Easy bolt action?

[wheelsguy78]

Hello everyone! This is my first post here and it might be an odd question so I'll explain my situation a little. I'm a quadriplegic due to a spinal cord injury. I can use my arms but have no hand function which makes working a rifle pretty difficult. I hunt deer and have been using an AR15 chambered in 6.5 Grendel. It's a great deer round but I need something with a bit "longer legs." I'm looking at a bolt gun in 6.5 CM because I really don't want another AR and the AR 10s I've seen are pricey. I looked at some rifles and tried cycling the bolts and working the safeties. I decided that I need a side safety like on Howa/Weatherby Vanguard or maybe Rem 700. My biggest issue is that most actions seemed really stiff to me. I tried one with a "tactical" knob and that definitely helped.
My question is, can actions be loosened up? Or are there other actions that are notoriously easier? I don't have a ton of money so I need to stick with a factory model, plus I'm going to need to rig together a stock that I can mount to my wheelchair. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[ZGunner]

I like the Tikka T3 action for its easy bolt manipulation as long as your ammo has a shoulder that plays nicely with the chamber, you should be able to chamber a round with minimal effort

 

[someguy2800]

Bolt actions take a bit of effort to open the bolt after a shot because it is cocking the striker spring while you lift the bolt handle. I don't usually pay that much attention to it but some definitely take more effort to work than others. Savage's definitely take a lot of effort to open the bolt. I think my Tikka is probably the easiest to work the bolt of my guns. I think the magazine catch and the safety would also be easy to operate with limited hand function compared to some. The mag catch would be easy to depress and the mags load very easily being single stack. Do you know anybody good with tools that can weld? The bolt handle on a Tikka is removable so you could have someone that can weld extend the handle on it so you could get a lot of leverage. In fact if you were to send me a bolt I would be happy to do that for you. I could also make an extension for the safety lever to make that easier to operate.

edit; Oh and the bolt catch for removing the bolt to clean is really easy to operate on a tikka too. Its just a flat lever on the side that depresses in.

 

[MrBorland]

Check out the Browning Maral. It’s not likely cheap and probably hard to find, but it’s a straight pull rifle that uses a spring to chamber a round. All the shooter does is pull straight back and let go.

As far as traditional bolt rifles, a 2-lug design has a higher (but easier) bolt lift than the 3-lug (e.g. Tikka, Sako).

 

[AlexanderA]

You might want to consider a sporterized No. 4 Enfield. Enfields cock on closing, so the effort of extraction is separated from the effort of cocking. This makes for a very fast and easy bolt action. The .303 British caliber is adequate for most game.

If you want to use iron sights, the issue "Singer" micrometer rear sight is excellent. You can also substitute a Parker Hale target receiver sight.

Enfields have a side safety, and no bolt catch (the bolt removes by lifting the bolt head through a notch in the receiver rail).

 

[Scooter22]

Why don't you look at a Browning BAR or one of the later model Remington semi autos. You only have to cycle the bolt once like a AR. And there are after market "big head" safety buttons if you need them. I don't know if they are available in 6.5CM but they are in.270, .308, 30-06 that has plenty of legs for deer and bigger. Good luck.

 

[Slamfire]

My question is, can actions be loosened up?

No hand function, you have a real problem there.Polishing cocking cams and firing pin surfaces can easy up bolt lift a little, but you will always have to work against the force of the main spring. Coil cutting is not recommended as you will have misfires. Some actions are cock on closing, but these are military actions. Such as the M96 Swede and as mentioned, the Lee Enfield. The M1917 action is sort of a half cock on opening and does have the safety on the side.



Still this takes a good hard push to close the bolt.

Of the rifles I own, I think the M70 Winchester has the easiest bolt lift of them all. The side safety is easy to take off safe, if properly adjusted, it is easy to put on safe.

 

[LoonWulf]

I tried one with a "tactical" knob and that definitely helped.
My question is, can actions be loosened up

You can take the tactical know a bit father and extend it out another 1-2" giving your even more leverage. Im guessing you hunt from a stand/blind/vehicle? if so the added length of the bolt handle should be manageable.
Also you CAN reduce the power of the striker spring, but only so much before ignition becomes and issue, and the effort it takes to chamber a round wont change. If found a GOOD crf to be smoother on chambering than most push feeds, but thats not always the case.
Honestly were I in your shoes, i would probably stick with some form of semi auto. The BARs, 7400/750s make good traditional looking choices, tho i dont believe the CM is available. I DO know the .243 is, and its an excellent deer cartridge.

 

[Skylerbone]

Firstly welcome to The High Road Wheels! I’m curious as to your current set-up for both practice and hunting when it comes to mounts and whether most off the shelf sporter stocks will be easily adaptable.

Where I see an issue is with either inexpensive composites with no means of attaching a bottom rail or a wooden stock that is often far more expensive. Adding a good aftermarket stock will sink the budget in a hurry.

I know it isn’t inexpensive but an AR-10 from Palmetto State runs right around $1,000 if I’m not mistaken and I envision it offering more flexibility for mounting.

Love to see pictures of the current AR if you have any and can post them here, and also thinking of a much easier swap between rifles.

 

[danez71]

Welcome to THR. Hopefully you participate here long into the future

I can't help as im not knowledgeable enough in what you're asking but you came to the right place.

 

[WestKentucky]

I know nothing about what you are dealing with, but it is very interesting. I know that low pressure rounds don’t usually have the range of some of the more common calibers, but they should be less sticky in a chamber. There may be some potential with reduced recoil rounds for that purpose.

 

[gsbuickman]

Welcome to THR from the high desert of Southwest Idaho .

Thanks to a drunk driver my brother is also a quad (20 yrs) and he's also one of the founding members of the Boise bombers wheelchair rugby team otherwise known as murderball . Lately my brother has been chomping at the bit to get himself an SKS with a collapsible stock . Coincidentally he's pretty much in the same situation that you're in due to a Fractured vertebrae at C6,7 but he's come a long way and he's doing awesome.

As far as Bolt guns go even though it's not chambered in 6.5 I would recommend finding a surplus Chilean Mauser. In my opinion the Chilean Mauser has the smoothest bolt action that you'll find anywhere, there simply awesome. The 1891 Chilean Mauser that I have is chambered in 6.5 x55 Mauser and it'll take care of anything on this continent and it'll Reach Out And Touch anything about as far as you care to shoot it. Ammo is also readily available for it and affordable thanks to privy partisan / PPU . I definitely think it's worth looking into. Start calling around to your local pawn shops and gun shops because one or two of them is bound to have one on hand you can check out ..

 

[SamT1]

There are some AR10 options in 308 in the $800 range.
Diamondback DB10, dpms Oracle LR10

 

[Jenrick]

The enfield as mentioned is an excellent choice, with a smooth action, and due to the cock on close nature of it allows momentum to substitute for strength on closing it. I might also recommend a K-31, which is a straight pull rifle. The action is very smooth and easy to use. The safety is the giant ring on the back that just needs to be turned pulled and turned to place the weapon on fire. I can think of a few ways that could be done with no hand use. The ammunition is reasonably available state side, and hunting rounds aren't any more expensive then in say .303.

-Jenrick

 

[adcoch1]

+1 on the Chilean Mauser, they have a sweet bolt cycle. If I was in your shoes I would look at lengthening the bolt handle on whatever rifle you decide on to aid in the leverage of cycling. Also, depending on how you have the gun situated (mounted to chair, blind, vehicle, etc) a larger diameter bolt knob may help a lot. Had a friend in college in your situation and he used an SKS mounted to his chair. But a large ball or knurled cylinder bolt head may help. Good luck and welcome the The High Road!

 

[JeeperCreeper]

I'm actually about to graduate OT school in a month so I'm very interested in the info from this thread.

As far as rifles, an old Enfield .303 British might be something to look at. Supposedly fast and slickest actions around. I'd have to go to the gun store to play with any new rifles to find a modern one, but a used rifle might be an option. My 80's Remington 700 with hundreds of rounds downrange is much smoother and lighter than new-in-box options.

Lastly, this company (Be Adaptive Equipment) might be worth calling. They are great people and I've talked to them over the phone for school projects. If anything, they'd be good people to "pick their brains" as they may have come across this question before.

http://www.beadaptive.com

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Hmmmm..had a few ideas......

Do they make a TC Contender barrel in 6.5CM?

In addition to the semi auto guns, there are the pump-action Remington's: 760,etc. These can be found in .243 and .308.

The 93 and 95 Mausers do open easy, but take a bit of effort to close against the striker spring- same with the Enfield's. What about a Spanish FR8? Chambered in .308, 98 Mauser action, so cock on opening, and best of all they have a straight bolt handle- lots of leverage there.

+1 on the Swiss Schmidt Rubin straight pulls- though the ammo is starting to get scarce.

I know its a bit of a stretch, but there's the Krag-Jorgensen. Glass-like action, single bolt lug, straight bolt handle, flip-open side magazine. Only downside is the caliber- pretty much gotta load it yerself at this point.

I'm assuming you're avoiding lever guns because their tube magazines limit them to relatively short range round-nosed rounds (not withstanding the new poly-tipped bullets).
But what about the Savage 99? One of the all-time classic lever rifles and they use a rotary or detachable box mag. Can be found in .243 or .308.

 

[someguy2800]

A krag would be good but the safety and trigger would be difficult to work with no hand strength and scope mounting is a challenge. A contender would be a bad idea due to the effort to unlock and working the hammer. SKS is even shorter useful range than 6.5 Grendel.

Whatever you do if you want the bolt handle or safety extended for leverage send me a message and I'd be delighted to do it.

 

[WestKentucky]

Do they make a TC Contender barrel in 6.5CM?

Contender no, encore yes. 6.5 is too much for the contender action.

 

[Riomouse911]

Look for a used Mauser M96 American straight pull. I have one in .270 that is a tack driver with plain Jane Remington 130 gr Core-lokt rounds. The can be found in a variety of calibers on auction sites, and they aren't super pricy...certainly LOT less expensive than creating a custom gun on a surplus action.

The straight pull action requires only a pull back-push forward on a bolt knob to operate, no lifting or closing necessary.

 

[Newtosavage]

Once you cycle the bolt on a Tikka, you will never be the same.

That is all.