Are Bolt actions and Pumps, Prone To Breaking iF you Rapid Fire
- Thread starter mr..plow
- Start date
- Status
mpmarty
Member
Lets see.... If you are a real large fellow you might be able to exert up to twenty five pounds of thrust on a bolt as you slam it closed and it is designed to withstand over fifty thousand pounds of thrust or pressure in firing. Nope, dont think you can hurt a bolt gun. Pumps are another story altogether as the linkage is different from maker to maker and model to model and some are prone to having problems if operated briskly.
Art Eatman
Moderator In Memoriam
I've watched John Satterwhite throw seven claybirds out and then shoot all of them with his 870 before any hit the ground. And my old Model 12 has many thousands of shots gone through it.
There might be somebody out there who could tear up a gun, but he'd probably be able to wreck an anvil with a tack hammer...
Art
There might be somebody out there who could tear up a gun, but he'd probably be able to wreck an anvil with a tack hammer...
Art
It depends.
You could certainly break some little .22LR bolts and pumps if you abuse them badly.
Otherwise, probably not, although you can ding steel up a lot easier than you can break it. You can certainly DAMAGE a finely-machined, close-tolerance bit of machinery if you fill it with grease-caked sand and fouling and really TRY to trash it.
Some people are just Godzilla to everything they touch.
You could certainly break some little .22LR bolts and pumps if you abuse them badly.
Otherwise, probably not, although you can ding steel up a lot easier than you can break it. You can certainly DAMAGE a finely-machined, close-tolerance bit of machinery if you fill it with grease-caked sand and fouling and really TRY to trash it.
Some people are just Godzilla to everything they touch.
wanderinwalker
Member
Go ahead, try to break your good-quality bolt action shooting it rapid fire. Once you've worn yourself out, hand the rifle to somebody else. Repeat as necessary. I suspect you will run out of cycling volunteers before the firearm breaks down! 
Pumps? Dunno on those. But I do know bolties are heck-for-stout as they say. The design was used for the first half of the century as a military rifle, and I imagine in combat the last thing on a Tommy or Doughboy's mind was, "Will my rifle take being fired this fast?"
Pumps? Dunno on those. But I do know bolties are heck-for-stout as they say. The design was used for the first half of the century as a military rifle, and I imagine in combat the last thing on a Tommy or Doughboy's mind was, "Will my rifle take being fired this fast?"
aka108
Member
When I was a kid a friend of mine owned a Winchester pump. Don't recall the Mod No. but the one with the exposed hammer. Was made well before we had too many attorneys on the scene so you could hold the trigger solidly back, operate the pump and she'd fire as fast as you could operate her. No having to release the trigger and then repull after each pump. We put thousands of rounds thru that thing and never a hitch. Didn't hit a damn thing but it made a lot of noise and made the dirt fly. I've seen bolts on a few 22's wear down to where, on some tubular mags, the feed gate would not function properly.
kcmarine
Member
Well, you could try to break either one. But I doubt that anyone here can force a bolt hard enough or cycle a fore end fast enough to break either a bolt action or pump action firearm.
Though I'd laugh at the idiot that tried.
Though I'd laugh at the idiot that tried.
Red Mist Effect
Member
ive got a number of bolt guns rangeing from mausers,lee enfields,tikka,sakos no way you could break any of them.
As for pump guns when i give somebody a go of my 7600 that has never used one before i say "when reloading this gun treat it like your mother inlaw"so you can imagine what it go's through and i ain't broke it yet
As for pump guns when i give somebody a go of my 7600 that has never used one before i say "when reloading this gun treat it like your mother inlaw"so you can imagine what it go's through and i ain't broke it yet
Old Time Hunter
Member
Yes, you can. Besides the update to more firepower, the Garande was brought on line to reduce breakage problems, mainly the bolt failures in the '03 due to rough handling.
Pumps are made for faster cycling, but do have some weak points.
Pumps are made for faster cycling, but do have some weak points.
Beetle Bailey
Member
It's called getting first-hand experience.
In an otherwise useless display, I did three magazine dumps with my M48 Yugo Mauser (15 rounds) just to see how fast I could reload it. A couple of friends noticed what I was doing so I did it again so they could get a good look. The rifle is still fine, but my shoulder doesn't really like that rate of fire.aspade
Member
Not really a bolt/pump related issue, but a hot, dirty gun will eventually run into sticky extraction. When that does occur, compare the extractor on a pushfeed deer gun from Walmart to that on an AR15, or a Garand, or a SKS - or an M98 as an example of a well designed bolt gun. Yeah, it's about as much weaker as it looks. They also make it much easier to tear off the smaller area of cartridge rim that is engaged, which doesn't break the gun per se but it will sure put a halt to your rapid fire until you get your cleaning rod.
I have read that the bolt handle on Rem. 700s is soldered to the body and some people have broken them off. I don't know how common this is, or whether it occurred from hard use or defective examples.
I have read that the bolt handle on Rem. 700s is soldered to the body and some people have broken them off. I don't know how common this is, or whether it occurred from hard use or defective examples.
RON in PA
Member
Re: bolt failures on the 1903 Springfield. It wasn't bolt failures, it was firing pin failures. The designers at Springfield Armory couldn't leave well enough alone so that when they copied the Mauser bolt for the rifle to replace the Krag after experiences in the Spanish-American War, they decided to use the two-piece firing pin of the Krag . This created a weakness in the 1903 that has lasted to this day, a propensity to break firing pins.
ConfuseUs
Member
If you can break a bolt rifle by working it fast, may I suggest simply running down the deer and snapping their necks with your pinky?
- Status
