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Inspectors Bolt Gauge for ShtLE

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WilliamS View Drop Down
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    Posted: April 10 2020 at 8:59pm
Not sure where I'd find one or what a fair price is, but I have two No1 actions without bolts now and I'd like to verify their serviceability before fitting bolts to them.  I have one NOS replacement bolt that I want to ensure goes into an action with a lot of life left.  So, does anyone have one, or know what I should be paying if I find one?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 7:04am
For the bolt or for the gauge?
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WilliamS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 9:06am
Originally posted by Shamu Shamu wrote:

For the bolt or for the gauge?

The gage itself, I got the unissued bolt for $25.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 9:23am
Contact member Goosic on here, he's making some.
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WilliamS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 9:36am
Originally posted by Shamu Shamu wrote:

Contact member Goosic on here, he's making some.

Sorry I should have been clearer. Not a headspace gauge, but the Bolt, Inspectors Gauge that resembles a bolt but is much harder and ground to dimension, used for checking the receiver.  I have a set of headspace gauges, and I've fit bolt heads before, I just want to verify the shoulders in the receiver are still in good shape.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Goosic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 9:47am
The British Amorer's Gauge SM418 can be purchased from apexgunparts.com
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote englishman_ca Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 10:12am
Doh!! These are quite rare and are hard to find, I've been looking. And there they are on a web site! yay!!
I got excited, I want one! 

Apex does not ship to Canada. Period. Unhappy  It is a gauge not a gun part! WTF?


Same story with many other US business vendors, Canada is a no go. 
Consequently, these days I seem to be buying most of my parts for projects from Australia and New Zealand. It can take a while, but they eventually appear in my mailbox, no problems.

I am not familier with USA import regs, but ask, do US members have problems importing their bits and pieces from other countries at all?



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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WilliamS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 10:18am
Originally posted by Goosic Goosic wrote:

The British Amorer's Gauge SM418 can be purchased from apexgunparts.com

Thank you! I was just putting together an order of small parts with them, I didn't realize they had a tools section.  That order just got quite a bit bigger.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WilliamS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 11:30am
https://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=31315

This is the gauge I am looking for.  Re-reading that thread though it may be near-impossible to locate.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 2:10pm
OK now I unnerstann, thanks.
You could actually fabricate one if you had to.
I won't be easy though.
Luckily there are (somewhat) easier ways.
Get a decent bolt.
Get several bolt heads of differing lengths. (easier said then done with a No1).
Now make a "dummy case" (you need that to put rearward pressure on the bolt lugs) any fired MIlSurp case with the right rim dimensions should fit.
Resize the case, remove the Decapping pin if you have a real boxer-primed case.
Now you just made the gauge!
It checks for headspace (hence the bolt/head setup)
It checks even lug engagement (use dychem or magic marker)
OR
you can go to the several threads we've posted about bolt fitting.
(Not trying to be snippy, sorry, but there are other ways than geting rare gauges).



Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote englishman_ca Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 2:15pm
Man, you gotta love the internet and networking for finding credible info!!!

What I have determined with  help from some others over on Milsurps forum (lots of book worms over there with the manuals), is that those 'bolt gauges' that Apex is listing are for checking the lead and small cone, not for checking the bolt way or resisting shoulders.

Apparently 'master bolt gauges' were few in number even when they were in use. Only used by a Master Armourer. 
Probably the closest to a gauge bolt that you could find would be an unissued new old stock  unit. Of course, no where near as accurate dimensions as a gauge bolt, but at least one knows that it is made within tolerance and is unworn.  Apex has em too.

Apex has lots of interesting tools and gauges listed.  Well worth checking out. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WilliamS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 2:34pm
Shamu,

No problem! For being a younger fellow I can be real dumb with computers sometimes. Using the search function should have been my first stop.

It looks like the best thing to do then is going to be to take the unissued bolt i just got, and make a set of dummy bolt heads for it at different lengths, since they don't need extractors or firing pin holes or anything. The only special tool I'll need to make for that is an Enfield thread form bit.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 2:41pm
There's an even easier way.
Measure your bolt head.
Find a longer one. (or attach layers of metallic tape to a "standard case" you have) all it has to do is put rear thrust on the locking lugs!
Now mark the rear faces with Dychem or felt marker.
Make changes to the locking lug rear faces til they're even (not "full" just even) there are several threads here mostly from "ZED" IIRC.
NOW headspace the correctly fitted bolt, adjust the striker protrusion & BINGO! Done!
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Goosic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 2:42pm
Not to sound to dumb myself but, why an Enfield thread form bit?
Do you happen to know what a Rube Goldberg machine is?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Shamu Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 2:48pm
Its not as daft as it sounds.
The old SMLE bolts weren't just an odd TPI but a strange thread profile too.
It was way more specialized & non standard back then, they even had an "Enfield Inch"!
I have an old OLD "Engineers Notebook" from the 1890's there were thread forms (in the same size & pitch) with different profiles! It was a gift from my old boss who was an old time engineer.
It was for things like self-locking & free running applications.
Don't shoot till you see the whites of their thighs. (Unofficial motto of the Royal Air Force)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote WilliamS Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 11 2020 at 3:01pm
Shamu got it in one, there's all sorts of odd thread profiles and pitches left over from pre-standardization.  Not an issue if you are starting from scratch, or on newer firearms, but it can get weird the older you go.  The bolt head at least is 20tpi so don't need to do funny things to the lathe to run it.

It does seem like I'm overcomplicating things for myself, probably best just to fit the bolt and not fret so much.
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