Bolthead 1917 Mk111* Deact

[Pandrol401]

Can anyone advise please. The bolthead on my SMLE jumps out of the groove when cocked or dry fired, don`t believe this is normal. The rifle is a mix of parts and numbers. The bolthead itself is stamped with a U, which I believe is Sth African. Is there a cure for this problem? Any help would be appreciated, as its a nice looking piece and this tends to spoil it when i`m showing it off.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Thunderbox]

If your rifle is a deact, then its probably been put together out of worn out parts taken off "live" rifles.

If it was a live rifle, we could tell you the list of parts to try changing. However, apart from the issue of using increasingly scarce parts on a rifle thats already had it, your rifle is certified as a deact because the bolt head has been cut - of course changing that would put you in the poo with the Police!

As your rifle is deacted, you can just safely use an expedient that was used by (some) armourers and gunsmiths: find a large metal wedge that fits into the boltway (a cold chisel or small axehead, for example), then just try tapping down with a hammer. If you get it just right, you will slightly bend the right receiver wall out - ie the part upon which the bolthead rides - and this will eventually go far enough to prevent the bolt head jumping the rail.

[Brian Dick]

Thunderbox has it. Just bend out the receiver or replace the bolthead with a tighter one, deact of course. Hit up Terry Abrams. He'll have some lying about.

[Peter Laidler]

I agree too. It's a deact and all you want it to do is function properly

[Pandrol401]

Ouch, thats a bit brutal. I`d sooner take a chisel or axe to my everloving wife of 30 years. Seriously, I dare not do that to me smelly. Definitely worn though, the whole bolt action is as slack as a bag of cats knackers. Thanks anyway, will have to look for an alternative. There is a place in Sheffield sells FAC load bearing parts, will see if they can deact a bolthead for me

[ActionYobbo]

dont be so dramatic
spreading the rails is a normal way to fix your problem
its not a hard to do and it only takes a few minutes
I use a hard wood wedge myself

[Pandrol401]

Guess this is done with the woodwork removed. Would it spread it enough at the receiver end as this is where it is the slackest.

[Peter Laidler]

Yep, woodwork removed. When you say 'the receiver end'..... you are spreading the bolt track of the receiver. Or am I missing something? You can really take it from me, that it ain't the bolthead that's at fault. It WILL be the body so don't waste your time and money on a new bolthead that you are going to imediately butcher. Just get on with spreading the body a tad.

[Homer]

So you can dry fire a deact in the UK?

[Pandrol401]

Mr E.. Wasn`t trying to be dramatic, if I knew how to get the smiley thingies to work you would have seen it was meant to be funny. Thanks for the help anyway, feel a lot more comfortable with a wooden wedge, never having done this before.
Peter Laidler. Thanks, needed to know before doing it. By receiver end I meant the bit where the bullets used to go in, as that is rigider because of the bulk of metal. Looking at the bolthead it looks like it has been massacred twice (old spec and new spec).
Homer. Yep, can field strip and dry fire, unless it`s any sort of automatic in new spec. welded shut. To buy old spec. all moving parts to field strip and dry fire, Thomsons, Stens etc. double the price of a new spec. Have seen rifles welded, old ones (not old spec I think).
Am I aloud to reply in bulk like this?