You definately have a problem - and it has nothing to do with needing to have the mag insterted to do anything. In fact, you can really only insert a magazine AFTER the gun is cocked, while the bolt probe remains retracted in the breech block. Since you are in Australia and probably do not want to send the gun back, I'll do all I can to help you fix it yourself - so this may get long . . . .
The strangest thing that you describe is that the bolt has no resistance at all when you pull it back. When you let it go with the gun level, does it stay in place or does it return to a nearly closed position?
If it stays in place, the only way this would happen in a gun that is functioning correctly would be for the gun to already be cocked. Point it in safe direction (like to the ground outdoors), close the bolt, and pull the trigger. Did it fire? If so, you can move on to dealing with the bolt protrusion later in this post. Now if the gun is NOT functioning properly (aka it did not fire), the only thing that I can think of that could cause this would be for the hammer spring to be missing or broken - and if the spring is broken, it is possible that it could cause a binding condition that would prevent cocking at the end of the bolt stroke. Other than that, I don't know, but will keep thinking.
If the bolt does close when you let it go, then the spring is intact and is pushing on the hammer, and the gun is not cocked. It really does not take a lot of effort to pull the bolt back, but it is more than "no resistance." So I'm not sure what would be causing your condition, but as above will keep thinking about it.
One thing that would fit the description (with the exception of the "no resistance" part) would be for the sear to be broken. This would result in the bolt always wanting to close, and of course it would not cock if this were the case. But you would have the most resistance when the bolt was in the full rear ward position compressing the hammer spring.
As for the bolt probe protruding slightly into the breech when pulled full rearward, there are two things that I can think of that can cause this. The first is for the cap screw into the bolt - the one visible on the left side of the gun when the bolt is closed - to be loose. If it is loose enough, this could probably also prevent the gun from cocking, but it also tends to make it hard to pull the bolt rearward too. Try to tighten it and see if it is loose - 9/16th hex wrench.
The other "fix" for this is a little tougher - it is possible for this to happen if build tolerance get too far out of whack, and this specifically relates to the trigger group. You need to make sure it is as far rearward as possible. To this, you'll need to take the action out of the stock, loosen the screws that hold the trigger group to the main tube, and then slide the group as far to the rear as you can and then retighten the screws. Then you'd want to cock the gun to see if it is better, but you can't cock it right now . . . .
Wait - I just thought of something that could cause the "no resitance" situation. There is a cap screw on top of the hammer that engages with the cap screw on the bolt - that is how pulling the bolt moves the hammer rearward. If that cap screw on the hammer were missing, you would feel everything you describe, but it would not explain the bolt protrusion issue - in fact it would probably make it less likely. To check on that cap screw, you need to remove the breech block and barrel from the main tube. Not hard to do, but you'll need to remove the bolt (by removing the cap screw in it) and then remove the rear plunger that applies pressure to the bolt to get to the rear screw.
Of couse once you are this far into the gun, you could also pull the rear cap off to check on the hammer spring too.
You really do need the parts diagram to figure all this out:
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1355Let us know what more you learn and we'll keep helping. Good luck.
by sandy from oz » Tue Jan 24, 2012 3:43 pm 
