Hey everybody,
I recently picked up a Siamese 45/70 rebarrel. She sits in an extra heavy stock that I have already bedded and am refinishing. Receiver and barrel both look excellent except for some thinned bluing but I also plan to rust blue entire thing as well.
Anyway my real problem seems to be the bolt. Everything seems in order but whoever did this conversion put a bastard file to the bolt face and simply ground it flat. Bolt locks up and all but it has an unhealthy amount of slack in it when closed because the bolt face is ground flat. I am an amateur gunsmith but I've honestly never run across one of these before and despite my searching I cannot find a single picture on the internet of a 45/70 bolt face conversion. I understand they are generally 'opened up' on a mill, likely out of the scope of whoever did this conversion years back. The fact that the face is ground flat tells me this was done by someone even more amateur than myself. The fact that the bolt face is now flat is what gives the bolt so much room to move in the receiver. This slack is present whether or not there is a shell present in the chamber.
Really I guess having a picture of one is irrrelevant because either way I know mine is bubba'd and isn't correct. I plan on getting a new siamese bolt both from natchez and having a smith open up the face properly- with that this thing should be sweet.
My question is- does anyone know of a smith that knows of these and can do it properly? Honestly seems pretty simple really.
I really can't say if or who shot it like this. Bolt locks up but there's a measurable amount of play back and forth when closed due to that face being ground off. I scoped the barrel and checked the receiver lugs from the front and they don't seem to have any setback issues and the bolt itself seems perfect minus the face. The barrel does have a bit of copper in it though so it has had rounds down it. I'd rather not shoot it like this with the headspace being the way that it is. The lack of any bolt face also makes ejection a bit wonky. She does feed from the magazine just fine though- I understand these usually struggle with that due to the feed rails.
I got if off a guy who had it in his shop for some time but had no clue of its origins.
Thanks!
I recently picked up a Siamese 45/70 rebarrel. She sits in an extra heavy stock that I have already bedded and am refinishing. Receiver and barrel both look excellent except for some thinned bluing but I also plan to rust blue entire thing as well.
Anyway my real problem seems to be the bolt. Everything seems in order but whoever did this conversion put a bastard file to the bolt face and simply ground it flat. Bolt locks up and all but it has an unhealthy amount of slack in it when closed because the bolt face is ground flat. I am an amateur gunsmith but I've honestly never run across one of these before and despite my searching I cannot find a single picture on the internet of a 45/70 bolt face conversion. I understand they are generally 'opened up' on a mill, likely out of the scope of whoever did this conversion years back. The fact that the face is ground flat tells me this was done by someone even more amateur than myself. The fact that the bolt face is now flat is what gives the bolt so much room to move in the receiver. This slack is present whether or not there is a shell present in the chamber.
Really I guess having a picture of one is irrrelevant because either way I know mine is bubba'd and isn't correct. I plan on getting a new siamese bolt both from natchez and having a smith open up the face properly- with that this thing should be sweet.
My question is- does anyone know of a smith that knows of these and can do it properly? Honestly seems pretty simple really.
I really can't say if or who shot it like this. Bolt locks up but there's a measurable amount of play back and forth when closed due to that face being ground off. I scoped the barrel and checked the receiver lugs from the front and they don't seem to have any setback issues and the bolt itself seems perfect minus the face. The barrel does have a bit of copper in it though so it has had rounds down it. I'd rather not shoot it like this with the headspace being the way that it is. The lack of any bolt face also makes ejection a bit wonky. She does feed from the magazine just fine though- I understand these usually struggle with that due to the feed rails.
I got if off a guy who had it in his shop for some time but had no clue of its origins.
Thanks!
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