Rigby Big Game cycling issues

dogcat1 said:

Never, never, never, never buy something like this that needs a repair. If this is "wrong", what else is wrong.
There are better options than a busted Rigby.....

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Hornedfrogbbq said:

Just to be clear, this isn't a safety feature. The bolt doesn't "lock" open on the follower so you know you are empty. This is the bolt contacting the follower about 3/4 of an in inch and then gouging the follower with the bottom of the bolt. This takes metal off and creates a burr.

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farmer_john said:

Dunno question whats cost to fix. And how much off asking peice will seller go for a busted gun?

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Hornedfrogbbq said:

Just to be clear, this isn't a safety feature. The bolt doesn't "lock" open on the follower so you know you are empty. This is the bolt contacting the follower about 3/4 of an in inch and then gouging the follower with the bottom of the bolt. This takes metal off and creates a burr.

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RR 314 said:

I recall speaking with you after you checked out these rifles and completely did not follow along. . As referenced above, I thought it was stopping at the back of the follower. That is what I referenced may need addition bevel if remedy was desired.

I just pulled out a current production Rigby in .416 and all is proper/true. I know this phenomena seems to only be on the .450’s, but has anyone handled a current Mauser on the same Mauser 98 action chambered in .450R?

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RR 314 said:

Cabela's isn't going to have much room on these rifles. The pricing, from rusty memory, is several thousand below where similar rifles were priced by other dealers (or at least MSRP) prior to Cabela's getting this allotment. I thought initially, until clarified, that the bolts were stopping at the back of the follower. Truly an odd design to stop past that point if intentional--especially if bolt is gouging the follower.

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farmer_john said:

imean busted is busted? and are these new or used?

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Huvius said:

If the follower comes up that high in the front of the magazine then the left rail has been taken back too far. Or, in other words, taken back farther forward than it should be.

This is exactly right.
The follower lifting in the front would not stop forward bolt movement, unless it is truly hung up on something up front and the bolt is stopped halfway which of course would be a serious flaw.

Those here with other Mausers, commercial sporters preferably, take a look at how the rear left of the follower is beveled and polished to insure smooth forward bolt slide and the front left of the follower has a protrusion that mates with the underside of the rail and keeps the follower below the rail insuring that the last round is fed concentrically on the bore axis.

It shouldn't look like PCC600's photo IMO.

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PCC600 said:

And yet my rifle happily cycles over an empty magazine effortlessly . I can’t download the video to show how well the bolt moves .

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WYORigby said:

Some additional clarification:
1. I think I misunderstood the issue based on my initial discussions with the Cabela's folks. I can't figure out how to post it, but the Cabela's person sent me a short cell phone video of the rifle to better explain the issue. The follower tipping up does NOT prevent the bolt from closing. And it looks like it works just fine cycling the bolt relatively modestly on an empty magazine.

2. The issue, apparently, is that on one of the 450s Cabela's received, some combination of Cabela's employees/customers were cranking the bolt violently, hard/fast on the empty magazine. When they did that, the bolt did some damage to the follower, described as a "burr." There does not seem to be any issue at all just casually opening/closing the bolt on an empty magazine; the action functions fine and does not damage the follower (but just nudges it out of the way).

3. In the picture that PCC600 posted earlier, the follower in the tipped up position is very similar to what I saw in the video Cabelas sent me via text. Thus, I don't think that the rifle at Cabelas is a "lemon" per se. It just seems that the .450 follower tips up for some reason in the Rigby rifles when opening the bolt on an empty magazine. But that does NOT seem to create any issue at all in terms of when cycling the bolt casually, i.e. not violently racking the bolt on an empty magazine for some reason.

While this follower tipping issue is admittedly a quirk unique to the Rigby 450s, it seems like it might be a non-issue unless one really wants to work the bolt aggressively on an empty magazine repeatedly for some reason (in which case the follower could get damaged, or a "burr" from the bolt hitting it in the portion tipped up).

It is ultimately up to each individual to decide whether this quirk is enough to forego a Rigby in favor of some other option. But that obviously is a function of a lot of other variables too, like budget (i.e. it would be hard to do a wood stocked custom on a GMA action for less), stock fit (the stocks on the Parkwest/Dakota 76 Rigby-sized guns don't fit me well), etc. And while the Rigby rifles even in PH trim are not cheap, there does not seem to be a true budget friendly option to obtain a wood stocked .450 Rigby chambered rifle at this point (now that CZ 550s are out of production and Wayne Jacobson/AHR is no longer building great working rifles on that platform). To each his own.

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Russ16 said:

Thanks for the clarification. I would definitely be asking Cabela's to knock some money off because of the burr they allowed to be created.

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Tex .416 said:

That is a very standard safety feature on military actions for user safety as it lets the user know they are out of ammo when under stress. Whether that is standard for Rigby I cannot say, but personally it is a feature I prefer and have it on some of my rifles such as Accuracy International and one with a military Mauser receiver. It certainly makes a lot of sense for a PH’s rifle for dangerous game.

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Lancaster said:

My TT Proctor .375 on a Mauser 98 action (I believe and FN Commercial one) has this feature, useful for DG I'd say

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