M1A1 Bolt on Gunbroker

[reconbob]

      There is an M1A1 bolt of unknown origin up on Gunbroker. This bolt does not have

Savage or AOC markings and is a post WW2/Korea bolt. It is marked with an Ordnance Bomb. This bolt

is distinctive in the use of post war machining techniques to generate some of the surfaces. The rounded

front corners of the bolt have striations due to the surfaces being made by "step over" machining which

eliminates the requirement for custom ground (and slow) corner rounding cutters. In a similar way the

cutout that creates the edge that trips the rocker is generated by step over machining vs. a shaper type

operation that "scoops" out that recess.

     This bolt and others like it came from Doug Richardson and were in a crate marked "Vietnam Bolts"

I never talked to him about these (did not know he had them) and there is no way of knowing for sure who

made these bolts, when, and if they were in fact made for Vietnam, although the manufacturing techniques

described above would make sense for a small lot vs. 50K or 100K.

     When tested for hardness these bolts are maybe 5-7 points softer on the Rockwell C scale vs. original

S or AOC bolts which are, practically speaking, case hardened, at RC 58-62. Doug never sold any of these

to my knowledge before he passed away, (he had plenty of original S and AOC bolts) but when commissioned

to sell his stuff I probably sold around 20 of them. There has been no negative feedback on these even though

they are a little softer and most of the people that bought them wanted a "shooter" bolt to keep the miles off

their original bolt.

Bob

Edited August 4, 2024 by reconbob