glennp Posted December 24, 2023 Report Share Posted December 24, 2023 Hello! I have a transferable MKII that is a DLO tube. Over the course of my fairly brief ownership of about 2,500 rounds or so I've noticed the charging handle slot is egging out near where the bolt handle rests when closed, photo below. I'm wondering if this is normal and will stop or if this is a problem? I appreciate your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1gewehr Posted December 24, 2023 Report Share Posted December 24, 2023 Definitely NOT normal! It looks like someone tried to remove the bolt handle while it was forward. A gunsmith should be able to gently tap the metal back into place with something backing it to prevent tube distortion. Your gun has the hole to lock the charging handle. I wonder if the charging handle got stuck in the locked position and someone got a bit heavy handed trying to get it unlocked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted December 24, 2023 Report Share Posted December 24, 2023 6 minutes ago, 1gewehr said: Definitely NOT normal! It looks like someone tried to remove the bolt handle while it was forward. A gunsmith should be able to gently tap the metal back into place with something backing it to prevent tube distortion. Your gun has the hole to lock the charging handle. I wonder if the charging handle got stuck in the locked position and someone got a bit heavy handed trying to get it unlocked? I agree, not normal at all! Your assessment seems logical as the metal is bent upward. Now, the owner states that the bulge has happened over the course of about 2,500 rounds... odd, because that means that the handle collar is bouncing up HARD against the receiver which makes no sense at all. To me, that looks like someone tried to remove the handle not knowing the collar retained the piece in the bolt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyDixon Posted December 24, 2023 Report Share Posted December 24, 2023 try a different bolt handle, lots of varation in sizes , plus its an after market tube gun , just sayn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got Uzi Posted December 24, 2023 Report Share Posted December 24, 2023 Sure seems like someone was beating on the bolt handle while the bolt was closed through the forward bolt lock hole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2ndArmored Posted December 25, 2023 Report Share Posted December 25, 2023 Agreed - I've had mine for over a decade and it was old then. And my sten tube bolt slot has never developed that deformation. I suggest you check the stem part of the cocking handle that fits into the safety hole. If it shows impact or peening, then I submit someone thought the handle was stuck in the forward position and needed some hammering/convincing to get it loose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timkel Posted December 25, 2023 Report Share Posted December 25, 2023 Quick fix would be to make a mandrel out of aluminum bar stock. Insert mandrel and tap that metal back into place. Then I would install a different bolt assembly and get back out on the range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted December 25, 2023 Report Share Posted December 25, 2023 Of course, it could be that he just didn't notice until recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NFA amnesty Posted December 27, 2023 Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 On 12/25/2023 at 12:17 PM, Rekraps said: Of course, it could be that he just didn't notice until recently. I was thinking the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted December 27, 2023 Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 16 hours ago, NFA amnesty said: I was thinking the same thing. Two great minds.... we must be right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2ndArmored Posted December 27, 2023 Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 On 12/25/2023 at 3:46 AM, timkel said: Quick fix would be to make a mandrel out of aluminum bar stock. Insert mandrel and tap that metal back into place. Then I would install a different bolt assembly and get back out on the range. If the damage was caused by ill-advised hammering on the handle, why would replacing the bolt assembly be necessary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timkel Posted December 27, 2023 Report Share Posted December 27, 2023 50 minutes ago, 2ndArmored said: If the damage was caused by ill-advised hammering on the handle, why would replacing the bolt assembly be necessary? I gave the OP a "quick fix" The cause of the damage has not been determined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted December 28, 2023 Report Share Posted December 28, 2023 17 hours ago, timkel said: I gave the OP a "quick fix" The cause of the damage has not been determined. Yes it has! NFA Amnesty and I determined that the damage was there when he bought it, it just went unnoticed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glennp Posted December 30, 2023 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 Thank you all for the validation in that it's strange. I suppose it is possible I just haven't noticed it, or it happened with a single "event" that went unnoticed. I was able to gentle coerce the area back into shape and I'm going to keep an eye on it. I have spare bolts so I may as well swap it per the suggestion just incase there is some unknown/undeterminable issue there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted December 30, 2023 Report Share Posted December 30, 2023 2 hours ago, glennp said: Thank you all for the validation in that it's strange. I suppose it is possible I just haven't noticed it, or it happened with a single "event" that went unnoticed. I was able to gentle coerce the area back into shape and I'm going to keep an eye on it. I have spare bolts so I may as well swap it per the suggestion just incase there is some unknown/undeterminable issue there. it just does not make sense that the bolt would have anything to do with it. What a mystery! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NFA amnesty Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 On 12/27/2023 at 9:11 AM, Rekraps said: Two great minds.... we must be right! I would say one and a half. Some folks say I am a half-wit; not the sharpest tool in the tool shed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted January 1 Report Share Posted January 1 14 hours ago, NFA amnesty said: I would say one and a half. Some folks say I am a half-wit; not the sharpest tool in the tool shed. Nor am I, hence my bad info on MP40 SN ranges.... ugh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoda Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 Hi GlennP, I have the same on my STEN (Wilson tube gun that I put together so I have been the only shooting owner but I have put many thousands of rounds through it). It occurs right where the bolt handle positions when the bolt is at rest against the barrel. I attribute it to the bolt moving a little up or down when the bolt is fully forward and the round fires due to there being some slop between the bolt and the receiver tube. This allows the bolt to move up or down just a tad and the handle then strikes the slot. Mine is not as bad as yours but it's still there. You can see it on this video by Forgotten Weapons in the slo-mo part: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 Wow, but what would make the handle move out with sufficient force to bow out the tube? Also, that thing is quiet, I suspect the wire mesh used in early cans was incredibly efficient. AND, they were only designed to use for a limited number of rounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoda Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 (edited) 4 hours ago, Rekraps said: Wow, but what would make the handle move out with sufficient force to bow out the tube? I don't think that the handle is moving out, just slapping the sides of the slot as the bolt is moving 'sideways' in the receiver. Each time the handle hits the slot side it moves a few more atoms of iron. Watch the slo-mo in the Forgotten Weapons video carefully. I put the playback speed on 0.25 to slow it down further. 10,000 rounds or so is my guess based on my own round count and amount of bending on mine. It's the death by a thousand cuts kind of thing. But the more the slot is widened the further the handle has to travel and the harder it is for it to do further damage so I would expect that GlennP's damage won't get much worse. I found this on another FW video. Wow. Edited January 21 by skoda added pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 15 hours ago, skoda said: I don't think that the handle is moving out, just slapping the sides of the slot as the bolt is moving 'sideways' in the receiver. Each time the handle hits the slot side it moves a few more atoms of iron. Watch the slo-mo in the Forgotten Weapons video carefully. I put the playback speed on 0.25 to slow it down further. 10,000 rounds or so is my guess based on my own round count and amount of bending on mine. It's the death by a thousand cuts kind of thing. But the more the slot is widened the further the handle has to travel and the harder it is for it to do further damage so I would expect that GlennP's damage won't get much worse. I found this on another FW video. Wow. I think you are on to something. If the "bulge" is evident in more than one gun, then it has to be an operational issue. Third example I've seen now. I wonder if it is unique to "tube" receivers vs OEM? Receiver thickness? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoda Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 (edited) The photo above with the extreme case is a prototype made in the UK during the war. It's a prototype stock so it's likely a factory tube, bolt, etc. It seems to have been shot quite a bit from the handle damage to the slot. The STEN was designed and in production in a short time. I doubt if the little bit of wear/damage from this issue was of much concern when they were expecting a German invasion. Edited February 16 by skoda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeRanger Posted February 9 Report Share Posted February 9 Just picked up my Wilson Mk 2 yesterday. It shows the beginnings of the same issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rekraps Posted February 10 Report Share Posted February 10 5 hours ago, StrangeRanger said: Just picked up my Wilson Mk 2 yesterday. It shows the beginnings of the same issue. Well i'll be! So, without further ado, it's clearly a design / engineering flaw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skoda Posted February 10 Report Share Posted February 10 Seems to be. I bet that other designs do that to a lesser or greater extent. Without doing much investigation, just playing around with my own STEN, I attribute it to the slop that was designed into the guns to allow for cheap and fast manufacture plus field grunge tolerance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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