M1 Garand bolt replacement

[mshehan]

I recently purchased a Garand that appears to have a lot of wear on the left hand lug of the bolt that I beleive makes it sloppier than it should be and may affect reliable cycling. I have purchased a new, complete unissued bolt to replace it with. Other than checking the headspace, is this a "drop in" installation?

Information

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[Col. Colt]

If the bolt gets good contact on both sides, and it headspaces OK, I would think it is good to go. Garand bolts vary a bit over their production life in length, and you can sometimes help a slightly worn reciever with a selected "long" bolt. I seem to remember the -12 or 14 bolts were longer - somebody chime in here with more info, please. CC

[Kirk]

Yes, other than checking headspace, it is a drop in installation.

[mshehan]

Sounds good guys. It made sense to me. The bolt that came with it was painted (?) black, and I'm guessing the new one (don't have it quite yet) looks parkerized. Should look better too. Thanks.

[Kirk]

The bolt that came with it was painted (?) black, and I'm guessing the new one (don't have it quite yet) looks parkerized. Should look better too.

A "black painted bolt" may be from a Garand refinished by the Greeks. They are famous for their"black" finishes on their M1903s & Garands. On the other hand, some veteran's groups painted the metal on their rifles gloss black to make them "pretty".

In any event, compare the bolts. If there is no excessive wear and if both head space, you have a complete spare bolt, not a bad thing. I have, on occasion, seen a firing pin break. So, a spare bolt can come in handy.

[browningautorifle]

I'm kinda with Kirk here. Did you try the rifle to see if there were flaws? Or is this just perception? I'll be it's just fine...

[mshehan]

Well, I'm a machinist and I think I'm keen to things that seem worn our out of spec. I like things to function as well as they look like they will operate flawlessly. A new bolt seemed "cheap" so I ordered the new one. Again, that left side lug on the top looked a bit worn more than the other lugs. In comparison to the new one, its a measureable difference. Again the new one's parkerzied. Part of it's a measurable difference and the other part is me just being a geek. Thanks again for all the input.

[boatbod]

If you don't have some already, get yourself a set of headspace gauges, or at the very least a Field gauge. Once you have checked that the headspace on the new bolt, you can coat the lugs with ****m to check whether they are engaging evenly. Lapping the lugs is pretty straight forward if necessary.

You may even be able to lap you existing bolt lugs so long as it's not already on the limits of headspace.

[ww2farmer]

I am not a gunsmith so don't take what I say to the bank, but like the above poster said, get a field gauge. What I do when swapping bolts is put the "new" bolt in the rifle, chamber a dummy round. If it chambers and locks on a dummy round, and doesn't close on the feild gauge, you should be good to go.