03A3 Suspect Bolt

[John Beard]

What you have is a scant forging.

Bolts were die-forged from bar stock. Occasionally, the soft steel did not completely fill out the forging die, thereby leaving a scant spot. The scant spot didn't usually show up until the bolt forging was milled. Government inspection standards allowed for scant spots as long as the scant spot was small and not in a critical location. If the scant spot was large enough, the part would be recovered by welding in parent metal and re-machining the part. Nothing went to waste.

Your bolt is not the least bit unusual. Remington scant forgings are very common. I have a number of them.

J.B.