happened to me when i was carrying 2 rifles. mosin on the back, aug in hand.
1. firefighter axe on quickbar 1
2. press 1, sometimes i even have to push the button multiple times.
after that he put the aug down, takes the axe out, puts it back.
3. press 1 again, and he takes it into his hands.
let's say reproducibility reaches from nearly always to most of the time. hahaha