Fluted Bolts
Sorry about my recent absence. I've been busy finalizing design so that we can get these into the wild sooner than later. I'll try to get back here again in the coming days to answer more questions, especially those regarding magazines. But for now, I want to focus on fluted bolts.
How do you guys feel about fluted bolts? Flutes were obviously depicted in the renderings at the start of this thread but I'm liking them less and less. We've prototyped with and without flutes and the flute-less bolts are certainly more tolerant of shooters with poor bolt-cycling form. And remember, even good shooters sometime get a little sloppy with their form so this may apply to them as well.
The reason for that is that bolt flutes have edges that interact with receiver edges adjacent to the bolt bore. This is obviously true for any bolt action. I can run a bolt from muscle memory alone so for me, the interacting edges really don't present a problem. But if I deliberately run the bolt improperly by applying adverse torques and lateral forces, the effects of the edges become noticeable.
That said, flutes are not without benefits. They function as reservoirs for dirt and grime that, if tightly squeezed between bolt and receiver, might adversely affect the bolt cycle. They also reduce the mass of the bolt which is a very good thing for the bolt stop.
Not sure what the right answer is on this one. Tomorrow we'll be making bolts with fewer and shorter flutes positioned to avoid interaction with certain receiver edges. That might be the right balance.
Also, this post should make evident that during development, we scrutinize every detail no matter how subtle its effect may be. So please, if you end up purchasing a Coup De Grâce action from us, be very careful about making alterations to it. We are aware that cool looking features help us sell actions, but sometimes, as in the case of fluted bolts, adding such features may result in diminished performance.
Ted
