FNC bolt or bolt repair

[Dan9655]

I know we were over this many times before, but I have a broken bolt on my FNC. Any word on replacements or does anyone know someone who could weld the item? One of the lugs fractured. Thank you for any help!

[paco]

You are screwed big time...

They are rare, very rare.

[fuatos]

I'm sorry to hear about this! Paco is right, the FNC spare bolts are VERY, VERY rare. I've had 1 spare in 20+ years, that I sold to someone who needed it. I think you may want to consider making your current rifle a parts rifle and get a new host.

Do you have pictures of the fracture? How did you find the fracture (failure to fire or during cleaning)? Any idea how many rounds fired with that bolt? What type of ammo were you using?

[Dan9655]

I cannot figure out how to resize the pic and upload it. My phone will not let me.
Using factory loads, surplus 5.56 mil., full auto. Under 1000 rounds have been thru it since I've had it. Gun jammed with spent casing in chamber. Bottom of casing was bulged and casing was stretched.

[Kramer]

I've seen three bolts show up on gunbroker in about four to five years. The last one was from a gun that was parted out.

[ScottinTexas]

I have an FNC with S&H sear....and fear of something like this drove me to buy an unconverted semi just for parts.

Sorry to hear.

[TheColtCollector]

The world of FNC owners just got a little bit darker. I'm sorry man that sucks

[fuatos]

From Dan9655

[ScottinTexas]

That's horrible.

What is the receiver serial number? (Make the last 2 digits XX)

[deadduck]

Did you try putting it in a bowl of uncooked rice?

[Dan9655]

It is still in the rice right now. Hasn't worked yet...

[dubagel]

It looks like the crack originated from the hole at the double roll pins.

[MonsterMan1036]

Did it break from the malfunction or did it break from clearing the malfunction?

How did you clear the stuck case?

[pjm204]

I'd definitely try having it welded. It's already broken, can't really break worse.

[wanneroo]

Would a weld work on a bolt like that?

It's a shame. Hopefully we'll get some parts kits someday from Belgium or whatever.

[JoshNC]

It really cannot be that difficult to make FNC bolts.

[dubagel]

The question is it worth it to a manufacturer, the R&D could easily be $50-$100k. You could reverse engineer one from an existing one. But it would need to be a mint and not used one. Sven@Manticore or the guys at Ratworx could probably do it, Hint Hint!! Hopefully. Unfortunately, the FNC while a great gun is really a very small niche market, very limited and about 35 years old.
The FNC has been out of production for quite a while and the likelihood of "parts kits" coming out of Belgium is probably close to zero. They don't like guns in the hands of civilians. I'm not knocking the FNC, it's one of my favorite rifles, I've had my PARA Steyr import semi since 1989 and always on the lookout for FNC stuff. I just worry about shooting it these days because of the lack of spare bolts/carriers.

[chili17]

I would contact M60joe or Mike Klos to see what they could do as far as the repair

[okpud]

I looked into making some ~8 years ago pretty seriously. I also had a couple of pristine (i.e. unfired) bolts at the time. After the cost to design and test, a run of 100 (the smallest reasonable run to to) would get the sales price to customers down to ~$500 a bolt. Based on sales of barrels at the time (and present), I expected it to take ~4 years to sell enough to break even. Bolts, like barrels, are something everybody "wants" but few people actually buy. Just look how long it took GM to sell the 1st 100 barrels they made (years), and they are <$200. Everyone wanted barrels, few people bought them. Basically, it wasn't worth the upfront investment for me. A more reasonable approach is for someone to look as importing some from Pindad. Someone with parts import experience could probably have them brought in for less than the cost to manufacture locally.

[TheColtCollector]

I looked into making some ~8 years ago pretty seriously. I also had a couple of pristine (i.e. unfired) bolts at the time. After the cost to design and test, a run of 100 (the smallest reasonable run to to) would get the sales price to customers down to ~$500 a bolt. Based on sales of barrels at the time (and present), I expected it to take ~4 years to sell enough to break even. Bolts, like barrels, are something everybody "wants" but few people actually buy. Just look how long it took GM to sell the 1st 100 barrels they made (years), and they are <$200. Everyone wanted barrels, few people bought them. Basically, it wasn't worth the upfront investment for me. A more reasonable approach is for someone to look as importing some from Pindad. Someone with parts import experience could probably have them brought in for less than the cost to manufacture locally.

This comment inspired me. I emailed every contact email I could find just now on the PT pindad website asking who I needed to talk to import a small batch of new or used SS1 bolts. I'll let you guys know if I hear anything back