CZ 527 Bolt Removal Issue - know what's happening?

[RainDodger]

Howdy, guys. My CZ 527 in .223 has been a wonderful rifle - no problems whatsoever until this afternoon. I wanted to remove the bolt (to measure the chamber with a particular bullet for hand loading). It's a SIMPLE THING! Yeah, for years I've simply pushed in the bolt release lever on the left side of the action, and slid the bolt out! Not today. Something isn't letting the bolt free. Magazine in or out - no difference. Safety on or off, no difference. Trigger pulled while sliding bolt to rear, no luck.

When I push in the bolt release lever, the bolt is initially freed, but when it slides back about half an inch, something catches it again. It's a definite stop, like metal hitting metal. I'm generally not a goob either, and I know my way around a rifle. Nothing in the manual covers this issue of course and I can't find anything online about it.

Anybody got a good idea?

Thanks!

 

[RainDodger]

Oh, never mind. I take it all back. I'm a goob after all and I solved the problem, although I'm way to embarrassed to tell anyone what it was!

 

[dh1633pm]

All good rain dodger. You stopped me from foolishly suggesting a large hammer. The reality is we all do all sorts of things everyday. Glad you got it.

 

[RainDodger]

Ok, I'll own up to what I did. A good lesson to look for the obvious! I tend to be very careful with my rifles and never force anything that shouldn't be forced. The scope on this rifle has Leupold "Alumina" flip up scope covers. The rear one had rotated slightly and the bolt shroud was hitting the scope cap release button. Yes, I do feel slightly foolish.

 

[robert4301]

Thanks for telling us what caused it. I was stumped, sort of a "how on earth is this possible?" thing.

 

[armoredman]

At least you didn't reassemble the bolt upside down - that will also cause "binding"...don't ask me how I know...

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

At least you didn't reassemble the bolt upside down - that will also cause "binding"...don't ask me how I know...

Been there done that. Now I try to note which side the extractor is on when I remove the bolt handle so it's oriented the same way when I put it back.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

At least you didn't reassemble the bolt upside down - that will also cause "binding"...don't ask me how I know...

Came to post the same thing! I was wondering if something similar was causing OP's issues.

 

[Archie]

I recently put a scope on my CZ 527 (7.62x37mm). I found out a SIG variable power has an adjustment ring preventing the bolt from being installed and closing. Got a thinner scope, all is well.