I have a “New To Me” 1991 vintage Browning A-Bolt in 270. I have discovered that in order to cycle the bolt to clear a chambered round the rifle must first be taken off safety. Apparently the safety completely locks the bolt and as long as it is in the “Safe” position the rifle cannot be cleared. Is this normal for an A-Bolt? Admittedly, this is my first bolt gun. For over 50 years I’ve been shooting Marlin and BLR lever guns. So, I find this “feature” of this A-Bolt to be a bit unsettling.

Is this normal for all bolt guns or just peculiar to the A-Bolt?

With the Marlin the cross bolt safety can be on and the lever cycled to clear rounds. Does not require being off of safety. Admittedly I may be over thinking it and just not used to it.

This statement is not correct - especially among American manufacturers, most bolt action rifle safeties allow the action to be cycled with the safety engaged. This is either accomplished by a 3 position safety, 2 position safety without a bolt lock, or a 2 position safety with a bolt release, in the case of the newer Brownings.

Remington 700: 2 position safety, which for the last ~30 years does not lock the bolt when on safe, such the action can be cycled while the safety is on.

Winchester 70: 3 position safety to allow the action to be cycled while the safety is on.

Winchester XPR: 2 position which does lock the bolt when safety is on.

Ruger M77 MkII and Hawkeye: 3 position safety to allow the action to be cycled while the safety is on.

Ruger American & Precision Rifles: 2 position safety which do not lock the bolt, such the action can be cycled with the safety on.

Tikka T3: 2 position which locks the bolt when the safety is on.

CZ550: most 550’s have a 3 position safety which allows the action to be cycled while the safety is on.

Savage 10/110 and variants: 3 position safety to allow the action to be cycled while the safety is on.

Savage Axis: 2 position safety which does not lock the bolt, allowing the action to be cycled while the safety is on.

Howa 1500/Weatherby Vanguard: 2 position Safety which does lock the bolt (most production, I understand some early 1500’s were 3 position safeties, but I have not encountered one personally).

Browning AB3 & X-bolt: 2 position safety plus a bolt unlock button which allows the action to be cycled with the safety on. (Old A Bolts had a 2 position safety which did lock the bolt, phased out for the new AB3 design).

T/C Compass: 3 position safety which allows the action to cycle with the safety on.

Only 3 of this dozen rifle models lock the bolt when the safety is on. Safety designs which require the shooter to disengage the safety to cycle the bolt are exceptions, not the rule.

For the OP: it does take a little consideration to own a rifle which does require the safety to be disengaged to cycle the action - especially any blind magazine model which has to cycle each round to be emptied. Awareness is critical, and you really never should be completely comfortable with the idea of administrative handling without the safety engaged.

As another point in space, however, I have very, very rarely engaged the safety of my Seekins Havak match rifle. Most of the time, my bolt handle is my safety. When walking in the dark to my blind, I have the bolt closed on an empty chamber with the striker relaxed, and my magazine loaded under the closed bolt. Only when I’m actively stalking have I engaged my safety. I’ve shot about 3,000 rounds through the rifle in the last 2 years at matches without ever engaging the safety. Just a matter of deliberate muzzle management and pensive administrative management.

“Half-safe” is a silly carry over from the old world. The safeties, less the firing pin block safety in the case of the Ruger’s, all still function when these 3 position safeties are in the middle position.

Mechanically, there is no such thing as “half safe.” The rifles can’t “half fire”. The safeties remain engaged when in the middle position. Simply the physical bolt locks, typically a pin locking the bolt body to the receiver, or the bolt shroud in the case of Ruger’s. The Ruger safety lever does act as a firing pin block safety, while most of the others are simply bolt locks, with no additional security against firing with the safety engaged. Rather, in most designs, the “safe, half safe, and fire” jargon of the past is debunked by a mechanical description which prescribes “locked, safe, and fire,” as the only mechanical change in the final, 3rd position is the bolt lock, not any additional safety mechanism.

But the fact remains - firearm designs in which the safety must be disengaged to cycle the bolt, meaning the rifle will freely fire if a careless finger bumps the trigger while quickly cycling rounds to clear the rifle, are the exception, not the rule. As noted, even several rifle models which used to require the safety be disengaged to cycle the bolt have been modified in modern incarnations to allow the safety to remain engaged during administrative manipulation.

It certainly seems to be a distinction which makes a difference to a great number of firearms owners, as we’ve collectively asked manufacturers to modify their firearm designs to allow administrative manipulation without disengaging the safety.

Lying to newer shooters like @Voyager28 to coddle them into believing they have to accept a rifle in which the safety has to be completely disengaged to cycle the bolt, on the false premise “most rifles are like that,” isn’t really helpful. He can buy a different rifle from any of over two thirds of the rest of the market - INCLUDING AN UPDATED VERSION OF HIS CURRENT RIFLE - and assuage his discomfort. Far more fish in this particular sea do not require the safety to be fully disengaged to cycle, and shooters are right to be discomforted by designs which do, such it’s an easy decision to make.