nagant bolt handle

[keeperofthehills]

i have a "fake" 1891/30 with a russian pu scope on it. you can see where the bolt handle looks like it has been removed, bent an re-attached to clear the scope. i noticed at the range on saturday that the bolt handle is getting a hair line crack where it meets the bolt along the top side of the handle. what should i do? i work at a welding shop but I am not about to strike an arc untill i get some info. thanks

 

[keeperofthehills]

so nobody knows anything about this?

 

[saands]

Make sure that what I say makes total sense to you and that I'm not overlooking anything, but if I recall correctly, one very nice thing about the MN bolts is that the handle is not attached to the same piece of metal that has the locking lugs on it (like it is on the Mauser bolts). This means that as long as you separate the lugs from the bolt body, you can weld away on the bolt body and not be in fear of altering the temper of anything structural.

Saands

 

[Jim K]

True, saands, but the bolt body does have the cocking cam on it, and also the safety lug, so it shouldn't get too hot. Just a simple heat sink should take care of the situation OK.

FWIW, a good heat sink for bolts can be made from a piece of copper electric ground rod, trimmed to the right outside diameter in a lathe. The rod is cheap, so you can make several and keep them around for different bolts.

Jim

 

[Alex]

Or you could just save a pile of time and trouble and buy one of the replacement handles made for the Nagant sniper rifles, cost about $50.

 

[armoredman]

http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/mb/surplusrifle
http://www.russian-mosin-nagant.com/

Someone here has the answer.