Model 70 300 WinMag

[7515325]

Today I was done hunting and was un loading my gun. I pushed the clip under the trigger to drop the shells out of the gun. The door opened and I put my hand over the door so the shells would not drop on the ground, I then reached with my right hand and started to open the bolt, when I lifted up on the bolt the gun fired. I had a guy work on the bolt and have shot the gun with out incedent. Any one have any thoughts. The gun is 3 yrs old , it is a Super Grade 300 win mag. I think the safety was in the middle, but not sure. Really scared. SB

[turner1978]

I had a friend of mine that had a gun that did the same thing. He took the bolt out and kleaned the crap out of it and it never happened again. You could try it and see but if it was mine I would ask a pro gun smith. good luck!

[Mark]

A quick check of a Winchester model 70 safety can be done as follows: Making sure the rifle is unloaded, close the bolt on an empty chamber. Carefully watch the cocking piece, (this is at the center of the farthest rear of the bolt) as you put on the safety. The cocking piece MUST move rearward as the safety is put on.
What is happening here is the safety is completely taking the spring pressure of the striker off the sear. At this point, the trigger/sear mechanism is completely disconnected from the striker, and the full responsibility of holding it is up to the safety. When the safety took over the spring pressure, it moved the cocking piece rearward. This describes proper operation.
As things wear or are adjusted, this critical timing could become out of order. If the cocking piece doesn't move rearward as the safety is put on, the rifle should be deemed "unsafe", and professional help obtained.
The model 70 is quite a dependable rifle, and these things don't happen often, but, they do happen. The biggest culprit is trigger adjustment, or "stoning" the surfaces of the trigger/sear/cocking piece. When angles of the mechanism are changed, corners rounded, or coils are cut from the trigger spring in an effort to lighten the trigger pull, all kinds of voodoo will occur. It doesn't sound like your rifle has been a candidate for this, at least it's not mentioned.
It could be your hands were cold, you were trying to hold too many things, or there was a once in a lifetime mistake. We're all only human. If everything else checks out, you may want to take it to a gunsmith anyway. There will probably be a minimum charge, but you could have him give it a professional cleaning, along with an inspection, and this should be very reasonable in cost.
Whatever you do, don't wait until next season. Do it NOW! Putting something away that may be broken just never made sense to me.
Hope this helps.
Mark