Gunsmithing Is this bolt toast?

[dakor]

So a friend of mine wanted me to look at his Factory Remington 17 Rem that he said was piercing primers and then stopped firing all together. He bought the rifle used at a gun shop a couple of years back and the previous owner had a Sako extractor installed on it. I looked at the boltface and right away I see two holes in it and a bunch of brass shavings. The bigger hole is deep and looks like it is connected to a crack and the smaller hole is not as deep. Personally I think it is toast but I would like to get a second opinion.

I was able to get the firing pin to work correctly there was a piece of brass stuck in the firing pin hole that would not let the pin move forward but I have not test fired the rifle and plan not to with the way the bolt is right now. Below are pictures of the bolt along with a fired case that the primer pierced and you can see the marks on the primer from the holes in the boltface.

 

[Bloody_Tailgate]

Send it out to get the firing pin hole bushed or buy a new one from PTG.

 

[CMH]

Below are pictures of the bolt along with a fired case that the primer pierced and you can see the marks on the primer from the holes in the boltface.

Can anybody see these? I see no pics...

 

[2Shots]

Send it out to get the firing pin hole bushed or buy a new one from PTG.

Yep, that's what I have done. Gre-tan did a couple for me, quick turnaround and nice work. If you go the new bolt route you'll need to check headspace and possibly need to do some machine work.

 

[Aeon1]

I don't understand what all the excitement is about. I keep seeing these "I pierced my primer and it messed up my bolt" posts and everybody seems to say you need to fix it. Well this one has had untold thousands of rounds through it and has suffered a few primer mishaps over the years but as the saying goes "It takes licking but keeps on ticking". I have fixed plenty of them but almost never fix my own. Anyway just a different point of view.

 

[nicko]

Also pull the spring make sure it's still strait I had one take the temper out and the primer strikes were light. It will look like a banana if its no good.

 

[dakor]

I called Remington and they will put a new bolt in, headspace the rifle and return ship it for $200. I think that is the route he is going to go. Thanks for the responses.

 

[blackblue]

I would let a smith handle it before remington.

 

[7mmRM]

Waste of $200. Send the bolt to GreTan Rifles and have it bushed. Fix the pitting and fix the exessive firing pin to pin hole tolerance that Remington is well known for- all in one shot. I think the charge is less than $100.

 

[dinc]

Like Aeon1 said, just shoot it.

The pitting is under the case at the junction where the primer and case meet. With spec loads and decent, primers this area should not flatten to the point where the primer would flow into the pits in the bolt. You've got to be shooting some hot handloads to get a primer that flat.

It's a temptation to try to hotrod it. But if you need that extra few 100 fps, shoot a bigger case. You're never going to notice the difference in speed inside a few hundred yards. And once you're out that far the wind is going to get you.