AR-15 Bolt Head = Fail

What else is damaged, and how likely is injury to the operator when bolt failure occurs? Do you change out bolts on old guns as prevention?

No just the bolt head a new one will get me up and running

As for the details

Factory Armalite with a 11.5" barrel obtained new 2006
Approx 4 k fired

Parts consumed to date
-Extractor axis pin
-Extractor
-Extractor spring and buffer x2
-Buffer
Wear
-Bolt cam pin replaced pior to bolt head failure
-Chrome is Delamtating in the Bore

And now the Bolt failure

Time for an overhaul
 
ouch. I don't know what to say. Thats a lot of parts for 4k. If I were a meaner person I'd make some snide remark about how many rounds my cz858 and sks have done in the last couple of years without hiccup, but I'm not a mean person (and I own an ar, don't want to anger the black rifle gods), so I won't.;) At least your glock probably treats you good.
 
This happened to me a week and a half ago:
TcSynCourse012.jpg

5656_119723952250_569627250_2788891.jpg


I was expecting my bolts to fail, but I thought it would happen later.

The rifle and bolt were Eagle Arm, shot maybe 5000rds through it.
 
No just the bolt head a new one will get me up and running

As for the details

Factory Armalite with a 11.5" barrel obtained new 2006
Approx 4 k fired

Parts consumed to date
-Extractor axis pin
-Extractor
-Extractor spring and buffer x2
-Buffer
Wear
-Bolt cam pin replaced pior to bolt head failure
-Chrome is Delamtating in the Bore

And now the Bolt failure

Time for an overhaul

I think it's time for that thing to eat a bowl of f*ck and quit.;)

Knowing you, you probably have a few 'spares' around?
 
Wow. That sucks man. I love all the info I get reading these forums. I just bought an AR a few months ago, so I now know what I have to look forward too.

Funny when I first pulled the dirty, dirty little gun apart to clean it I remember looking at the bolt and thinking it looks pretty flimsy around that retaining pin. Only other rotating bolt semi I'd owned to that point was a Garand and an M14 and that AR bolt is such an itsy bitsy little thing next to those monsters. (Well, next to the AK as well.)
 
Its definatlly a weak point, there is very little metal left becasue of the cam hole. On the plus side its pretty cheap for a new bolt and a easy fix.
 
The first bolt head failure I ever saw was a range-use C7 bolt at Connaught Ranges. It looked funny when I pulled it out of the box to do my share of the after annual qualification clean-up. No way at all of knowing how many rounds it fired. That was the same shoot when the barrel lug broke on the Browning HP beside me. It just jammed solid(!) on the guy.

When was this?? That happened to me at Connaught a few years (!!!) back -although i doubt that was the only time...


blake
 
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