Receiver rendered inoperable by broken bolt - what are my options?

[noobzor99]

Hello,
Last weekend while firing my carbine I had a major bolt failure. I'm guessing that the bolt was not fully rotated when it fired, but in any case the main lug snapped and the secondary lug took a chunk out of the receiver as shown in the attached pictures. Luckily no one was injured - the backup lug performed its job perfectly in that regard!

Problem is - the receiver is now unsafe to fire. Both the CMP and Fulton gunsmiths have stated that repairing the receiver is outside of their means, and even if it does get repaired, there is a good chance that the receiver is partially to blame for the bolt's failure. Which leaves me with a 98% perfect receiver that is not safe to fire. Amazing what 1/16" of damage can do...

I've resigned myself to this fact, and am in the process of sourcing a new receiver, but I was wondering what my options are. I do not plan to keep the receiver, so I was planning to sell it (with large text in the title being NOT FOR USE). Would these forums be a good place to start?

EDIT: Noticed that I did not state what the receiver is - it is a Winchester SN 123XXXX

Information

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[manteo97]

I've see this happen before, due to excessive headspace. In addition to the damage on the left side of your receiver, it might be bulged out here too. Can't tell from the pictures. It is basically scrap now, unsafe to fire, even if it is repair welded. USGI Receivers are heat treated 4140 Cr-Mo steel, and it is difficult to guarantee original strength on a repair welded receiver. Only exception would be a repair on a broken rear sight dovetail slot. Unfortunately, it's only good to make a de-activated wall hanger, movie prop, or a paper weight.

Before you sell it, you might want to further de-activate it, so someone won't try to use it as a firearm. Maybe drill a hole completely thru the receiver ring.

[imarangemaster]

Was that a Universal Carbine? It is almost impossible for a USGI to fire out of battery because of the tail on the firing pin needing to line up with a notch in the rear receiver bridge. Later in production, Universal took production short cuts for $$$ reasons, and eliminated the safety feature. They can easily fire out of battery with the shortcut...

[mike1967]

Was that a Universal Carbine?

Last paragraph in the OP, its a Winchester.

[browningautorifle]

I wouldn't even sell it, you're just allowing someone to put a touch of weld there and cold blue, and sell it as perfect. Destroy it yourself and be done.

[noobzor99]

Thanks for the responses.
I was hoping that there might be someone looking for it as a display piece, but it is much more likely that they would try to repair it. It sucks to have to damage it even more, but it's better than thinking about that possiblity...

[Captain O]

Nothing could be worse than having someone obtain your defective receiver and pass it off as a functioning firearm. Cut it up, melt it and cast it into something useful. See if you can make it into a coin or something of that nature. Make it a fun project and write about what you've done with it.

Just a thought.

[CINDERS]

Couple of options drill the chamber and weld the barrel into the receiver underneath, smooth out the damage cold blue it, weld up the firing pin hole cut a slot under the barrel out of sight and have it in the man cave or strip it down pull the barrel and put a drop saw through the receiver part it out or keep the spares for your replacement carbine. Ensure you destroy the receiver either way so it can never fire a round again..... just my 3c worth.

[AFJon]

OP.

The receiver is a paperweight now. Keep it and use it for that purpose.

[Bruce McAskill]

This can happen with reloaded ammo that the case is just a little bit too long. It prevents the bolt from locking and allows the hammer to hit the firing pin and causing the round to fire and the bolt gets badly damaged and or the receiver does. It is the main reason that reloaders have to measure and trim their cases each time they size them. The sizing is what elongates the cases.