How bad is this?

[grouse]

Homemade action wrench with stress in the wrong spot. This is 223 caliber. Is it still safe to shoot?

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a214/grouse2005/DSC01903.jpg

[Handloader]

I'm no gunsmith, but I would NOT want to pull the trigger. Actions are too cheap, and much cheaper than fingers, faces, eyes......let alone the guilt if a young shooter was injured by the action......just saying.

[Slowpoke Slim]

OUCH!

:o

Man, that hurts me to look at.

You're asking someone to go out on a limb and proclaim something "safe". I'm not sure you'll get many takers (I'll bite though).

Does the bolt still slide forward and backwards without any binding? All of the "lockup" occurs in the front ring. That's where the lugs of the bolt cam over into the receiver and lock. This is what holds the pressure, not the receiver rails, or the rear ring. If the bolt still locks up normally, I doubt it will go KABOOM when you fire it...

Now all that being said, if it was mine, I think I would send it to Fred at SSS and have him weld it, straighten it, and give it a good "time and true" job, just to tell the action that your "sorry".

[grouse]

LOL. Yeah it locks up solid with no drag.

[r29l20]

Your never going to be comfortable with it anyway, so cut it in half, throw it away, and think of it as the cost of learning. Never gamble with guns. :)

[sinman]

let me know if you want to sell it. Thanks

[seanhagerty]

let me know if you want to sell it. Thanks


That is your answer right there. I wouldnt play with that action unless I knew a lot about gunsmithing. I don't, so I would sell it to someone that does know.

Sean

[sharpshooter]

That's nothing more than cosmetic. If it functions and the bolt is not in a bind, it will fire fine.
When are you guys gonna learn that you don't need an action wrench?

[Uncle Jack]

".....When are you guys gonna learn that you don't need an action wrench?"

I'm trying to figure out what kind of an action wrench could have caused that kind of stress at that point on the receiver.

uj

[thomae]

When are you guys gonna learn that you don't need an action wrench?


Sharpshooter: Would you please explain your comment? From my reading on this forum and others, it would seem that the popular opinion is that an action wrench is more useful than a barrel wrench.
Im interested in hearing from you since you have a lot of experience.
Thanks in advance.

[Samdweezel05]

When are you guys gonna learn that you don't need an action wrench?


Sharpshooter: Would you please explain your comment? From my reading on this forum and others, it would seem that the popular opinion is that an action wrench is more useful than a barrel wrench.
Im interested in hearing from you since you have a lot of experience.
Thanks in advance.


When Fred says "action wrench" I believe he is talking about an actual action wrench that is inserted inside the action where the bolt goes. Most people call an "action vice" an "action wrench" by mistake. I use an action vice that is mounted on my bench. Clamp the barreled action in it and use a nut wrench to get the barrel off. No torsional stress on the action.

[Smokey262]

If my memory serves me right, Fred only uses a powerful but simple hydraulically actuated barrel vice and a nut wrench, thus the phrase "When are you guys gonna learn that you don't need an action wrench?"