How do I get my new bolt to run smooth and slick?

[Dave Hoback]

If it helps any, I never give a thought to interior cosmetics. Function is the only main concern. Then outward appearance when first criteria is satisfied 100%. Anything on the inside comes if A: it doesn’t affect the other concerns, & B: I can easily take care of it. NO, I would not send a decent functioning rifle back because of interior cosmetics.

[bassnailer]

If it helps any, I never give a thought to interior cosmetics. Function is the only main concern. Then outward appearance when first criteria is satisfied 100%. Anything on the inside comes if A: it doesn’t affect the other concerns, & B: I can easily take care of it. NO, I would not send a decent functioning rifle back because of interior cosmetics.

Good enough, thanks for the advice. I'll do as suggested above and use some cold blue to blacken the polished parts so they aren't as apparent and focus on shooting. I can get a little too particular about small details sometimes, so it's nice to be able to bounce stuff off others here to make sure I am being reasonable. Thanks!

[Lefty Trigger]

Go start looking at the new rifles and you will find most actions will have that very same "roughness" to the inside walls, even the stainless. For the most part the bolt head dont really ride on those surfaces but polishing them up wont hurt. I have several and some are worse than others, my best looking ones are at least 15 years old or more.

[akgriffin]

i see using a dremil or toothpaste and sandpaper, but would something like lapping compound work by putting it on the bolt and rails and cycling the bolt for a while?

[GrenGuy]

I have used Jewelers Rouge

[Dave Hoback]

i see using a dremil or toothpaste and sandpaper, but would something like lapping compound work by putting it on the bolt and rails and cycling the bolt for a while?

Indeed. And the cool thing is compound is actually MADE for steel parts, not to clean teeth. Go to Amazon and search “Lapping Compound”. The choices will astound you.

[Robinhood]

i see using a dremil or toothpaste and sandpaper, but would something like lapping compound work by putting it on the bolt and rails and cycling the bolt for a while?

The idea is to keep things as flat as possible. The issue I see with lapping compound is that you can remove material from(wear) the bolt lugs. Due to the already wide open tolerences it is hard to concentrate on the exact issue. The bolt lugs are smooth so there is no need to use an abrasive there. The hone will just knock the tops of the rough edges of the raceway's burs. Because of the length, width and flatness of the MDT diamond hone you minimize high and low spots. You can focus on the bad spots and put more even pressure across the length. It is not perfect like an edm or a beter designed broaching tool. Been there many times before with t shirts and glossy color photos with writing on the back.

[Fuj']

Another way to look at is; if the striations/cuts are linear. all you need to do
is polish the high spots. It's just less surface area for friction. The low spots
just look ugly and serve no purpose other then maybe a fill area for Dri-Slide.

[Orezona]

maybe a fill area for Dri-Slide.

This intrigued me. I may order some.