Day 1, part 3
So, here's the next part.
The second mag of snap caps didn't load. Failure to feed.
So I hypothesized that the plastic rounds don't feed as well.
Put in a set of 5 real rounds. Double checked that safety was on.
Tried to load. They did not. None of them.
So that said to me, "there's a problem here".
Here's what I've done so far.
Used a tool to loosen up the mag spring. 80 -100 times.
MOST importantly: totally field stripped it into these parts.
* stock
* upper
* trigger group
* bolt
* guide rods and springs
Immediate impression: it was dry. No -- zero, zilch, nada -- oil.
Ok, let's review: metal slides better against metal with oil.
This gun had zero oil in the action. I expected the opposite.
The surfaces of the bolt and guide rods are coated with ... something that feels like small grit (800) sand paper or stone. The rods and other parts have burrs, places where machining left the equivalent of a wire edge on a blade. It needs polishing and the equivalent of a strop.
I've already started gently -- ever so gently -- polishing it with 600 paper -- just like I did on my 336A years ago, that slicked up the action to butter. It's already feeling better.
Further, I put some cleaner on a patch and rubbed the bolt grooves where the guide rods are to slide. It came out black.
BLACK.
After polishing it with 3 patches coated with a drop of cleaning lube *, it's already feeling better. [* You never forget the smell of Hoppes.]
Hypothesis: this rifle is quality. It will be a tack driver.
But this grunge and grit must go. I will feel a slick bolt and guide rods with proper (very minimal) lube before I shoot it.
And I'm going to replace the extractor, and test an aftermarket mag.