Good afternoon everyone...newbie here that just recently purchased a Wards Westernfield 04M-491A circa 1940 tube fed, bolt action (Mossberg 46B) 22lr and love the feel of the rifle, full sized with peep site as well as barrel mounted sight with blade front. The issue I've run into is the safety does not work. Before I disassembled and gave it a good cleaning, I function checked everything and all functions normally, except the safety. it slides into place and your hear the click when engaged, but the trigger pulls no matter if on safe or not. I disassembled it and reinstalled the safety correctly, the trigger block was slid under the trigger as expected, but wasn't actually sliding under the trigger to block it. After verifying that the safety was engaging correctly I put the action back in the stock and the bolt will not travel beyond the trigger assembly to seat back in the firearm. I verified that everything should clear, the trigger drops below the bolt so should feed in, but it will not go into battery. I disassembled the safety and reinstalled it the way it was installed previously(incorrectly) and the bolt seats and go into battery and cocks and fires. I'm stumped, everything on the bolt is lined up correctly, and I did not disassemble the bolt at all as it was operating correctly before I installed the safety correctly. Any suggestions? I'm not a gunsmith and don't loan out my firearms so the lack of a safety isn't a concern as I just wouldn't walk around with one in the chamber until I was ready to fire. I just can't figure out how installing the safety correctly would cause the bolt not to be able to be reinstalled into the firearm. I seated the safety screw with every conceivable amount of tension, from stiff to loose and it made no difference. The bolt would no longer install into the firearm, would not clear past the trigger assembly even though it wasn't touching.
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mptrahan11
They will move you to the Mossberg section shortly, but make sure the trigger spring and plunger are still in the back of the trigger. The plunger is what rides across the safety lever, if the plunger is missing the safety will not work correctly.
You stated it worked before putting it back in the stock, the trigger itself could be rubbing on the bottom of the trigger guard, they are known for shrinking and causing issues.
Here are a couple picture showing how the assembly goes together.
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You stated it worked before putting it back in the stock, the trigger itself could be rubbing on the bottom of the trigger guard, they are known for shrinking and causing issues.
Here are a couple picture showing how the assembly goes together.
The plunger is there, and you have to block/push it up into the trigger in order to slide the safety assembly into place. I checked the clearance on the trigger and bolt, and the trigger falls below the level of the bolt. I note on your assembly that there is a nut that the safety screws into. Mine doesn't have that and this may be the missing piece to the puzzle. I will have to try to find a matching nut and see if that corrects the issue.
I should of mentioned that bit of info, the nuts are only there to hold the assembly together for storage, they serve no other purpose. Those two screws will go into the receiver once mounted.
Can you post a photo of the receiver and the mounted trigger group? Also a photo looking into the receiver from the perspective of the bolt.
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