Remington Scoremaster 511 problem
Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 1:19 pm
When I was a a kid my dad had a Remington bolt action .22 caliber Scoremaster 511 he bought for his cabin cruiser as an inadvertently hooked shark killer. I learned to shoot a "real" rifle with it and many a chippy fell from the top of trees as a result of a blood thirsty and not sympathetic to wild life childhood. Years ticked by and I saw a 511 at a gun show and plunked down about $150 for the one I have now...which was about ten times what they first sold for in 1939 when they were introduced. The model was a big hit with the public and was made all the way to 1963. Be that as it may, I discovered a problem.
The problem I found was that sometimes when cocking the bolt handle the bolt wouldn't cock. Sometimes, more significantly, the bolt when cocked would fire with little to no pressure on the trigger. I took it to someone who advertised himself as a gunsmith and he charged me a fee and claimed to have fixed it. Well..... not fixed actually. I put the gun away until the other day, several years later, the rifle and the problem came to mind.
I found what I thought was the problem discussed with a Google search. The problem was caused....said the online palaver... was that the sear wasn't locking into the groove on the underside of the bolt. Said cause was that the soft steel sear was being worn down and not locking in because of rough and frequent use. This was happening on the chiseled front end according to some and on the rounded side top edge according to others.
I found a diagram of parts online and proceeded to take the receiver apart. I also looked online for replacement parts and found some sear/trigger assemblies. But I wanted to have a close look at what I had first before ordering anything. However, after taking the receiver apart, the sear didn't look look at all buggered. I did notice the trigger spring was gummed up with grease, although the spring still seemed strong, and I cleaned it up. I put all the parts all back together again.....lot harder than taking the them apart of course. By the way, the hardest part was getting the trigger pin to punch out and go back in, even though I had some gunsmith punches I bought years ago.
When it was all back together successfully the same problems were evident. Then.... I tried keeping pressure on the trigger pushing forward through the cycle of cock and shoot. No failure to cock, although the trigger pressure to fire was still less than it should be. The spring, although seeming to be strong wasn't....or the plunger part that went into the spring was some how bent or compromised. At least that's where I'm at now. Just have to get parts 70 and 71 in the diagram to see how this works.
The problem I found was that sometimes when cocking the bolt handle the bolt wouldn't cock. Sometimes, more significantly, the bolt when cocked would fire with little to no pressure on the trigger. I took it to someone who advertised himself as a gunsmith and he charged me a fee and claimed to have fixed it. Well..... not fixed actually. I put the gun away until the other day, several years later, the rifle and the problem came to mind.
I found what I thought was the problem discussed with a Google search. The problem was caused....said the online palaver... was that the sear wasn't locking into the groove on the underside of the bolt. Said cause was that the soft steel sear was being worn down and not locking in because of rough and frequent use. This was happening on the chiseled front end according to some and on the rounded side top edge according to others.
I found a diagram of parts online and proceeded to take the receiver apart. I also looked online for replacement parts and found some sear/trigger assemblies. But I wanted to have a close look at what I had first before ordering anything. However, after taking the receiver apart, the sear didn't look look at all buggered. I did notice the trigger spring was gummed up with grease, although the spring still seemed strong, and I cleaned it up. I put all the parts all back together again.....lot harder than taking the them apart of course. By the way, the hardest part was getting the trigger pin to punch out and go back in, even though I had some gunsmith punches I bought years ago.
When it was all back together successfully the same problems were evident. Then.... I tried keeping pressure on the trigger pushing forward through the cycle of cock and shoot. No failure to cock, although the trigger pressure to fire was still less than it should be. The spring, although seeming to be strong wasn't....or the plunger part that went into the spring was some how bent or compromised. At least that's where I'm at now. Just have to get parts 70 and 71 in the diagram to see how this works.