Another bolt question....

[fgw_in_fla]

Do I need any special tools or equipment to rebuild / repair a bolt? Such as a spring compressor and such? I was rummaging thru my stash area & found my old bolt to my .270. It broke the bolt head retainer at the hole where the firing pin passes thru. When it happened a while back, I called Savage & had a new one sent (that lesson cost me $145) and never gave the old one a second thought. Now that I rediscovered it and I need to do some other work to my rifle, I figured it would be a good spare. Also, if somebody can aim me in the direction of "firing pin / retainer hole diameter info", I'd be much obliged. The old bolt is from my .270 win. manufactured in 1997. I recall reading about a change in pin / retainer hole diameters. If I recall correctly, the pin diameter & retainer hole was made larger for strength but, I'm not sure about the difference with older / newer - long vs short, etc.
Thanks for any info & light y'all might shed on this for me.

[jpdown]

Sounds like all you need to replace is the "Savage Arms Bolt Head Retaining Pin" Midway USA has these in stock with both the large, or small firing pin hole. Just take your bolt apart, measure the firing pin hole size in the retaining pin and order. Sounds like you got the older retaining pin with the larger hole that was prone to break. No special tools needed. There should be a "how to" article on Savage Bolt Disassembly in the technical section on this site.

[Nandy]

$145.00 for a bolt retainer pin? Did I got that right, aint it just a few dollars in midway? Mine broke too when I shot my last deer of the season last year (good timing). This happens because your firing pin is large and that makes the bolt head retaining pin weak. To avoid this you will have to change your firing pin as well. I did not had that information and bought 2 bolt head retaining pins. If I ever go thru those 2 I will make both changes.

[fgw_in_fla]

No Nandy, it was $145 on a new bolt from Savage. Complete assembly....almost. It didn't have the ejector pin, spring & retainer. I later found the same bolt on Midway for $120 but it was not in stock. Oh well, spend & learn. Actually, the new bolt I got from Savage looked pretty cool. The shaft was swirl finished & super shiny like someone spent considerable time polishing it. It made my old .270 feel new again. Anyway, thanks for the info. I was not sure if the spring needed something to compress & hold it during disassembly. Thanx, again.