Inquiry - Swapping Bolts

if you are going to attempt the fitting yourself, you will need the headspace guages. My reccomendation would be to have a experienced smith like Warbird or Ted Brown (both members here) do the work for you... it's probably one of the most crucial parts of the build that hass to be within specs or it can literally be unsafe to shoot and could cause serious harm to ones being. I can't stress the importance of having it done correctly. JHMO Hawk

If you simply purchase a spare bolt, there is no guarantee it will headspace correctly in your rifle. You will need headspace guages to check this. Your SOCOM does not have a chrome chamber so a smith could do some work here (and /or bolt lugs) if needed to achieve proper headspace. Or if you have a selection of bolts you can go through until you find one that drops in with proper headspace.

I say why bother. The SA bolts are now supposed to be forged, they are warranted for life, and have been just as reliable as USGI. The only issue may be an occassional extractor failure. You can pick up a spare USGI extractor and you should be good to go.

Fitting a bolt to an M14 type rifle should include lapping the bolt to the receiver. I have had two receivers that had no or minimal contact on one of the locking lugs. The only way to get proper lock-up was to lap the bolts. Even if the bolt headspaces correctly, there still may not be enough contact on the bolt lugs, 85% for service grade, 95% for match grade.

I strongly urge you to buy Scott Duff's, 'M14 Owner's Guide' and Jerry Kuhnhausen's, 'The U.S. .30 Caliber Gas Operated Service Rifles a Shop Manual Volumes I & II'. They are available from www.fulton-armory.com. These books provide detailed information about the design, maintenance and building of M14 type rifles. When it comes to working on your M14, ignorance is definitely not bliss!

Thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate the information. I just purchased Scott Duff's book and look forward to reading it. I've had Jerry Kuhnhausen's shop manual Volumes I and II for some time (for my M1 Garand rifle), but I had forgotten it covers the M14. I'm hoping these two resources will help me better understand my new rifle. I'm a CPA that, deep down, probably always wanted to be an engineer. I like to know how and why things work.

Several people have now told me that I can be confident with the SA bolt with the exception of the extractor. I think what I'll probably do is simply purchase a spare extractor and keep that handy. Now all I have to do if fugure out how to strip the bolt....

A gunsmith isn't trained on the workings of a M14/M1A were an armorer is. And in that the armorer learned alot of "tricks" that even the best gunsmiths may never know. So for that reason I would prefer to have an armorer work on mine.
HH

A lot of must have advise and knowledge in the above posts. Yes head space is critical and a good lock up is just as important and will ensure your head space stays about where it is for several K rounds. I have two bolts the head space fairly close but one has a lot more contact against the receiver. I lucked out and no lapping was required to achieve this. My rack grade Armscorp thinks it's an M21. It always shot well but now the groups are more consistent and still groups an average of 1/2 to 3/4 MOA any day, closer to 1/2.
Whenever in doubt about any gun repair or modification, ALWAYS take it to someone who knows the ins and outs of your rifle.
At least you are in the place that IMO has the most knowledgeable and friendly folks anywhere.

semiauto said:

I say why bother. The SA bolts are now supposed to be forged, they are warranted for life, and have been just as reliable as USGI. The only issue may be an occassional extractor failure. You can pick up a spare USGI extractor and you should be good to go.

Click to expand...

I think the jury is still out on whether SA Inc bolts really are forged and if they are reliable. Cornbread's SA Inc bolt failed on him and is curently being examined by Fulton Armory.

http://warrifles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=324

TEA said:

I think the jury is still out on whether SA Inc bolts really are forged and if they are reliable. Cornbread's SA Inc bolt failed on him and is curently being examined by Fulton Armory.

Click to expand...

From what I can understand their tests are not over but from what they have learned so far these bolts are not forged but MIM.

The "jury is still out" so we don't know for sure yet but I would not take Springfield's word on anything.

The photo of the cracked bolt lug is a little scary. When I purchased the SOCOM 16, I specifically inquired about the bolt and was told that all current production SA bolts (including the one in my rifle) are forged. Of course, forged bolts can fail too but, from what I understand, forged bolts are tougher (less brittle?) than cast bolts.

I'm primarily concerned with my and my rifle's safety rather than squeezing every last ounce of accuracy from the rifle. I guess I'll have to give this topic some more thought.

GI bolts are not very expensive compared to doctor and hospital bills.

Have one installed and headspaced to your rifle NOW.

I was lucky the rifle did not come apart in my face. I will never take that chance again.

Cornbread2 said:

TEA said:

I think the jury is still out on whether SA Inc bolts really are forged and if they are reliable. Cornbread's SA Inc bolt failed on him and is curently being examined by Fulton Armory.

Click to expand...

From what I can understand their tests are not over but from what they have learned so far these bolts are not forged but MIM.

The "jury is still out" so we don't know for sure yet but I would not take Springfield's word on anything.

Click to expand...

Wasn't the heat lot code on your bolt B000??? Could it be that the B series were MIM and the newer F series are cast? All just speculation, unless Walt and the guys at Fulton Armoy subject an F series bolt to the same type of scrutiny. Still, I'd rather know for sure that my bolt was fogred than wondering about it every time I pulled the trigger. :roll: