Just got a swede mauser the other day. The bolt handle was bent down but it was a lousy job. The stock must be inlet just to close it. I think it needs to be bent out for looks and ease of use. Has anyone done any bolt bending? How did you do it? Thanks for the help.
bolt handle bending....
- Thread starter hardek
- Start date
- Location
- Central AB
No doubt someone with more experience than me will chime in, but I know the steel in the swede bolts in really hard to bend. In my experience it's better to by an appropriate bolt, cut of the original, drill and tap for the replacement, and silver solder it in to make it stay in place permanently. Getting a good bend on the original can be a challenge.
A bolt bending block is a handy thing to use when bending a bolt handle, a heat sink plug in the end and a good torch, you can put just about any arc you desire once the handle is red hot. The blocks have cuts in them to hold the bolt in the proper place, then you clamp the blocks in a vise and heat the handle and bend when red hot. Brownells calls them bolt forging blocks. I have done a few but find the bolt handle a little short, prefer to cut and weld a new one on. I would guess the you could do the job without the blocks but it would call for some creative thinking.
