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Posted: 3/24/2021 3:11:43 PM EDT
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Good afternoon, I recently replaced my bolt with a milled Polish 1960 carrier and bolt. The bolt doesn’t even come close to closing on a no-go, it just barely doesn’t close on a go, but it will close on a live round. I have no competent gunsmiths around me, so before I go driving far or shipping my rifle, thought I’d get some opinions from the pros. Is it okay that my bolt doesn’t close on a no-go, nor a go, but closes on a live round? A cursory search led me to believe this is okay, but can’t trust everything on Reddit. |
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Originally Posted By NoMoAMMO: How close is "barely" Did you try different brands of live rounds? Are using a stripped bolt? ETA Did you use fired cartridges and measure them? By barely, I mean the bolt starts to rotate into the locked position, but doesn’t quite fully rotate as it should on the go gauge. I did not use fired cartridges, I used unfired rounds and I only tried with Wolf which is all I have for my 7.62x39s. |
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Originally Posted By AEnemaBay: Yes, if it will not close on a no-go, or even on a go, but will chamber live rounds, then that's fine. It's even preferable on new builds for most builders. This is the consensus I read on a few other forums, but wanted to be sure. A few of them stated that it’s not uncommon for an AK bolt to not close on a go gauge if it’s new, or tight. |
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The bolt is supposed to close completely on a go gage. It's not suppose to close on a no go gage when factory new. If your ammo feeds, fits, fires and ejects there is enough clearance. Knowing you have a minimum headspace rifle will require that you test any new ammo to insure that the bolt closes and it can be easily extracted without being fired. If ammo binds when loaded you have a problem. |
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Originally Posted By raverill: Are you checking headspace with the bolt in the carrier? Headspace should be checked with the bolt stripped of the extractor and firing pin using finger pressure only. I'd be ok with a new rifle just not closing on a go gauge. It's going to settle in after a few hundred rounds and open up some. It's a better problem to have than a rifle that closes easily on a field gauge. AJ |
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