"i" Stands For Innovation
Shooting Times was able to test one of the first-run production i-Bolts. The gun tested and pictured will probably undergo slight modification before the final die is cast, but this report gives the reader an in-depth overview of Smith & Wesson's first centerfire rifle.

The bolt consists of three different sections and is machined from 4140 carbon steel. The bolt handle is not welded on; it’s machined from one piece and that section is threaded onto the body of the bolt.

The tubular receiver is machined from a solid billet of 4140 carbon steel and is finished in matte blue. The i-Bolt logo is laser etched on the receiver between the bolt-handle cut and the ejection port, and "Smith & Wesson" is laser etched on the receiver's left side. The S&W logo is also found on the bolt handle. The long-action receiver measures 8.625 inches from rear tang to recoil lug and is a constant 1.357 inches in diameter.

Though new receiver designs from other manufacturers have contoured or flat bottoms, Smith & Wesson stuck with the tubular design. Externally, the i-Bolt's receiver looks a lot like the Remington Model 700, especially the rear tang, gas vent, and the magazine opening. The gas vent is in the same place, and many of the receiver cuts are similar. Skrubis admitted there are significant similarities between the two, but he reiterated that the design team "improved the wheel, not reinvented the wheel."

Model 700 bases will fit the i-Bolt's receiver contours, but oversized 8/40 screws are required. With each rifle, Smith & Wesson provides a Weaver-style, one-piece rail machined from 6061 aluminum alloy. A small recoil lug extends down into the ejection port from the rear of the forward base. This Posi-Lug feature will share the shear forces generated by recoil.

The bolt has three lugs and utilizes a Remington-style ejector and Sako-style extractor. There were no failures to feed or extract during the test, and cartridge ejection was brisk.

The rifle's bolt is radically different from the majority of existing designs. It consists of three different pieces. All three pieces are machined from 4140 carbon steel. The shroud is matte blued, but the parts sliding inside the receiver have an extremely durable titanium-nitride finish. Three evenly spaced lugs decrease the bolt throw to 60 degrees, and the full-diameter design prevents binding. A plunger ejector sits at the two o'clock position on the boltface. A Sako-style extractor guarantees a positive grip on the case head and sits at the seven o'clock position.

Designers were not satisfied with the conventional method of welding or soldering the bolt handle onto the bolt body, so the i-Bolt's bolt handle is a separate piece that's threaded into the main body of the bolt. The bolt shroud is then threaded onto that piece.

Timney expressly designed the i-Bolt’s trigger unit to be adjusted for weight of pull without taking the gun apart. Using a special included tool, each click of the screw in front of the trigger reduces the pull weight by one pound. The safety stamping has three holes that correspond with the three different safety positions.

When the rifle is cocked, a small beveled pin protrudes from the rear of the bolt shroud. This feature was not in the must-have section of the design criteria, but it gives shooters a very tactile way to check the rifle's condition.

"From a design perspective, we hated the bolt release," Skrubis said. The final version is one of the rifle's most innovative features, and it is the one that will lead to the most discussion. "We couldn't find one that was durable enough. One day, I went down to the engineers' office, and they said, 'Take a look at this.' It was radical, but we loved the design. It was also very durable. We did 16,000 bolt drops, and nothing changed--there was no excessive wear on any of the parts."

"It" is the E-Z Turn bolt release and starts with a continuous channel at the bolt's rear and extends the length of the bolt body, stopping short of where the bolt steps down to accommodate the locking lugs. The track makes a 90-degree left turn (if viewed from the bottom) perpendicular to the bolt's axis. Shortly thereafter it makes another 90-degree turn to again run parallel to the bolt body. The track is .052 inch deep and mates perfectly with the sear, which protrudes from the trigger group and up into the receiver's bolt channel.