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Military Firearm Restoration Corner

Terrible welding


z1r

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All too frequently, I see bolts like this on sporters:

 

A buddy picked this up. I helped him replace the 8x57 barrel with a .308.  But this bolt handle has got to go.  Not only is the void so huge that the handle is about to fall off, it sticks out so far, that it won't clear a scope without high rings.  Gonna cut it off and weld it back on correctly so he won't have to alter the stock.

 

I wonder who in the world thinks that a handle like this is ok?  Amazes me that people would settle for this.

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Hey Z... Long time no See (you realize that Rhymes right??) Yes I have seen my share also.. and the "swaged" ones that seem to almost always come up "short"

All of the ones you have shared photos of have been top of the line workmanship... I still would use Davis May tho... he did a couple for me..

I have been working on one of my own for about 10 Years!!! No Kidding... Not worth looking at yet!!! But, hey...Gotta try.

That one is Not something I would be using on anything I own... Rather a "short" swaged one personally!!!

Good to see ya posting!!!

Please show us how a Pro does this... Thanks, and good on ya for fixing the poor thing!

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So, I cut off the handle and reattached it.  The root was deformed by the previous hack so, it is as straight as I can get it without rebuilding the root entirely.  Not doing that for free.

But, at least it isn't pockmarked and will clear a low scope. And, looks decent.

 

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2 hours ago, Dr.Hess said:

It looks great now.  Hope he brought the beer.

As a matter of fact, he even brews it! :D

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Excellent.  Me too.  I even started kegging it instead of bottles a few months ago.  Kegerator, best invention since the bread machine.  I wrote an article for The Backwoodsman Magazine that was published a few months ago titled "How I Make Beer."

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It's fun watching him make the beer.  He bottled a great Double Bock last year. Delicious!

Congrats on the article.

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That’s some way nice work on the bolt. I’ve welded bolts but never had home brew and would love to try some. My buddy makes the best wine I’ve ever had. Not a wine drinker but his wild mustang grape is fantastic. 

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When we were young, and I mean, high school young, my buddy's grandmaw and uncle used to make wine out of mustang grapes grown in Fredericksburg. Dang good stuff. I always wanted to brew my own but alas, I don't drink enough anymore to warrant the effort.

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Used to be mine too, spent most weekends in that area. I remember when there was only one traffic light in town, on Main St. And the Cinema in town used a Carbon Arc projector.  The Nimitz Museum has grown so much.  A fun visit, as is Texas Jacks.

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2 hours ago, z1r said:

When we were young, and I mean, high school young, my buddy's grandmaw and uncle used to make wine out of mustang grapes grown in Fredericksburg. Dang good stuff. I always wanted to brew my own but alas, I don't drink enough anymore to warrant the effort.

Hey Z, both my deceased brothers made wine. My younger brother’s wine was especially good. He also made a very sweet wine he claimed helped him get lucky with dates. He said they’d put it down like Koolaide. My only attempt making wine stunk up the house so bad I had to dispose of it. The odor lingered in the garbage can long after the garbage truck. Don’t know what I did wrong but I never tried it again. 
 

Back to bolts. Years ago after a bud and I both bought German 09 Argie sniper rifles from SARCO. We both searched quite diligently in Shotgun News for the German factory turned down bolts to no avail. Mid 80s only found one and the gun show vendor wanted way to much. I think he was asking $150. At that time one could buy a surplus Mauser for under 100. I was buying Czech 98/22s for about 80 bucks from J&G. We did find a local smith that did an excellent job and he also chrome plated the body and extractor. The old guy died before completing my Turk Kkale bolt. It took several months getting it back from his son. 

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