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Bolt vs accuracy

Captain Moroni

Well armed easily annoyed
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 20, 2007
1,324
4
45
Pocatello ID
www.highdeserttactical.us
How important is the bolt to accuracy? My bolt headspaces fine but I have some uneven shinny spots and inconstant results on the target.

I have a new Black Rain NB bolt that I am going to try out and see what I get.
 
Re: Bolt vs accuracy

Bolts should be match-lapped to the extension lugs, or the bolt and extension can be lapped separately to a standard lapping ring or fixture that is hardened. I don't know of any manufacturer that is lapping bolts or extensions and most even fore-go the grinding process as well. I see most manufacturers putting the parts on a lathe after heat-treat and hard-turning the lugs to try and get them to match evenly but this is a fairly crude process; can lead to burrs being formed, cone-shaped faces, out of perpendicularity, etc. Match-lapping needs to be done after heat treat/grinding/shot peen, but before coating; or you can generally re-coat after match-lapping an already coated part.

To answer your question on how important it is to do this process... it depends. It will certainly prolong the life of your bolt, that is a surety. If you currently only have 3 lugs that are making solid contact vs 7 lugs, you get the point. If the bolt/extension lug faces are not parallel with each other then this can tweak case seating to a relative degree. If the lug faces are not perpendicular to the bore center-line, this can have the same effect. Who knows how much that will effect accuracy on your specific barrel setup... I would say none up to 1.5 moa.

If you are seeing that some lug faces on your bolt are shinier than others, then you know the manufacturer didn't do the process right and did not get out all of the heat-treat twisting effect. You have to assume the extension lugs may have the same issue. It's hard to lap an extension that is installed.
 
Re: Bolt vs accuracy

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Captain Moroni</div><div class="ubbcode-body">How important is the bolt to accuracy? </div></div>You mean in theory, or as a practical matter?
 
Re: Bolt vs accuracy

I'm guessing AR15 platform? What makes you think the bolt is the issue? Are you shooting off a bipod, rest, bag? Rear support? Is the barrel free floating? Is it a match grade barrel? Mil spec or target trigger? What optics? Are you trying to shoot sub moa with a 2moa red dot?

Rich
 
Re: Bolt vs accuracy

Shooting off of a bipod w/ rear bag Rainier Ultra match BBL SSA-E trigger Viper PST Mega matched receivers PRI MK12 mod0 forend and PRI gas block.

I think that it is the bolt because I have tried everything else and the bolt was showing un-even wear. Now with a new bolt and bolt carrier its shooting much better