Customer brought in a Mitchell Mauser by ZASTAVA M63 18” carbine. Had one of the new scopes mounted on the Bbl. and he didn’t like it. So, we drilled and tapped, ditched the base and put on a new 4×32 scope. Looks great except the bolt handle hits the scope about 1/2 way out. How do I go about bending the bolt handle?
There is a couple of ways to lower a bolt. The first and in my opinion the best is to cut off the original and weld on a new one. This is more attractive than forging, less to clean up and we even charge less for a weld on job than a forge job. Then there is the forge, get a set of bolt forging blocks and then heat and forge the handle over into the blocks. Last but not least is simply to heat it and bend it with a hammer or whatever works. Then clean it up and make sure everything works.
Reply:
Ken, Would you be able to weld on a new bolt handle? I don’t have a welder yet. If so do you need the whole rifle or will just the bolt do? What will approximate cost be? I know customer will want some idea of cost.
Answer:
Yeah we weld on bolt handles. The cost will vary by what you want to send and what exactly you want. If you want to send just the bolt and the knob the customer wants and you will do the clean up the cost will be the least. If you want us to weld on the bolt handle and dress it down and polish it and fit it to the gun then the cost will be more.
