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Replacement Parts

The Mall Ninja

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Nov 1, 2008
421
3
North Pole, AK
Now that I have "my" perfect rifle set up, suppressor and all... I was thinking about the high wear items, like the bolt, bolt cam pin and such. something to keep it from turing into my perfect paperweight. What parts are recommended for the AR-15 "survival" kit, or more like a field repair kit? I have a bolt cam pin, firing pin, firing pin retaining pin. I'm looking at getting a fully assembled bolt (If I can magically find one that is MP tested), maybe an extra extractor, O-ring, spring and pin. Are there any other things I'm missing?

And I have a question about replacing the bolt: If I swap my bolt out with a new one, am I going to have to worry about head spacing issues?
 
Head spacing is not something to worry about. It is a safety issue for you and bistanders. If you are going to do it yourself, and this is only my opinion, you should take your safety and that of others to heart. Purchase a set of Go, No Go, and Field Guages for each caliber you own. Learn to use them correctly and never worry about your head space issues. Any custom gunsmith will be happy to help you obtain a set, and show you how to use them. If you cannot find someone near you to do this, I will help you. I will send you my guages with return priority envelope if UPS or FEDEX delivers to you. You may contact me at 404 307 6363 or at my email address. Please text me if voice mail is full. Do it right and do not worry.
 
Guages are expensive but worth it if you build a lot of rifles. You can check it the po mans method by using a newly sized and trimmed case. You measure the case to determine it's exact length. Completely strip the bolt. Drop the case in the chamber and put in the bolt and lock it up. It should close with a little play. This is your go gauge. Take out the case and then put one layer of scotch tape on the base of the cartridge. Interestingly scotch tape is exactly .002 thick. By adding layers of tape your can slowly work your way up to where the bolt won't close. This is your no-go guage. Write down the measurements and keep the two cartridges. There is a Youtube video on this somewhere.
 
Thank you for the replies, but let me add to this that I didn't build my rifle I bought a complete upper from Noveske. The last I read/heard was that they keep their headspace tolerances within .002. As I have no prior gunsmithing expierience, I didn't know I would be able to just drop in a bolt and go from there, assuming the bolt is within spec.