NEW M305 broke the bolt!

The numbers on the bolts will be the last 4 digits of the serial #.

If there is a date code, it will be the first 4 digits. Ie: 201304465, fun fact, never saw a “year code” previous to 2009, other than the 2007 recievers which are marked on the RH side of the action.

I know of no way of figuring out what year of manufacture the “P” designations started..... but I never saw any previous to 2014....

The UN marking code will have a year of import. I’ll try and post a picture later.

John
 
m14medic.ca said:
The numbers on the bolts will be the last 4 digits of the serial #.

If there is a date code, it will be the first 4 digits. Ie: 201304465, fun fact, never saw a “year code” previous to 2009, other than the 2007 recievers which are marked on the RH side of the action.

I know of no way of figuring out what year of manufacture the “P” designations started..... but I never saw any previous to 2014....

The UN marking code will have a year of import. I’ll try and post a picture later.

John
Click to expand...

Are the sintered bolts something you see a lot?
 
Claven2 said:
Yes. MIM bolts will look like fine grit sandpaper at the fracture point and demonstrate few, if any beach marks radially from the point of crack propagation. This is because they have different grain structure from a forged bolt that was mechanically formed by heat and pressure blows.
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True, if improperly made, but then they would also be soft. Same texture if they were properly made but with the wrong alloys or improper heat treatment following the sintering and reforming. Over hardened steel has the same texture; ever broken a file, drill toolbit or a wrench or socket? Same fine matrix.
 
I just checked my m 305 serial#20143958-14-356
I got it from FOC last spring and the bolt is the same black kind with the circle marks on it
There is only maybe 40 rds through it so far, now I am not sure what I should do with it
Do I keep using it till it blows up or send it to a m-14 builder to get fixed with a usgi bolt?
 
Deathrawt said:
I just checked my m 305 serial#20143958-14-356
I got it from FOC last spring and the bolt is the same black kind with the circle marks on it
There is only maybe 40 rds through it so far, now I am not sure what I should do with it
Do I keep using it till it blows up or send it to a m-14 builder to get fixed with a usgi bolt?
Click to expand...

Under no circumstances would I use your rifle with that "bolt".

But then, I like my face and hands the way they are.
 
Guess I better not use it until I can send it away to get it fixed properly
I only got one good eye so don't need getting my face blowed up
 
Deathrawt said:
I just checked my m 305 serial#20143958-14-356
I got it from FOC last spring and the bolt is the same black kind with the circle marks on it
There is only maybe 40 rds through it so far, now I am not sure what I should do with it
Do I keep using it till it blows up or send it to a m-14 builder to get fixed with a usgi bolt?
Click to expand...

I would not be spending more money to correct this. Contact North Sylva and ask for a replacement with FORGED bolt or a refund.
If they say no, rifle is fine, go put another 40 rounds through it until it blows up. Tie it in a tire and fire with a string.
 
Deathrawt said:
I just checked my m 305 serial#20143958-14-356
I got it from FOC last spring and the bolt is the same black kind with the circle marks on it
There is only maybe 40 rds through it so far, now I am not sure what I should do with it
Do I keep using it till it blows up or send it to a m-14 builder to get fixed with a usgi bolt?
Click to expand...

Id say its unsafe but I don't really know, its not like I had 50 M305.

Mail North Sylva and see what they tell you, they are the experts. Maybe they can explain why yours is safe but mine wasn't
 
Deathrawt said:
I just checked my m 305 serial#20143958-14-356
I got it from FOC last spring and the bolt is the same black kind with the circle marks on it
There is only maybe 40 rds through it so far, now I am not sure what I should do with it
Do I keep using it till it blows up or send it to a m-14 builder to get fixed with a usgi bolt?
Click to expand...


If I were you I would just get a replacement USGI bolt, I think Wolverines supplies still has a decent part supply left.
I would then get it checked & fitted by a competent smith. I've had excellent luck with John @ M14medic.ca .
He has helped & repaired several "birth defects" my norc had from the start including the sheared bolt.

You could try and go the route to get NS to help you with a replacement bolt but from what i've herd, warranty with them may prove frustrating.
 
Meroh said:
True, if improperly made, but then they would also be soft. Same texture if they were properly made but with the wrong alloys or improper heat treatment following the sintering and reforming. Over hardened steel has the same texture; ever broken a file, drill toolbit or a wrench or socket? Same fine matrix.
Click to expand...

Yes, but these bolts are not glass hard. They are sintered with imperfect molecular bonding. Think about it as imperfectly forged material but in a microscopic basis where the forging is through heat and without mechanical forming. You are effectively seeing partial-melt adherence in the steel matrix from sintered manufacture that hasn't been heated enough for the selected alloy to adhere, develop sufficient strength and normalize.

It would be fine for a great many applications, but clearly not a .308 bolt.

Honestly, I can't think of any commonly available mim and heat treatment process I would trust for a .308 semi-auto rifle bolt with dual opposed locking lugs. Not with any alloy, and I have a good bit of experience in the ferric materials science field.

Others may feel differently, but I would not stamp the drawing personally.
 
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Merovingian said:
If I were you I would just get a replacement USGI bolt, I think Wolverines supplies still has a decent part supply left.
I would then get it checked & fitted by a competent smith. I've had excellent luck with John @ M14medic.ca .
He has helped & repaired several "birth defects" my norc had from the start including the sheared bolt.

You could try and go the route to get NS to help you with a replacement bolt but from what i've herd, warranty with them may prove frustrating.
Click to expand...

What's the cost of GI bolt these days? $300+ and then shipping off for fitting...another $200? And what do you have then...a rifle that works like it should have when you bought it but at twice the price.
Usually replacing the bolt is because someone is trying to build a "match grade" unit out of one of these, and is sinking much more into it then that. Why should anyone have to do that if they want to keep it stock as a plinker? . The forged Nork bolts are not that bad, we rarely hear about them failing.
It's just this latest North Sylva batch of garbage with MIM bolts.
Like I said, dog them to replace it with a SAFE rifle. Or sue the #### out of them if you get injured...as the importer they will be 100% on the hook for injuries.
 
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These are cheap copies....some times you get what you pay for. If dealers have to replace bolts with non factory norinco bolts I'm guessing they will just stop importing these....$650 norc or a $2300 Springfield.

Russ...
 
Hitzy said:
What's the cost of GI bolt these days? $300+ and then shipping off for fitting...another $200? And what do you have then...a rifle that works like it should have when you bought it but at twice the price.
Usually replacing the bolt is because someone is trying to build a "match grade" unit out of one of these, and is sinking much more into it then that. Why should anyone have to do that if they want to keep it stock as a plinker? The forged Nork bolts are not that bad, we rarely hear about them failing.
It's just this latest North Sylva batch of garbage with MIM bolts.
Like I said, dog them to replace it with a SAFE rifle. Or sue the #### out of them if you get injured...as the importer they will be 100% on the hook for injuries.
Click to expand...

Lol too true I agree, I left John at m-14 medic a message about fixing this thing but I will message North Sylva as well and see what they say.
 
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Russ said:
These are cheap copies....some times you get what you pay for. If dealers have to replace bolts with non factory norinco bolts I'm guessing they will just stop importing these....$650 norc or a $2300 Springfield.

Russ...
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You can't use dollars and cents to assign value in this industry, especially when you add globalization and legalese to the equation.
 
The bolts are supposedly the same hardness as USGI but dont have the internal hardness. Alot of shooters/end users routinely check the headspace on their M305s because of this, others dont, and still others just have the work done to fit a USGI bolt into their receiver.
 
I actually haven't messaged North Sylva yet, thanks for reminding me!
M-14 medic got back to me and its gonna be pricey to fix it properly with a usgi bolt. To do the bolt plus the accurization package is worth what a new gun is. Its slightly cheaper to swap with a forged norc bolt
Not 100% sure what my plan of action is yet with this thing.
If I hear anything from NS I will post it here
 
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