Drill rifles are never loaded with anything and usually cant even be fired, bolt or no bolt.
---------- Post added 2013-02-12 at 02:40 AM ----------
I would assume that the rifles a drill squad uses are better than the ones we used in training but the bolt was often sticky even at room temperature. Im not sure what you mean by operation because the bolt or the trigger group can malfunction just by using them(pulling back the bolt or pulling the trigger), it doesnt matter if the rifle can fire or not since that is usually done by removing the firing pin or filling the barrel.