Lee Enfield mk4 No1 Cracked Bolt

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Ready Aim...

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So I took my Enfield out for the first time on sunday and after the fourth round the bolt cracked! It has lodged itself upward and is locked in the closed position and cannot be taken out. I am wondering if anyone knows of a gun smith around Langley BC or if anyone else has had this problem.
 
I've never seen or heard of anything like this.
Might take three hands, but you could try lifting the bolt handle at the same time that a punch and hammer are used near the locking lug to rotate both parts of the bolt.
From the looks of the charger bridge, the receiver appears to have been sprung a bit.
 
Has anyone else noticed that the cocking piece on the bolt isn't in the full forward position? We had junker .303's when I was a kid and we handled those suckers day-in & day-out for years. The bolt has 3 positions; fully cocked, full forward & a sort of half-#### which locked everything up.
That pic the cocking piece is back maybe 1/4 inch. That shouldn't be so.
Suppose that happened when it fragged?
 
I'm not Lee-Enfield expert but you are lucky it did not fly into you. Buy a mass in your intention you were lucky
 
Wow, never seen this before. Does the bolt match the rifle ? I am also curious what type of rounds you used ?

If you do manage to get the two bolt pieces out, I am sure we all would like to see pictures of the fracture marks. The crack may have been there for a while and just gave way now.
 
Nabs said:
Wow, never seen this before. Does the bolt match the rifle ? I am also curious what type of rounds you used ?

If you do manage to get the two bolt pieces out, I am sure we all would like to see pictures of the fracture marks. The crack may have been there for a while and just gave way now.
Click to expand...

Yes the bolt matched the rifle and I was using belmont .303 British ammunition.
 
Most unusual. From the pic, the break seems to be past the point where the force from bolt back thrust would come into play - the bolt lug is fully intact. That part of the bolt sees no force upon firing and is only subjected to torque when chambering and ejecting a round. I can't see how "headspace" or a "mismatched bolt" could have anything to do with that. Was the bolt ever bent and then straightened, or hammered open? Is the break old, i.e. has evidence of corrosion in the break?
 
Andy said:
Most unusual. From the pic, the break seems to be past the point where the force from bolt back thrust would come into play - the bolt lug is fully intact. That part of the bolt sees no force upon firing and is only subjected to torque when chambering and ejecting a round. I can't see how "headspace" or a "mismatched bolt" could have anything to do with that. Was the bolt ever bent and then straightened, or hammered open? Is the break old, i.e. has evidence of corrosion in the break?
Click to expand...

It'd be interesting to hear Peter Laidler's take on that. Not something I've ever heard of before. Glad nobody got hurt.

I wonder if that rifle can continue to be considered usable, even after the bolt comes out?

I just sent your pic to Peter Laidler with a request for his comments, if he answers I'll post it here.
 
Looking forward to his answers.

It's interesting. As pointed out above that area shouldn't be under excessive pressures at all.

Just for knowledge, was the vent hole on the side of the chamber plugged?

Also, give us a full rundown of the rifle if possible including manufacture, year, and any unusual stamps that you find.
 
As Andy mentioned - torque induced cyclic failure? Failing in shear @ 45 degrees? Initiated by the stress concentration at the exposed lug? Perhaps its due to a reaction moment during firing? Normally the angle between bolt and receiver is low - perhaps the bolt was riding on one lug at a larger, poorly ground angle?
 
not supported on the left side lug, fully supported on the right, resulting in uneven thrust on the bolt.

I've seen an enfield bolt where the opposite was true, and the left lug broke out of the bolt body.
 
Never seen, or even heard of such an event. This is a first for me. Agreed, some history of the rifle and analysis of the bolt would be in order. Glad the OP is OK.
 
Ready said:
So I took my Enfield out for the first time on sunday and after the fourth round the bolt cracked! It has lodged itself upward and is locked in the closed position and cannot be taken out. I am wondering if anyone knows of a gun smith around Langley BC or if anyone else has had this problem.
Click to expand...

Try the following:

1- Place rifle in a padded vice with cocking handle side towards you.

2- Pull back cocking piece to full #### if it will budge. You need to do this in order to move on to step 3.

3- Using a hammer and a brass punch, tap lightly downwards on front part of bolt about 1/4" forward of crack in order to get both parts of bolt aligned. Bolt will not open unless you align both halves.

4- You might need an extra set of hands for this step. Forward of the crack, insert blades of two thin bladed flat screwdrivers in the gap between the frame and the right side lug near each end of said lug (ridge that runs along the bolt). Now trying to synchronize your movements with one person operating the bolt handle with one hand while applying downwards pressure at the crack, and the other person gently prying with the two screwdrivers, try opening bolt together. This will only work if both parts stay aligned and are turned at the same time.

5- Then take it to a competent smith who can try to figure out what might have gone wrong. Oh yeah, if the 4 previous steps didn't work, also take it to a competent smith.

Good luck !
 
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