AI AT308 bolt face pitting

Want to hear the ringer in all this? In Canada basically every "gun smith" I've talked to has said no dice to repair and the AI rep here in Canada has yet to respond to emails and its been three days.... Meanwhile both USA AI reps have emailed me and said talk to them... I can't even make this up 🤦‍♂️
 
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Want to hear the ringer in all this? In Canada basically every "gun smith" I've talked to has said no dice to repair and the AI rep here in Canada has yet to respond to emails and its been three days.... Meanwhile both USA AI reps have emailed me and said talk to them... I can't even make this up 🤦‍♂️
I would be calling Wolverine Supplies and speaking to Guy Pounder. I have had AI’s since 2005 and dealt with Guy every time. He has been very helpful. I am not an email type of person. I would rather pick up the phone and actually speak to a human rather than playing email tag.
 
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Hi,

That makes absolutely zero sense IMO.

Why would you "side" with him that it is from a bad heat treatment YET say you will continue to use it??

That is NOT how any of that works. IF you believe it is from bad heat treatment; CEASE utilization immediately because the next thing that could fail is the bolt lugs and you have a nice monocular vision from now on.

THAT being said.....I am not following the bad heat treatment excuse at all!!!

He is screwing you like a 5 cent 19 year old in Phucket.

Sincerely,
Theis
Wtf over i payed $20 when I went to Phuket in 95'
 
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I am not an expert metallurgist, I definitely can't say I'm God's gift to bolt action
But have had many dozens of pierced and leaking primers not to mention blown case heads ( basically destroyed the bolt)
I have had one catastrophic failure which cracked the barrel and the bolt and receiver ,but, the abused bolts faces don't look even close to what the OP shared.

Look at the hardness test marks: the one mark on respondents who shared a photo doesn't look the same as the OPs photo which shows multiple imprints. the indentation is more bubbled.
Why would someone test multiple times, wouldn't one additional hardness test be enough ? Probably were in disbelief

Unless the original owner fired thousands of pierced primers maybe. But that bolt face Is FUBAR something is wrong . It could be the heat treat.

Probably won't change the outcome.

i do feel for the OP having to go down the rabbit hole of lies and wonderjng who can be trusted
shameful for the manufacturer ( if it's bad HT) and / or shameful for the original owner for not disclousing
 
Bolt face pitting in a ring around the firing pin is an unmistakeable sign of pierced primers at some point in that rifles history. So no matter how many rounds the previous owner said were fired through it, pierced primers caused the pitting, and I'd be willing to bet the previous owner lied about that rifles history.

Nonetheless, the pitting doesn't affect the rifles safety or accuracy, go ahead and shoot it.
Went through the same thing with Winchester primers a few years ago. Gave the lot # to Winchester, and they made it good. They knew they had bad primers out in the field.
 
I had a similar experience with soft Sellier and Bellot primers, pierced LRP primers in both .308 and .260. When I got a hold of AINA, I was informed that they did not offer just a replacement bolt head, a complete bolt would have to be purchased....

Hello Victor,

Reply from Service Manager:
A new bolt head cannot be purchased. The makes on the face of the bolt is gas cutting from primer pocket leaking gas. This is from reloading and the primers not being seated properly. A new bolt would have to be purchased. 20012BL is the AXMC 308 bolt, or he could go with a Small Dia AXMC pin and bolt assembly for the 308 AXMC bolt only(28340BL).

If you wish to purchase a bolt please contact either of our distributors Mile High Shooting Accessories in Colorado 303-255-9999 or
Euro Optic in Pennsylvania 570-368-3920.

Thank You,
Accuracy International
 
I am not an expert metallurgist, I definitely can't say I'm God's gift to bolt action
But have had many dozens of pierced and leaking primers not to mention blown case heads ( basically destroyed the bolt)
I have had one catastrophic failure which cracked the barrel and the bolt and receiver ,but, the abused bolts faces don't look even close to what the OP shared.

Look at the hardness test marks: the one mark on respondents who shared a photo doesn't look the same as the OPs photo which shows multiple imprints. the indentation is more bubbled.
Why would someone test multiple times, wouldn't one additional hardness test be enough ? Probably were in disbelief

Unless the original owner fired thousands of pierced primers maybe. But that bolt face Is FUBAR something is wrong . It could be the heat treat.

Probably won't change the outcome.

i do feel for the OP having to go down the rabbit hole of lies and wonderjng who can be trusted
shameful for the manufacturer ( if it's bad HT) and / or shameful for the original owner for not disclousing
You need to make some changes in your loading practices if you're fucking shit up that often.
 
I had a similar experience with soft Sellier and Bellot primers, pierced LRP primers in both .308 and .260. When I got a hold of AINA, I was informed that they did not offer just a replacement bolt head, a complete bolt would have to be purchased....
Interesting. I had an issue once. They replaced the bolt head with a hard chromed one.
 
I say leaky primers, loose primer pockets etc....that caused the etching in the bolt face.

Or serious overloads/pressure on the rounds. The attached picture is from ammo that is way overloaded. Running well past 70k psi. Not a AI rifle and the bolt/steel wasn't bad. That's serious pressure when you start engraving the brass case head into the bolt face.

I just got a AIAT last year and put a 6.5CM barrel on it first and just this month another barrel in 308w. Box ammo and my own handloads thru both with no issues.

If that gun you bought only had 90 rounds on it.....then it was seriously abused or the seller BS you on the round count!

Later, Frank
Bartlein Barrels
 

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Ai and 260 rem dont mix , I ruined my Aw bolt many years ago aswell, LRI redone it and I got rid of the 260 rem barrel . No issues with 6.5 cm or 308 or 243 just dam 260 rem.
I dont believe its primers or brass . I used several different brass and primers and nothing worked 100 percent consistently. Back then there was no Lapua 260 brass , I used Winchester reworked from 708 and federal gmm 308 stepped down and Remington 260 aswell.
I still wanted to use 260 rem and 142 smk so I went with a Sako Trg 22 and never had one blown primer , no brass failures nothing at all. AI and 260 rem just dont mix for me.
 
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Ai and 260 rem dont mix , I ruined my Aw bolt many years ago aswell, LRI redone it and I got rid of the 260 rem barrel . No issues with 6.5 cm or 308 or 243 just dam 260 rem.
I dont believe its primers or brass . I used several different brass and primers and nothing worked 100 percent consistently. Back then there was no Lapua 260 brass , I used Winchester reworked from 708 and federal gmm 308 stepped down and Remington 260 aswell.
I still wanted to use 260 rem and 142 smk so I went with a Sako Trg 22 and never had one blown primer , no brass failures nothing at all. AI and 260 rem just dont mix for me.

What? My AT has been a 260 most of its life. All using Starline LRP brass, BR-2s, H4350 and Berger 130s. Zero issues.
 
I have a shit ton of winchester primers that I bought a few years back (more then 10 years). What was the time period of these recalls?

Gave them the lot numbers. They refunded my money and paid for a new bolt. I had 5000 on hand at the time. The 5 bricks had 3 different lot#. 2 of those # had been recalled.
 
The last barrel was a aina tooley bartlein, so sorta, but the others were not. Andi was wrong it was more like 4k rounds.
I'm thinking if these problems are anyway related to the firing pin protrusion distance or what the hell could cause it for sure. You had factory barrel no issues I had a custom barrel that was headspaced correct. Something must be off somewhere
 
Last bolt I saw that was that bad belonged to a friend... Defective winchester large rifle primers were pinholing at the radius of the primer cup and he didn't notice-- after about 60 rounds the failing primers left a hell of a trench on the bolt face from the gas cutting, similar to your bolt. Wasn't even a hot load... just defective primers.

If that is already a small firing pin bolt head, I'd send it in to replace the bolt head and inspect the firing pin.

If it's currently a large firing pin bolt, I'd have a small firing pin bolt head installed and swap to the small firing pin at the same time when you send it in.

Either way, the previous owner should be paying for it-- you got taken for a ride if it wasn't disclosed. Sounds like he knew about it though since he gave you the BS "bad heat treat" excuse.

Fyi, a new bolt head and installation is going to run about $475, and about $90 for a new firing pin if the current one is damaged.

My ae mk 3 bolt face is pitted from Winchester primers. Not this bad but shot a couple hundred rounds and found it when I cleaned the rifle.
 
Story Update!

I got a call back from Wolverine here in Canada regarded the replacement. I gave him my serial number and he did some digging...

The original owner of this gun has two barrels. 1 in 308 (the one I have) and one in 260 Remington. He shot a total of about 700 rounds through it (half and half equally) and then sold to the guy I bought it from. So I think his story of 90 rounds is true. He just never told me he was the second owner. kinda annoyed at that one. I'm tempted to message him but its kinda my fault for not being more diligent. Long story short I'll never buy a second hand gun without getting pictures of the bolt face.

Out shooting this weekend with a guy who has a Tikka 300 wm and a Tikka 270 win, Bolt faces WAY worse than mine. He uses Winchester primers and I physically witnessed two shots this weekend blow the primer cup and etch his bolt face. Brass was destroyed too. His loads were not that hot though based on drop at distance, just bad primers. But wow were his bolt faces bad. I should have taken a pic, looked like the Grand Canyon compared to mine.
 
Story Update!

I got a call back from Wolverine here in Canada regarded the replacement. I gave him my serial number and he did some digging...

The original owner of this gun has two barrels. 1 in 308 (the one I have) and one in 260 Remington. He shot a total of about 700 rounds through it (half and half equally) and then sold to the guy I bought it from. So I think his story of 90 rounds is true. He just never told me he was the second owner. kinda annoyed at that one. I'm tempted to message him but its kinda my fault for not being more diligent. Long story short I'll never buy a second hand gun without getting pictures of the bolt face.

Out shooting this weekend with a guy who has a Tikka 300 wm and a Tikka 270 win, Bolt faces WAY worse than mine. He uses Winchester primers and I physically witnessed two shots this weekend blow the primer cup and etch his bolt face. Brass was destroyed too. His loads were not that hot though based on drop at distance, just bad primers. But wow were his bolt faces bad. I should have taken a pic, looked like the Grand Canyon compared to mine.
So weird that people keep shooting when there’s an obvious problem.
 
So weird that people keep shooting when there’s an obvious problem.
I'm sitting on 2k of the junk fuckers. Haven't used one since I discovered the issue probably 8 years ago. After that, I continue to see people having the same issues with Winchester. I know other brands have had similar problems at some point but not nearly as common.
 
I'm sitting on 2k of the junk fuckers. Haven't used one since I discovered the issue probably 8 years ago. After that, I continue to see people having the same issues with Winchester. I know other brands have had similar problems at some point but not nearly as common.
The cup thicknesses are where they should be, but must be play-doh soft.

If you know any Black powder cartridge rifle shooters, they’ll buy them. They work fine in the low chamber pressures of those cartridge. Thats where I use my winchesters too.
 
kinda annoyed at that one. I'm tempted to message him but its kinda my fault for not being more diligent.
Quit being so Canadian....that is, nice and polite to a fault.

That guy consciously lied to you (even if it was only a lie of omission, he KNEW, there were more rounds thru the gun than he said). End of story and if it were I, I would def be having some words with him.

Good luck.
 
100% Correct. He pulled one on you, to say the least.


Quit being so Canadian....that is, nice and polite to a fault.

That guy consciously lied to you (even if it was only a lie of omission, he KNEW, there were more rounds thru the gun than he said). End of story and if it were I, I would def be having some words with him.

Good luck.
 
About what year did you buy this primers? I'm trying to figure out if I have these problem lots myself.

I'm sitting on 2k of the junk fuckers. Haven't used one since I discovered the issue probably 8 years ago. After that, I continue to see people having the same issues with Winchester. I know other brands have had similar problems at some point but not nearly as common.
 
Quit being so Canadian....that is, nice and polite to a fault.

That guy consciously lied to you (even if it was only a lie of omission, he KNEW, there were more rounds thru the gun than he said). End of story and if it were I, I would def be having some words with him.

Good luck.
Obviously, you have never been to a Canadian hockey game. . .
 
Story Update!

I got a call back from Wolverine here in Canada regarded the replacement. I gave him my serial number and he did some digging...

The original owner of this gun has two barrels. 1 in 308 (the one I have) and one in 260 Remington. He shot a total of about 700 rounds through it (half and half equally) and then sold to the guy I bought it from. So I think his story of 90 rounds is true. He just never told me he was the second owner. kinda annoyed at that one. I'm tempted to message him but its kinda my fault for not being more diligent. Long story short I'll never buy a second hand gun without getting pictures of the bolt face.

Out shooting this weekend with a guy who has a Tikka 300 wm and a Tikka 270 win, Bolt faces WAY worse than mine. He uses Winchester primers and I physically witnessed two shots this weekend blow the primer cup and etch his bolt face. Brass was destroyed too. His loads were not that hot though based on drop at distance, just bad primers. But wow were his bolt faces bad. I should have taken a pic, looked like the Grand Canyon compared to mine.
Mental note:
When I get home take all Winchester primers and put in five gallon bucket of water!
Thanks!!!!!!
 
Obviously, you have never been to a Canadian hockey game. . .
hahaha....no, I'm Caps fan and only see the Canadiennes at home games....where we boo them loudly! haha

Cheers and absolutely no insult intended to Canadians....but they really are too polite and nice for their own good sometimes! ;-)
 
Canadians are good people. I hunted with a guy from Canada down in South Carolina he used to bring this beer down I can’t remember the name of it, but it was damn good couldn’t get it here, once he knew how much I liked it he would always bring me some. Damn good dude I lost touch with him over the years, but he was a good dude.
 
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hahaha....no, I'm Caps fan and only see the Canadiennes at home games....where we boo them loudly! haha

Cheers and absolutely no insult intended to Canadians....but they really are too polite and nice for their own good sometimes! ;-)
Just don't go drinking with them. . .or the Aussies. They'll politely drink you under the table, piss on you and laugh their assess off.
 
Just don't go drinking with them. . .or the Aussies. They'll politely drink you under the table, piss on you and laugh their assess off.
Been there, done that....both. Worst was Williamtown RAAF in AU in about 1978. First time a guy in the O club asked me if I wanted a glass of piss was priceless. None of us knew WTF they were talking about. Oh, and all of our aircraft left there with 'roo's stenciled all over them. LOL

Ok, I'll quit hijack this gentleman's thread :cool:
 
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Story Update!

I got a call back from Wolverine here in Canada regarded the replacement. I gave him my serial number and he did some digging...

The original owner of this gun has two barrels. 1 in 308 (the one I have) and one in 260 Remington. He shot a total of about 700 rounds through it (half and half equally) and then sold to the guy I bought it from. So I think his story of 90 rounds is true. He just never told me he was the second owner. kinda annoyed at that one. I'm tempted to message him but its kinda my fault for not being more diligent. Long story short I'll never buy a second hand gun without getting pictures of the bolt face.

Out shooting this weekend with a guy who has a Tikka 300 wm and a Tikka 270 win, Bolt faces WAY worse than mine. He uses Winchester primers and I physically witnessed two shots this weekend blow the primer cup and etch his bolt face. Brass was destroyed too. His loads were not that hot though based on drop at distance, just bad primers. But wow were his bolt faces bad. I should have taken a pic, looked like the Grand Canyon compared to mine.
Dude <sigh>.

Your shit is fucked up. Quit rationalizing because some other dude's shit is more fucked up than yours. His fucked up gear should NOT make you feel any better, whatsoever. It has nothing to do with your situation.

Some guy spends the money to buy an AI and sells it after just 90 rounds. IF this is true, he sold it because........(wait for it).........the rifle is fucked up!! Your response to this is, 'I'm tempted to message him but its kinda my fault...' This alone makes me think you need a therapy session to discuss issues. Call the fucker up and tell him he's gonna make this right, period.

p.s. quit shooting the fucking pos until it's fixed.
 
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Dude <sigh>.

Your shit is fucked up. Quit rationalizing because some other dude's shit is more fucked up than yours. His fucked up gear should NOT make you feel any better, whatsoever. It has nothing to do with your situation.

Some guy spends the money to buy an AI and sells it after just 90 rounds. IF this is true, he sold it because........(wait for it).........the rifle is fucked up!! Your response to this is, 'I'm tempted to message him but its kinda my fault...' This alone makes me think you need a therapy session to discuss issues. Call the fucker up and tell him he's gonna make this right, period.

p.s. quit shooting the fucking pos until it's fixed.
Im guessing you havent run across many Canadians?
 
Story Update!

I got a call back from Wolverine here in Canada regarded the replacement. I gave him my serial number and he did some digging...

The original owner of this gun has two barrels. 1 in 308 (the one I have) and one in 260 Remington. He shot a total of about 700 rounds through it (half and half equally) and then sold to the guy I bought it from. So I think his story of 90 rounds is true. He just never told me he was the second owner. kinda annoyed at that one. I'm tempted to message him but its kinda my fault for not being more diligent. Long story short I'll never buy a second hand gun without getting pictures of the bolt face.

Out shooting this weekend with a guy who has a Tikka 300 wm and a Tikka 270 win, Bolt faces WAY worse than mine. He uses Winchester primers and I physically witnessed two shots this weekend blow the primer cup and etch his bolt face. Brass was destroyed too. His loads were not that hot though based on drop at distance, just bad primers. But wow were his bolt faces bad. I should have taken a pic, looked like the Grand Canyon compared to mine.
So you got some more info regarding the history of the rifle. I still think you got fucked over by the seller and would be having a serious chat with him. What did Wolverine say about the bolt face? Did they come up with a solution, either replacing the bolt head or bolt? As others have mentioned, I would be getting it sorted out before shooting it again. I'd seriously consider returning it to the asshole who fucked you over and getting my money back. Life's too short to be putting up with this bullshit imo.
 
Spoke with the original owner he thinks it was a bad heat treatment or something. Like I said he has rep (works for a big gun store here in Canada). I have no reason not to believe him. I've contacted the warranty rep for it.

That said I just noticed this and before this it still shoots tight groups so I dunno. I'm going to keep using it and monitoring it till a replacement shows up then I'll replace it.

I did a bore inspection after I cleaned it and it still looks like a brand new barrel so I don't think he's lying about round count.

I do wish we had the resources here in Canada like you guys do in the states. not a whole lot of support here for it which sucks.

Define bore inspection. Looking down the bore with a flashlight does not count. I tested my smith (one of the best around, Norbert Costa at Sure Shot Precision Rifles) with my LRP-07. It had 860 rounds on it, he said "800 or so." Not fucking bad. Not fucking bad at all. Then again, the fella took a scope to it, and has that level of experience, which to me, is still pretty fucking incredible.

Suffice to say, if you're not scoping it, and do not have that level of experience, most any freshly-cleaned barrel is going to look really good.
 
I hate idiotic speculation.

The "pitting" in your bolt face, as a few others have noted, is gas erosion. In your case, it is caused by loose primer pockets.

- Why does it happen? People load considerably over SAAMI/CIP max pressure levels.
- Some brass cases, I won't name any names, are only good for 2 to 4 loadings at elevated pressure levels before primer pockets become enlarged. Depending on pressure this can happen on the first shot.

Here's what it isn't.

NOT a defect of the heat treat or metallurgy.

NOT primer "piercing".

A primer pierces or "blanks" where the firing pin indents the primer. The pressure levels inside the case cause the soft copper primer cup to shear, pressure levels overcome the energy of the firing pin and spring and fully compress them usually depositing the copper disk inside the bolt. Legacy AI rifles had 2.0 mm diameter firing pins like many other bolt action rifles. This was not an issue for about 3 decades until a significant number of owners started using AIs in competition and reloading to excessive pressure levels. In 2014 we reduced the firing pin diameter to 1.6mm on the short action and in 2019 we introduced the 1.6mm firing pin on the ASR/AXSR/AXMC-LE. On the magnums, this was in response to the rise in popularity of 300 Norma Magnum and the very high pressure levels this cartidge can and typically is loaded to. As a manufacturer, we have to take a reasonable position on how much pressure we design the firing pin system to tolerate before giving the user "feedback" in the form of signs of excessive pressure, such is loose primer pockets, pierced primers, and completely blown case heads. At 1.6mm you can blow the head off the case with softer brass before piercing a primer. One should consider this a hard knuckle rap to the forehead before cashing in your life insurance policy.

The dimples in the outer edge of the bolt head are from Rockwell hardness testing. Every AI will have them. It isn't a defect, it's a quality control measure along with proof testing.

The gas cutting won't effect the performance of the bolt, but if you want a new one they are available from Mile High Shooting Accessories and Accuracy International of North America, Inc.

-Scott
 
I hate idiotic speculation.

The "pitting" in your bolt face, as a few others have noted, is gas erosion. In your case, it is caused by loose primer pockets.

- Why does it happen? People load considerably over SAAMI/CIP max pressure levels.
- Some brass cases, I won't name any names, are only good for 2 to 4 loadings at elevated pressure levels before primer pockets become enlarged. Depending on pressure this can happen on the first shot.

Here's what it isn't.

NOT a defect of the heat treat or metallurgy.

NOT primer "piercing".

A primer pierces or "blanks" where the firing pin indents the primer. The pressure levels inside the case cause the soft copper primer cup to shear, pressure levels overcome the energy of the firing pin and spring and fully compress them usually depositing the copper disk inside the bolt. Legacy AI rifles had 2.0 mm diameter firing pins like many other bolt action rifles. This was not an issue for about 3 decades until a significant number of owners started using AIs in competition and reloading to excessive pressure levels. In 2014 we reduced the firing pin diameter to 1.6mm on the short action and in 2019 we introduced the 1.6mm firing pin on the ASR/AXSR/AXMC-LE. On the magnums, this was in response to the rise in popularity of 300 Norma Magnum and the very high pressure levels this cartidge can and typically is loaded to. As a manufacturer, we have to take a reasonable position on how much pressure we design the firing pin system to tolerate before giving the user "feedback" in the form of signs of excessive pressure, such is loose primer pockets, pierced primers, and completely blown case heads. At 1.6mm you can blow the head off the case with softer brass before piercing a primer. One should consider this a hard knuckle rap to the forehead before cashing in your life insurance policy.

The dimples in the outer edge of the bolt head are from Rockwell hardness testing. Every AI will have them. It isn't a defect, it's a quality control measure along with proof testing.

The gas cutting won't effect the performance of the bolt, but if you want a new one they are available from Mile High Shooting Accessories and Accuracy International of North America, Inc.

-Scott


So, dude who sold him the gun was loading too hot a load and by his own words, he did it about 90 times, and this is what caused the pitting....? Is there any other issues that could be present with the gun because of so many high pressure rounds being run through it?

Btw: I always appreciate when the manufacturers get in threads and give the factual data. Very interesting thread.
 
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I hate idiotic speculation.

The "pitting" in your bolt face, as a few others have noted, is gas erosion. In your case, it is caused by loose primer pockets.

- Why does it happen? People load considerably over SAAMI/CIP max pressure levels.
- Some brass cases, I won't name any names, are only good for 2 to 4 loadings at elevated pressure levels before primer pockets become enlarged. Depending on pressure this can happen on the first shot.

Here's what it isn't.

NOT a defect of the heat treat or metallurgy.

NOT primer "piercing".

A primer pierces or "blanks" where the firing pin indents the primer. The pressure levels inside the case cause the soft copper primer cup to shear, pressure levels overcome the energy of the firing pin and spring and fully compress them usually depositing the copper disk inside the bolt. Legacy AI rifles had 2.0 mm diameter firing pins like many other bolt action rifles. This was not an issue for about 3 decades until a significant number of owners started using AIs in competition and reloading to excessive pressure levels. In 2014 we reduced the firing pin diameter to 1.6mm on the short action and in 2019 we introduced the 1.6mm firing pin on the ASR/AXSR/AXMC-LE. On the magnums, this was in response to the rise in popularity of 300 Norma Magnum and the very high pressure levels this cartidge can and typically is loaded to. As a manufacturer, we have to take a reasonable position on how much pressure we design the firing pin system to tolerate before giving the user "feedback" in the form of signs of excessive pressure, such is loose primer pockets, pierced primers, and completely blown case heads. At 1.6mm you can blow the head off the case with softer brass before piercing a primer. One should consider this a hard knuckle rap to the forehead before cashing in your life insurance policy.

The dimples in the outer edge of the bolt head are from Rockwell hardness testing. Every AI will have them. It isn't a defect, it's a quality control measure along with proof testing.

The gas cutting won't effect the performance of the bolt, but if you want a new one they are available from Mile High Shooting Accessories and Accuracy International of North America, Inc.

-Scott

Well said, Scott.

So, dude who sold him the gun was loading too hot a load and by his own words, he did it about 90 times, and this is what caused the pitting....? Is there any other issues that could be present with the gun because of so many high pressure rounds being run through it?

Btw: I always appreciate when the manufacturers get in threads and give the factual data. Very interesting thread.


I don't want to speak for Scott as far as other things being damaged from primer leakage, but the gas leakage from the circumference of the primer will impinge on the extractor and ejector as the gas escapes and can eventually damage/weaken them.

The AI leaf spring extractor is a pretty beefy piece and probably much less susceptible to damage from gas leakage from primer failures than say a remington extractor, but even the AI extractor was probably not designed to be exposed to what was probably dozens of high pressure / high temperature gas leakage events in this particular rifle. Other parts "downstream" of the bolt head that were never designed to be exposed to hot gas leakage on a constant basis can also be eroded or damaged, but the bolt face, ejector, and extractor will take the brunt of the abuse.

Scott is 100% right this is *not* from pierced primers... primers that pierce at the point of firing pin contact will let the gas impinge on and erode the firing pin tip, firing pin hole in the bolt, and can deposit the small primer cup "plugs" inside the bolt and bind up the firing pin. Primers that pierce at the firing pin contact point won't leave a circumferential "trench" around the primer OD like on this bolt.

The damage on this bolt is from gas leakage around the circumference of the primer-- either loose primer pockets in the brass from soft brass, hot loads, or too many reloads leading to loose primer pockets (most common), undersized primers (not very common), or defective primers (also not very common.)

As I mentioned earlier several years back Winchester had several defective lots of WLR primers that had cups that were too thin and they would burn through/pinhole at the radius of the primer. This would damage boltfaces from the gas leakage. I had about 5k primers from one of the defective lots, and they absolutely trashed a friend's 22-250 bolt even with moderate loads. The pinhole leaks from these defective WLR primers were extremely damaging to bolt faces because all the gas leakage would be concentrated through a single tiny pinhole at the radius of the primer cup-- and that pinpoint gas leakage rapidly "torched" deep pits in the boltface. Loose primer pockets will also erode the bolt face from gas leakage between the brass and primer cup, but because the gas leakage from a loose primer pocket is typically spread around the circumference of the primer it is slower to erode the boltface since the gas leakage is spread over a larger area compared to the "pinhole" failures of the defective WLR primer cups. Either one isn't good, but based on firsthand experience I'll take a loose primer over a pinholing defective WLR primer any day.

While this rifle will still shoot with the crappy looking boltface, the pitting now leaves areas of the primer unsupported which can contribute to primers failing because the primers will try to flow/deform into those unsupported areas during firing.

As I and several others said way back on page one, the person that sold this rifle to the OP should be paying for a new bolt head-- and should also refrain from suggestions regarding metallurgy/hardness testing.
 
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