Boys Anti Tank Gun Bolt Repair

[agentcq]

Thank you to all members. I got really lucky and another member found an unmolested bolt, it arrived in the post today.

Now I just need to wait for the barrel and the gunsmithing (barrel exchange/headspacing).

 

[anglia2]

Keep us posted on your project, great stuff!!!!
A2

 

[mr.e moose]

Congratulations on finding a bolt.Have you ever checked out the old german fellow at the Edmonton gun shows?Last one I noticed he had a few Boys items.

 

[Kayser Sose]

Pics finally - I know the extractor and ejector are FUBAR, but I can find those parts:

JEEZUS CHRIST!

That's fricken brutal. Why on earth...

 

[RRCo.]

I have discussed this rifle a few times, but I finally found an original .55 barrel, so this project rifle is close to breathing fire once again.

The only problem now is the bolt. The bolt face was ground, so I need a new bolt, new bolt body or maybe I can repair the bolt.

One gun smith told me that a good welder could rebuild the front the bolt face. The second option was to cut the damaged bolt face off, tap the bolt body, manufacture a new bolt face and thread on the new bolt face. These two options sound easy enough, but does anyone know a capable gunsmith who could complete these modifications?

Any help would be great.

Cheers

The second option sounds best to me. It would be very difficult to weld that bolt head without affecting the heat treatment of the bolt lugs and body. It would be possible to build it up with spot welds and cooling off periods between each weld, but the thermal mass of the bolt is not enough to absorb any more heat than that. It could be set into a water bath as you weld, but again, you're still drawing the heat through the lugs and bolt body. And when you're done, you still have a bolt head that needs to be hardened and tempered correctly, and how do you do that without affecting the rest of the bolt? Answer is: you can't. So, you either go at it hammer and tongs and then have the whole bolt re-heat treated or you machine it out. MUCH, MUCH better idea, and also simpler and quicker. If you want to get fancy you could also wait until your barrel is fitted and then make up your new bolt head so that you get correct head space. Just a thought.