I took my project shooting rifle to the range today and had one strange stuck bolt incident.
I shot a total of 20 rounds and when I shot round 18, the bolt would not open. The tables at the range are covered with carpet, so I gave the bolt handle a light bump on the table top. The bolt was able to open, but I had to bump it three or four times to move it to the fully open position. The two rounds after that functioned properly.
The rifle is a project with a mismatched bolt. Using my GO gauge and some steel shims, I was able to determine that the headspace is somewhat tight. The bolt will close on the GO gauge, but not on the GO gauge with even the 0.001 inch shim. I don't think that this is a problem since the PPU ammo I am shooting is about 0.005 shorter than the GO gauge.
Any idea what makes the bolt stick? I have separated the case that stuck and will compare it to the other cases. The ammo was a fresh box of PPU factory ammo, the SP type.
I seem to remember that locking lug setback might cause the bolt to stick, but I would hope that is not the case. Maybe there was a tiny piece of debris that I did not see?
Thanks for any input.
Joe
[edit]
I am not sure if this has any bearing on the incident, but looking at the target that had the problem, there is one flyer out of the four shots. I am not sure if that was the one that stuck since I was flustered by the stuck bolt and did not think to check the target at the time.
I shot a total of 20 rounds and when I shot round 18, the bolt would not open. The tables at the range are covered with carpet, so I gave the bolt handle a light bump on the table top. The bolt was able to open, but I had to bump it three or four times to move it to the fully open position. The two rounds after that functioned properly.
The rifle is a project with a mismatched bolt. Using my GO gauge and some steel shims, I was able to determine that the headspace is somewhat tight. The bolt will close on the GO gauge, but not on the GO gauge with even the 0.001 inch shim. I don't think that this is a problem since the PPU ammo I am shooting is about 0.005 shorter than the GO gauge.
Any idea what makes the bolt stick? I have separated the case that stuck and will compare it to the other cases. The ammo was a fresh box of PPU factory ammo, the SP type.
I seem to remember that locking lug setback might cause the bolt to stick, but I would hope that is not the case. Maybe there was a tiny piece of debris that I did not see?
Thanks for any input.
Joe
[edit]
I am not sure if this has any bearing on the incident, but looking at the target that had the problem, there is one flyer out of the four shots. I am not sure if that was the one that stuck since I was flustered by the stuck bolt and did not think to check the target at the time.
