is this bolt safe o fire?

eltorro

eltorro

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A very generous CGN-er allowed me to use his 308 Forster Gauges.
The reson I wanted them is to check if the replacement bolt I got for my M14 would be safe and nice fo fire in my rifle.

My original bolt closes on all GO , No-go and field.
My replacement bolt doesn't close on any of them.
It almost closes on the GO gauge. Almost being a few thous from being closed. The rotating bolt (this is an M14 we're talking about) almost reaches it's home position, but not quite there....

I tried to see if it would close on a fired empty 308 case. It does close completely, but the bolt is a little sticky at opening.

The replacement bolt was never fired.
Would it be safe to fire a few rounds thru the new bolt and see if it "gives" a little?

can anuone help me with this?
 
eltorro said:
I tried to see if it would close on a fired empty 308 case. It does close completely, but the bolt is a little sticky at opening.
Click to expand...

Try it on an unfired 308.

Best to just have a gunsmith kiss the chamber with a reamer to have it close on the GO.
 
Thanks Andy,
My original bolt works just fine. The replacement one is for emergencies, so I don't want to touch the chamber. If any it would be the bolt, but we're talking about some dough here, and the bolt cost me only about 50$.
I'll try it on an unfired round, but I will not do it at home.
If it closes, should I fire it?
 
You've got a bolt that closes on Field, and another that won't close on GO and you don't want to involve a gunsmith.

I'm walking away from this one.
 
you mean that the original one shouldn't close on the field?
I'm a noob here, please don't take me wrong....

The only Gunsmith I know is @ Epps. One that I'd trust to work on my rifle.
What do you recommend?
 
Don't pull the trigger if that bolt is not fully closed. At best it will work, at worste, well you would not want that. Potentially you're holding a grenade.
You need to have someone look at this rifle that knows what they are doing. It won't cost you much if anything to have a gunsmith at least evaluate it. It's too dangerous to play with. It only has to fail once.
 
Should an bolt with 'in-spec' headspace close on a:

GO?
NOGO?
FIELD?

Sorry, I'm not sure how these gauges work. Also, would it make a difference that it's a .308 gauge on a 7.62x51 chamber? I know the difference is small, but would that impact accurate readings?
 
A freshly reamed chamber should allow a bolt to close on a Go guage, but not a No-Go or Field. After some use, once the bolt closes on Field, it's time to set the barrel back.
 
A 'Match' chamber should only *just* close on go. Closing on 'field' is fine, most guns that have seen some use will close on 'field.' No gun should ever close on 'no-go,' (But a lot of Enfields DO)
 
my riflewas purchased a year ago, new and has less than 200 rounds thru it, with the original bolt. I never had a problem, but that doesn't mean that it's safe to fire.
Is like going to the doctor for checking your wrist brace just to find out you've got some incurable desease.

OUUUCH !!!

PS : the field is bigger than the No-GO.
go : 1.630
No-go: 1.634
Field: 1.638
 
Are you using the gauges with the bolt stripped, and without the operating rod? If the ejector and operating rod are in place, the "feel" of the gauges is affected.
With a 305, or any other semi-auto with a floating firing pin, you want cartridges to chamber freely, to reduce the possibility of a slamfire. If a stripped bolt won't drop to locked on a GO gauge, things may be a bit too tight for an autoloader (could be close to perfect for a bolt action precision rifle). If the bolt is fitted to the receiver, headspace would open up a bit, and be just fine. Is your chamber chrome plated? If it is, forget a reamer to set headspace. But if fitting is confined to the bolt, the rifle will be unaltered.
The original bolt: It closes on a FIELD gauge. This suggests the headspace is loose, outside spec. for .308. Problem is, you don't know the exact measurement, only that the rifle will swallow the gauge. Hungry has offered to measure fired cases. You should contact him; he can determine what the situation is.
There have been discussions about headspacing tolerances for .308 vs 7.62x51. Hungry can detrmine where you stand with the original bolt.
 
Good advice above.
I'm just wondering how "close" the second bolt is to closing? Can you take a picture? My pull through reamer cuts a very tight chamber and my go gauge Almost touches the reciever rail - but just a "hair" shy of fully closing. Fired measured cases were dead to nutz sammi minimum ( a couple were one just thou over) So, I spoke to clymer and they said that it just might be the geometry of the gauge, but I was fine with it either way.
 
"...Closing on 'field' is fine..." No it isn't. The bolt should close on a Go, not on a No-Go, but if it does you try the Field. It if closes on a Field, the headspace is excessive. If a bolt doesn't close on a Go, the headspace isn't enough. That bolt is no good for that rifle.
What it does with a case is irrelevant.
 
M305 - 7.62x51 is the the culprit.

I took it to the range. I fired the rifle with the original bolt. It dings the brass a bit, but the paper says it all.





scan0001.jpg



I swaped bolts and tried a live round. The bolt closed on it.
I should mention that I was relatively alone and I had Kevlar padding all over the potentially exposed areas. You guys scared me enough into dressing myself like Santa.
I fired a couple of rounds (all factory loads) and set them aside for sending them to Hungry.
I didn't shoot any other groups because :
1 - I didn't feel confident I cen repeat this.
2 - I got a new scope and I tried to adjust it. :mad: Them European military ones are tricky to say the least. I don't think I can even hit the paper now.

I got a lot of good advice here and I intend to follow thru Thank you very much. I'll keep you guys posted as this thing develops.
 
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