bolt up off of the carrier as far as you can to give it room to move. The carrier itself is what holds the pin up in the bolt (the hole in the top of the bolt isn't large enough for the pin to come out that way), so you need to create some space. Then press on the firing pin a bit to make sure that it isn't pressing against the pin and keeping it from moving.

I'm sure if the gun is really gunked up it could get sort of glued in there, but make sure it's path is clear before you hit anything very hard.

I've had to replace the bolt slide on my 11-48 twice now...it's easier than you'd think to damage some of these things...

Good luck!

-Sam

 

[SteelyNirvana]

Receiver cracked

I finally got the pin out last night. I had to apply some heat to it again, even after soaking in Kroil oil overnight.

I was looking the gun over some last night and noticed that there is a crack in the receiver where the slot for the bolt handle is. I read (In this thread: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=161725 ) that this is a common thing on the model 58 and you can drill a small hole behind the crack to stop it. See post #12 and #29. Before I attempt it, has anyone else tried or done this? I've got some real small bits about 1/32 and that's what I'll use if doing this will work.

 

[Badger Arms]

Ah, stop-drilling. That's my area of expertise. First of all, the concept of a stop drill is to remove the leading edge of the crack to relieve stress and keep the crack from progressing. Optimally, the entire crack should be routed out if that is a possibility.

You do not want to miss any of the crack. I COMLETELY disagree with the guy who said to drill a VERY VERY small hole. This is WRONG. Depending on the thickness of the metal in that area, you might want to go up to 3/32", 1/8" or even 5/32". The reason is to assure you haven't missed any of the crack. Cracks are 3-dimensional and might be longer or shorter on the other side of the metal. Drill with the center of the hole RIGHT on the end of the crack. If you drill beyond the crack, there's a chance you'll only catch a bit of the crack and the crack can follow the grain of the metal around the hole. Essentially, you've just heat treated the metal around the hole and created an altrenate path for the crack.

Can I get pictures?

 

[SteelyNirvana]

Badger,

This is the best pic I can get with my camera. You can barely see it, I drew a black circle around it. It stops when it get's to the engraved leaf. If I drill inside the engraving where the crack stops at, should that take care of it?