I came home and tried to see if the gun would fire in several different open positions. It would not. It would only fire after closing the bolt completely. You could hear and feel a definite click when the bolt closed. It would not fire until you heard and felt the click. I talked to my brother today. He had this happen in a 16 gauge auto last summer. The first time it happened, it was when my 10 year old nephew shot it. My brother put in another round (probably not the smartest thing) and it did the same thing. He was shooting the cheap Winchesters as well.