#Bolt

It’s interesting how a simple thing like a bolt can be such a beautiful thing! Don’t you agree that these images would be great as paintings in your living room? Or at least as decoration in your reloading room? TFB’s Photo Of The Day is on a mission to collect high-quality photos from the world of firearms, and Knights Armament Co‘s E3.2 bolt is of course worthy. Just look at the shape below!

TFB’s Photo Of The Day is where you can discover the World of firearms through a camera lens. Every day we run a new theme, selected pictures, a short story and credit to the person behind the lens. Today we take a look at the German exercise Black Boar where the rangers of the 1st company of the support battalion conducted a combat shooting with practice ammunition, using blanks. Particular attention was paid to the execution of the activities of the individual shooter. This includes, for example, preparing a shooting position correctly before moving into it, correctly passing on the reports and the correct behavior and action in the event of enemy fire.

HM Defense has announced that their new HMB AR-15 bolt is now available for purchase. What makes it different is that instead of having a cam pin hole it has a cam pin socket. In other words, the cam pin hole in this bolts is not machined all the way which increases the amount of material in one of the weakest portions of the AR-15 bolt.

When it comes to my shooting hobbies, sometimes I feel like a bit of a black sheep. I am neither a race gun driver, nor a benchrest shooter. I don’t blast IDPA targets and Texas stars with an STI DVC Open, or break 200 rounds per minute cyclic smoking brown cardboard with my braked JP Enterprises AR-15. I don’t compete in F-Class, and I don’t even do Cowboy Action (cue a complete lack of surprise from our readers).

Hey! Yes, you. How’s it going? Did you wait until the final days of the ’41F silencer rush of 2016′ to order your first rimfire silencer? It’s ok, I’m not here to scold you. But, you may be wondering how you are going to endure the dreaded NFA-wait, which at this point could take up to 18 months to process an ATF Form 4 transfer application. Fear not, high-end Ruger part-maker Volquartsen may have a solution for your no-silencer blues.

Previously in TFB’s series on weapon operating mechanisms, we examined both the closed-bolt blowback system and the open-bolt API blowback system, two very close relatives that share a common feature: Closure of the breech through the inertia of the breechblock mass alone. What this means for small arms designers is that they must engineer a system where the breechblock is large enough to have sufficient mass, while having enough room to reciprocate the distance necessary for reliable ejection and feeding. In a standard submachine gun design using the API blowback system, for example, the breechblock is configured behind the breech end of the barrel, so that it can reciprocate. This is an easy design to engineer, and can be made simply and easily.

In the second of our 101-level discussions on firearms operating mechanisms, we mentioned that firearms may have what’s called a locking mechanism, which prevents the separation of the breech and barrel during the high pressure ignition of a round of ammunition. For 101-level posts, we’ll mostly note whether locking occurs or not and nothing more, but today’s 201 post will begin to talk about locking mechanisms in detail. First, we need to understand that there are two different things meant by the term locking. The first is the more proper understanding of a fully locked breech which must be opened by some external force, but the second is often referred to as “locked” as well, even in some professional literature. This second use is more properly called half- or semi-locked, and describes locking elements that are used in retarded-blowback mechanisms.

Utterly mesmerizing. A promotional video released by Swisstek, a CNC lathe/machine company showcases the machining of a 8630 steel AR-15/M-16 bolt. The video is at roughly 3x speed, but I believe it adds to the fascination. It certainly lends more appreciate for the technology and investment required to build weapon systems.

G&G Tools is a small company that makes a small number of tools specifically for cleaning AR10 and AR15 bolts.  Recently, they introduced a new product for cleaning the bolt carrier in an AR15.

Over at SaysUncle and GunPundit, Uncle and Murdoc asked if anyone could identify a left handed AK charging handle. I just happened to come across the AK Lightning Bolt today and it is definitely the same system.