[gl_colt]

Shooting my KMK512 today and I thought a piece of brass hit me.
The part of the bolt that you grab to cock had snapped off.
Never heard of this happening before(just my luck).

 

[limpimpg]

well i would send it back to ruger.might be under warrenty

Product Service - Prescott, AZ — Service inquires for Pistols and Police Carbines
Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.
Product Service Department
200 Ruger Road
Prescott, AZ 86301

Telephone: 928-778-6555 / Fax: 928-778-6633
(Monday through Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm MST

 

[gl_colt]

Yes I think it wants to winter in Az.
Yeah it will have to go back to Ruger for this.
Strange break never knew how that was put together.
Cylinder and the cocking wings are mounted on a post and tack welded?
Didn't really want to find out.

 

[rugerguy]

Nope, never heard of that happening before either and we been doing this for MANY , MANY years. Yes, back in the early 50's, the "two piece" Korean War vintage made bolts, had a "pressed on" piece , that had tapered wings. This was due to the company using 1-inch bar stock to make the bolts, , instead of machining the entire bolt down from a 2-inch piece, this "saved" steel for the war effort. Anyway, these two piece early bolts were 'prone' to loosen and posibbly shot off, so were recalled and replaced at the factory back then. They did this as a matter of 'policy' when they came across one, they just "replaced/updated" the gun, drew little of no attention to this "problem".
As I said, I don't recall this ever happening 'later' on in the MK I's or the MK II's either. I have a couple of bolts setting here and they are definitely ,solid, all one piece and even then the face of the bolt is what 'hit's the inside of the frame (barrel end) so the 'wings' (ears) should NOT ever take any beating or abuse. Thus I'd had to say something is 'defective' and certainly covered by their warranty.
As said above call them and you'd only have to send in the bolt, NOT the entire gun I'd speculate.

 

[Iowegan]

I'm with Rugerguy. I've never seen a cocking ear break off. With anything mechanical, there's always a chance of a failure. I've seen some pretty weird things happen to guns. The weirdest was a shotgun brought into the shop by a young man. While hunting ducks on the edge of a pond, he saw a fish swim by. He stuck the barrel of his Remington 1100 12 ga in the water and pulled the trigger. The barrel looked like someone cut it off at an angle with a laser beam.

 

[gl_colt]

Rugerguy are your bolts blued or stainless?
When I fit mine back together you can just see a fine line
between the ears and the bolt. Looks like all that was holding was about a 1/64th thick by 1/8th diameter area on bolt and this is still attatched to bolt.
Talked to Ruger customer support today and they said to send back the bolt only.

 

[gl_colt]

The stress comes from the3/8 thick X 1inch wide piece comeing to an
abrupt stop everytime the bolt cycles. This piece is relatively heavy. I figured that all got machined this way for waste reduction and ease of manufacturing

 

[rugerguy]

Well, did a bit of digging and looking at them 'hard' under a GOOD light and the 'blued' ones are definitely one piece bolts, BUT the stainless ones are two piece, there is a "seam".....the center of the flat on the back can see a round circle of material, like a stem or a large 1/4" diameter 'lug'.....two pieces. Makes sense as the stainless would be more difficult to turn down, after all this was done to "save" steel and make the job less costly.
Still the "stress" would NOT be on these ears or tabs, as they do not "impact" the rear of the reciever (or at least shouldn't) the bolt face does this. The only stress would be "recoil" and the actually pulling (cocking back) the bolt.
As I said before, the factory will no doubt replace this bolt for you, as you found out.

 

[Keith Smith]

gl_colt, take a picture of the damage if you can and post it.

 

[gl_colt]

Well I hope this makes it thru wihout the dreaded red X.
The bolt is on its way to Ruger and I'll see what they say.
Thanks for all your help.

 

[sheepdog]

Even I, the lowly sheepdog, got this clear picture---no X this time...I'm sure Ruger will fix this no charge-just didn't get a good weld-unless, of course, you were using hot reloads

 

[gl_colt]

Well I got a UPS package from Ruger with a new bolt inside
No charge.
Now I will have to think of another excuse to buy a MKIII hunter.

 

[Aszor]

Im glad to hear everything worked out for you, I like hearing positive stories about Ruger! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Baldy]

Yep it gives you a good feeling about a company when they stand behind their products.

 

[bunzo351]

quote:Originally posted by Baldy

Yep it gives you a good feeling about a company when they stand behind their products.

Especially without a warranty!

 

[Wizard]

Ruger has always been an excellant company, imo.

 

[J Miller]

gl_colt,

I'm glad your new bolt is back. I know about Rugers AZ service, I have a 1955 vintage Standard auto and have dealt with them several times for parts. Always courteous and efficient service.

Joe