Help with Broken Bolt Damaged Receiver M1 Carbine

[USGI]

Jeff, that does not look good. Bolts are easy to come by, but the receiver scares me. Is there also damage on the RH side ? See white arrow on this image. If you have a gunsmith there that you trust, take it to him to be checked over. If you don't have someone there, call Floyd or Robin at the "Old Mill" in The Dalles. Were you shooting name brand ammo, and do you have any of it left? If you have some left, check it closely for case length and overall length. I've had some that you could actually see the difference without even measuring it. The bolt didn't close fully on it, and luckily the safety feature built into the carbine kept the hammer from contacting the firing pin. Bolts can and do fail, and what you see is typical of what can happen. Sorry it happened to your new carbine! - Bob

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[a1parrothead]

The right hand side looks fine on close inspection. No other notable damage other then whats in the pictures.

Sadly, and I must admit it out loud, it is an ammo issue. I was shooting reloads from a trusted friend. The round did in fact fire and was subsequently lodged in the chamber. I was able to pull the bolt back, eject it and inspect the case. The primer was as flat as a pancake. No other signs of over pressure like splits or bulging, but the primer was FLAT!

So much for his reloads. I am not sure of the load. Stupid me. I have reloaded for over 30 years and knew better then to trust someone else loads. In fact, immediately prior to pulling the trigger, I thought better of it and did not follow my gut.

My fault. I just hope the receiver can be repaired. Thoughts?

As far as the bolt, due to correctly matching it for head spacing etc., I have read it may be better to have a gunsmith do it. I could just buy one and drop it in after receiver repair, but that does not seem wise even if the gun is given a clean bill of health by a gunsmith for bolt replacement.

Anybody have any thoughts on replacing your own bolt without a gunsmith?
Jeff