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A little background (you can skip this and jump to the pictures) -- a few years ago I got a M91 fucile for WW1 reenacting; Brescia 1895, stock dated 1936. The bolt it came with had the serial number filed off, and some other (unrelated) serial number scratched on to it. It has the large type extractor. I know that the bolts are generally interchangeable so I wasn't too concerned about it. However, I did notice that it would only chamber about half of the surplus ammo I had easily, the other half I *could* close the bolt but there was more resistance than I liked. (Note: I have not attempted to shoot any surplus ammo, although I have a clip of ammo that I dumped the powder from that I use for demonstration).
The other issue had to do with blank ammo. There are (currently) two different types of blanks available. Using the cheaper ones I tend to get a lot of extraction failures. At a reenactment a fellow reenactor had a problem with the bolt on his 91 fucile (a piece fell off of it), and swapped it with the bolt from his M91/41 -- he was using the cheaper ammo and immediately started to get extraction failures (he was forced to use the anachronistic M91/41 for the rest of the reenactment). Anyway, I talked to him about it, and he told me about head space numbers:
Turns out the bolt I have has the number "7" stamped on it on the "back" of the handle. Everybody I've talked to so far has told me that they are only documented as being "1-5" (nothing if the bolt isn't oversized). I took a gamble on a complete bolt on ebay. It's even worse -- I can't chamber any of the surplus ammo. It's marked with a "Y".
Am I just collecting unusually sized carcano bolts? ;-)
Bolt marked "7" -- there's something else under the top of the seven, but I can't tell what it is:
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Bolt marked "Y" -- there's something in front of the "Y", and it is lightly marked with an upside-down 84? (the top of the eight is obscured by the other heavier mark).
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Any ideas about what these markings may mean for headspace? And how I may go about getting a bolt that's right for my rifle? I also have photos of the markings from different angles, and I can post them too if you wish. I think these are the best though. Thanks in advance.
The other issue had to do with blank ammo. There are (currently) two different types of blanks available. Using the cheaper ones I tend to get a lot of extraction failures. At a reenactment a fellow reenactor had a problem with the bolt on his 91 fucile (a piece fell off of it), and swapped it with the bolt from his M91/41 -- he was using the cheaper ammo and immediately started to get extraction failures (he was forced to use the anachronistic M91/41 for the rest of the reenactment). Anyway, I talked to him about it, and he told me about head space numbers:
Turns out the bolt I have has the number "7" stamped on it on the "back" of the handle. Everybody I've talked to so far has told me that they are only documented as being "1-5" (nothing if the bolt isn't oversized). I took a gamble on a complete bolt on ebay. It's even worse -- I can't chamber any of the surplus ammo. It's marked with a "Y".
Am I just collecting unusually sized carcano bolts? ;-)
Bolt marked "7" -- there's something else under the top of the seven, but I can't tell what it is:
Bolt marked "Y" -- there's something in front of the "Y", and it is lightly marked with an upside-down 84? (the top of the eight is obscured by the other heavier mark).
Any ideas about what these markings may mean for headspace? And how I may go about getting a bolt that's right for my rifle? I also have photos of the markings from different angles, and I can post them too if you wish. I think these are the best though. Thanks in advance.
