Went out at noon and shot a clip full only to have my bolt break completely in half.  Where can I purchase a new bolt assembly, don't think I need the carrier.  Also, is this something that happens occasionally, or am I doing something wrong?  I was shooting factory Winchester loads.  Sorry for all the stupid questions but I am new to the game.

Thanks again for all of your valuable information.

lets see, Bushmaster, Olympic arms, Rock River, SAWLESALES, just a few come to mind right quick.  Try Brownells, they're in IA, should be close to home.

I’ve never heard of anything like this happening, but I’m a bit curious what manufacture of bolt did you have.

Best Regards, C

wow, this person is taking this well, i would go crazy if my AR just started breaking parts.

Weird too b/c he's obviously a newbie so it's not like he's shot 50,000 rounds through it expecting it to break.

I shot a clip the other day too. However, it took the entire magazine before I hit it.
[bounce]

I am going to pick up a new bolt this weekend, and then I am going to take the gun to a gunsmith for his evaluation, because obviously there is more to this than just a bad bolt.  The gun cannot have more than a few thousand rounds through it.

No, there was a batch of bad bolts as I understand it and I have heard of this happening to several people here on this board.
I'm going to guess that it cracked right through the hole for the cam pin??

Seemed like they were Bushmasters but am not sure if all were.

Get a new bolt, headspace it, and shoot it. If recurrent then maybe get it checked out but I wouldn't sweat it to much for now. Just make sure your new bolt is checked for headspace.

How do you check for headspace?  Can you use a dummy cartridge?

Thank you

DPMS is nortorious for breaking bolts at the cam pin hole (especially their chromed bolts).

If you're buying a new one might as well get the best (Colt) from [url]http://www.sawlesales.com/[/url].

If that is too steep - then get one from Bushmaster or Fulton-Armory.

You need headspace guages. If you have a good gunsmith nearby will probably be easier for him to do. You can get a set of guages from Bushmaster and I am sure elsewhere. It involves some bolt disassembly but is not a big deal.

Can't get thru to them for shit today.

Their restock fees kinda suck--10% with an addn'l 15% if opened. Never quite figured that out. Why do these outfits need $80 to put a box back on a shelf? Hell, I'd be hoping everybody returned everything. What a deal. Oh well.

I am looking for a Colt M16A4 complete upper group--ie 20" preban config with gov't barrel(cutdown under handguards), chromelined. Any idea ????

I've heard of a few Bushy bolts breaking same. Same manufacturer?

DRJARHEAD:
Yeah the restocking is fee is high - so just be careful and order just what your sure you need.

I don't think people will be returning bolts.

Other than trying SAWLESALES online you could try this guy: [email protected] (Dennis Todd)

He was recommended to me as an alternate source for some Colt parts.

I've only heard of 1 Busy bolt breaking (not KBoom related) and the person who examined it had indicated the cam pin hole hadn't been chamfered.  Supposedly if you don't chamfer it you're more likely to crack at that point.  From what I understand the DPMS is a metalurgy issue.

Tweak turned me onto Colt bolts because they will have the correct chamfer and they are shot peened to improve strengh (Bushmaster may chamfer - but they admit to not shot-peening, AFAIK Colt is the only one who does it).

Thanks Forest for the info.

I have pretty much stuck with Colt Bolts myself. Couldn't say why really, just a hunch that they were higher quality for some reason. Having a bolt fracture is something you really don't want happening.

Most of my uppers are Colt also--actually all but I am currently waiting on a Bushy M4 14.5" with perm phantom. We'll see how it goes.

Only have one Colt lower. Obvious reasons I guess.