new bolt hard to cock

[bja105]

I bought a forged bolt on e-bay, for my turk. The new bolt corrected my headspace problem, but it is hard to cock after dry firing. In other words, the upstroke is difficult. A previous thread mentioned it could be the cocking lug needs to be re-hardened. How do I know if this is the case, and how do I do it?

 

Any other likely causes?

[Doble Troble]

There are other potential causes, but a soft cocking cam is a likely suspect. If this is the cause there MAY be wear/gouging evident from the cocking cam.

 

To reharden, heat the camming surface with OA torch with an acetylene flame (keep a good part of the light blue portion of the flame - this will provide a carbon source for hardening) until bright red and immediatly quench in a bucket of water.

 

If this isn't the problem then the job gets tougher. There's lots of closley fitting moving parts and most can contribute. I've had some luck smoothing up bolts by lapping in the shroud and applying good grease - lubriplate. Hopefully the experts will have better advice - I could use this info too.

[Jimro]

I had the same problem with a forged bolt for my Turk, instead of rehardening I sprayed the camming surface with a little penetrating oil, wiped it down with a cotton rag, and it smoothed right up. Haven't had a problem with gouging or excessive wear yet. Rehardening won't hurt anything, but I'm pretty sure that even if you reharden you'll still have to use a little lubrication to get the cocking action smooth.

 

Jimro

[Guest MorgansBoss]

I had this problem with one quite some time back (eBay bolt) and yes it was the camming surface. Before messing with it though rule out all other possibilities first - cocking peice dragging on action screw or sear, bolt handle dragging on rear bridge, shroud dragging on bolt, dirt or scale inside bolt, etc. Color the caming surfaces with prussian blue, dykum or even a felt-tip marker and work the bolt a few times. This will tell you exactly where the engagement is and will aid in determining how sever it may be wearing/gouging. Good luck! If you do determine it's a defective forging job, consider contacting the seller, he may be willing to replace it - a much better option if you're not prepared to re-harden yourself and risk screwing up the bolt permanently.

[bja105]

Thanks for the input. I've dry fired it a few hundred times, hoping to smooth it out. I've got my trigger control good, and the bolt seems to get better, but I'm just getting used to it. When I pick up my springfiels, i see just how bad the turk is.

 

After lots of dry firing, and about 20 live rounds, if a camming surface is too soft, would it be showing wear? The entire bolt has been blued (no change in bolt lift) so I can see were parts are wearing.

 

 

Dumb question, where is the camming surface that would be softened? A picture would help me.

Thanks

Jason

[Guest MorgansBoss]

I will assume you know how to disassemble the bolt. The rear of the bolt body has a tapered notch that the cocking peice fits into. The cocking peice has a matching taper on it's leading edge. These are the camming surfaces. The one on the bolt body is the one you are concerned with. The answer is YES it will show distinct wear if soft. Since it compresses a rather powerful spring by it's camming action, both surfaces will be shiny as a result of normal use so it takes a somewhat experienced judgement call to decide if it's more than normal wear.

 

BTW - in case you don't know how to take the bolt apart, please ask before trying!

[NCShooter]

Help please,

 

I have just received my 1908 back from the gunsmith who did an outstanding

job of bluing. And as I seem to do everything different, I asked him to blue

the bolt as well. But when I tried to open the bolt, I thought it was stuck. I mean

I really had to strain to get it open. It was perfect before it was blued.

It seemed that I had just read this thread yesterday, so I came back and checked everything that was suggested. nothing seemed to help.

As I have never lapped anything I thought I would try a little automotive rubbing compound as an abrasive. This did help, as long as I don't try to cock it, it works really smooth. But as soon as i try to compress the spring, it gives me fits.

So I figgered that the next step was to use a real abrasive compound. But I have no idea what to use, or what grit to get...ect... Any suggestions? I don't want to over do, the only thing I have left to do on my first build is to bed the action. I am so close, but seem to be so far.... TIA...

 

[Sailormilan2]

Remember, bluing is a form of controlled rusting. I read once, that two surfaces that rub on each other should not be blued, as bluing etches the metal and you will no longer have a smooth surface.

[burgie]

bja105 asked:

Question, where is the camming surface that would be softened? A picture would help.

 

Here is a photo of my Swedish mauser bolt camming slot, this is the part that gets soft when the bolt handle has been forged or replaced. The gunsmith should have checked this surface before returning the bolt to you.