On the Higgins Model 10 recall..........
for many, MANY years I had heard (and believed!) that the recall of the Model 10 bolt action was related to the bolt retaining screw falling out, but about a year ago I stumbled on two pictures from High Standard's factory records of a Model 10 that had Ka-Boomed.
Below is a JC Higgins Model 10, Sears reference #583.16.
The receiver is a simple tubular extension of the barrel, with the bolt channel and locking lug cut into it. The picture show a catastrophic failure that shattered the stock and cracked the receiver. When it failed, it sheared the locking lug right off the receiver, allowing the bolt to be blown out of the gun. I hope the guys head wasn't in the way.
Also shown are the low brass shells being used at the time of failure.
If you look carefully at the receiver, it appears there was a groove (a bolt guide track?) machined into the locking lug that is about 1/3 the total thickness of the lug....the lug failed right along this track.
The pictured gun is
THE reason for the Model 10 recall, as far as i can tell.....
I cannot find any other cases of this happening, but then it took about 40 years for me to find the pictures posted above and during most of that time, I, too, believed the bolt retention screw to be the reason for the recall....the bolt retention screw clearly is NOT related to the pictured gun's failure in any way.
If your Model 10's product numbers (583.xx) falls into the recall range, I would be a little concerned about shooting it from the shoulder.
High Standard modified the design and later bolt action versions were not susceptible to this type of failure.
