Bolt failure on M1A

Spcamno

Spcamno

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Found these pics on another forum the bolt shattered into pieces, don't really know what happen there:

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The shooter was fine after the incident and still able to post those pics.
 
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From the angles shot from the camera I see no signs of fatigue, it looks completely brittle fracture, result of one sudden severe overload.
One shot had a dark patch in the middle of the fracture face that I thought might be a rather large inclusion but looking at it again I think it is oil and a shadow. There probably wasn't anything wrong with this bolt, I would be looking at ammo here for root cause.
 
No its a early Norinco/PolyTech M14 bolt as there were no stampings on the bolt housing like Springfields have there were issues with Norinco bolts IE poor metalurgical quaility,Poor heat treating, low rockwell hardness ,poor dimensions . Note these bolts and the rifles were imported into the US in the early 90's not to be confused with Norincos that have been imported in the last 10 yrs
 
Savage said:
No its a early Norinco/PolyTech M14 bolt as there were no stampings on the bolt housing like Springfields have there were issues with Norinco bolts IE poor metalurgical quaility,Poor heat treating, low rockwell hardness ,poor dimensions . Note these bolts and the rifles were imported into the US in the early 90's not to be confused with Norincos that have been imported in the last 10 yrs
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I haven't looked at the thread recently but are you 100% certain of this? I am pretty sure that was an SAI bolt.

In fact I just had a look...here is a quote from the thread:

"The bolt is a cast SAI Drawing number 7790186-SA F00155"

Although later I recall someone pointing out that the F is a forged bolt stamp.
 
I love these threads :evil:

NOW your #### will fall off ! :eek:

And you guys are right.... that ain't a Norc bolt.

Way back in 1987, Sproingfield Armory had a bolt recall program. The kind lady in Geneseo, Illinois would answer a Springfield Armory bolt hotline and advise if the markings on the bolt were part of a batch/run made by THEM. If they were part of the suspect batch, then SA would trade bolts with you , after you mailed your bolt into them. A buddy of mine at Sharon GC had ONE. He sent it back as per rules of the recall.

Fzcken basturd got a new bolt the following week. Cxcksucker opened up the box to discover a new-in-the-wax-foil-wrap TRW ZG marked bolt! Back in 1986, we were buying NEW bolts for $ 35 at OACA (Toronto, but really Markham Vaughn) Gun Shows. We were jealous because most of our USGI bolts were electro-scribed with a dremel tool from Israel surplus (read: complete CA rifle for $ 400).

So, let's ensure that everyone reading this does not go out and drop $300 hard earned after-tax dollars on a USGI bolt feeling that their Norinco bolt would give rise (ha ha ha) to #### loss, PLEASE!!

Peace out!

Barney
 
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Your right it is a Springfield bolt there was a batch of recalled bolts in the mid to late 80's that had issues with the both heatreating and metalurgical quaility . How ever the Polytech bolts were no screaming hell on the quaility issue as well. I sent my bolt back and got a Springfield GI bolt to replace it on my M1A
 
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Springfield replaced the cast bolt on my 2001 Scout with one of their forged bolts in an effort to get the rifle to function.
When the rifle jammed up again I had them replace their forged bolt with a new TRW bolt that I supplied and it never jammed again.
I still don't know what the problem was and I eventually sold off all of the Springfield parts including the receiver.

The TRW bolt is still in use, but it's now in a Norinco receiver :)
 
H2O MAN said:
Springfield replaced the cast bolt on my 2001 Scout with one of their forged bolts in an effort to get the rifle to function.
When the rifle jammed up again I had them replace their forged bolt with a new TRW bolt that I supplied and it never jammed again.
I still don't know what the problem was and I eventually sold off all of the Springfield parts including the receiver.

The TRW bolt is still in use, but it's now in a Norinco receiver :)
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WoW give up Springfield to a Norinco:D

I have a Norinco and would like to hear from owner (previous owner) of SA M1A that why you give up the 3 times more M1A to a M14S (may be the difference is less due to M14s sold for a lot more South of the border).

Besides the cast bolt on the M1A that you didn't like what else did you notice?

How about in the accuracy department? Which is better both pre and post tweak on both models?

Thx
 
Spcamno said:
WoW give up Springfield to a Norinco:D

I have a Norinco and would like to hear from owner (previous owner) of SA M1A that why you give up the 3 times more M1A to a M14S (may be the difference is less due to M14s sold for a lot more South of the border).



Thx
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I have both a Norinco M14s and a SA M1A both are great rifles with the exception of the ####ty sights on the Norinco [easy fix] and the stupid metric treading ####ty wood stock. I purchased my SA National match new in 1984 for about $900.00 I wanted one so I bought it simple enough great rifle better accuracy , Didn't need to fix issues with the ejection of spent cases hitting the scope mount,Can use any GI stock with out having to modify so that the oprod guide retaining pin doesn't move. Came with a a great looking NM walnut stock and better fit and Finnish than the Norinco. Was it worth the extra money I spent to get a SA M1A yes it was
Now that it appears the Norinco M14S well has run dry , Anyone that is now looking to buy a M14s is now going to have to buy a Springfield M1A or look around for a used deal I suspect that the used prices on the M14S are going to on the rise as a result of supply vs demand
 
Savage said:
Your right it is a Springfield bolt there was a batch of recalled bolts in the mid to late 80's that had issues with the both heatreating and metalurgical quaility . How ever the Polytech bolts were no screaming hell on the quaility issue as well. I sent my bolt back and got a Springfield GI bolt to replace it on my M1A
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I don't doubt this...but that was not the problem here!
 
i have a supposed SA bolt, but all it has is a "K" stamped onto the end of the bolt housing (the opposite end of firing pin).....although bolt is nice and tight tight in receiver...like zero movement, i would have thought a SA bolt would have a serial number or something....anyone ever come across this before?

cheers & beers
~harry~
 
Hungry said:
I love these threads :evil:

NOW your #### will fall off ! :eek:

And you guys are right.... that ain't a Norc bolt.

Way back in 1987, Sproingfield Armory had a bolt recall program. The kind lady in Geneseo, Illinois would answer a Springfield Armory bolt hotline and advise if the markings on the bolt were part of a batch/run made by THEM. If they were part of the suspect batch, then SA would trade bolts with you , after you mailed your bolt into them. A buddy of mine at Sharon GC had ONE. He sent it back as per rules of the recall.

Fzcken basturd got a new bolt the following week. Cxcksucker opened up the box to discover a new-in-the-wax-foil-wrap TRW ZG marked bolt! Back in 1986, we were buying NEW bolts for $ 35 at OACA (Toronto, but really Markham Vaughn) Gun Shows. We were jealous because most of our USGI bolts were electro-scribed with a dremel tool from Israel surplus (read: complete CA rifle for $ 400).

So, let's ensure that everyone reading this does not go out and drop $300 hard earned after-tax dollars on a USGI bolt feeling that their Norinco bolt would give rise (ha ha ha) to #### loss, PLEASE!!

Peace out!

Barney
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Ha ha....nice post:cool:
 
I have a four digit springfield M1a with all trw parts and the same thing happened...the picture is correct...made a different noise after the shot and the bolt was split! It was replaced with a trw bolt. They wanted the gun sent to the factory because it was as "military issue" bolt! I bought the gun direct from springfield new......
 
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