Based on what I'm seeing and reading, I suspect the issue isn't with the cocking bolt but related to the cocking lever instead. I'd have to pull out some of my Bakers and double check, but I'm sure at least one of mine has a shorter cocking bolt similar to what Tamid's pictures show. And although it does appear that his cocking bolt angles toward the barrels when disassembled, it doesn't look like the bolt itself is bent in his follow-up images. Those images also show that the end of the bolt that engages the cocking lever is radiused as it should be and I'm pretty sure the Baker I have with the shorter cocking bolt is also "squared off" on the barrel end, but again I need to take a look. The bolt in Tamid's follow-up pictures also looks to be fairly parallel with the bottom surface of the lug when it's pushed back into its assembled position, but it's hard to tell for sure.
So if it's not the cocking bolt, then could the cocking lever be "sagging" into a position that is causing it to align with the radiused end of the cocking bolt during assembly? I guess I've never pulled one of my Baker actions apart to the point where I accessed the cocking lever bits and pieces. Is there a spring that holds the cocking lever up off of the floor of the cavity in the action? If so, could that have broken or gotten dislodged?
I'll dig out a few of my Bakers this weekend and see what things look like on the one I'm pretty sure is close to what I see in Tamid's pictures.
