Bolt life expectancy?

[terminator]

So are the bolts really prone to failure as many people claim? Did FN ever alleviate this design flaw later on in the FNCs life cycle? how many rounds can one expect to get out of it before breakage?

 

[rhouston8]

well i have a fnc + sear. light use by me over the last 10 yrs and who knows what usage before me. Two FNCs actually. Both bolts are fine. Not the scientific answer you needed and a sample size of only 2 guns.

 

[TheColtCollector]

I think you could correlate an answer to “how often does an AK47 bolt fail” or what is it’s life expectancy. Similar pieces in size and operation but with lots of data on AKs.

I miss my transferable FNC. But I was constantly worried about this as I’ve sheared multiple m4/m16 bolt lugs in the navy. But who knows how many rounds they had before that happened

 

[parrthed]

I would have to agree with the above. I wouldn't say they are any more prone to failure than any other bolt of similar design, just that when they do fail it can be a PITA and that escalates the freak out factor. Similar to any AK, You are going to have failures. Maybe from a million rounds, maybe from a defect in the manufacturing of that particular bolt. I would suspect it to be relatively rare given the light use most of these see. I wouldn't say there is a systemic issue with them, Im not seeing a ton of people looking for extra bolts because theirs broke.

These machines arent getting any younger and with age comes fatigue. There are some MGs that still have a good spares pool (M16 especially). But as time goes on and these get used they will need maintenance like any other machine.

Maybe Paco can chime in here and give us some knowledge.

 

[deadduck]

Just keep her lubed up if you're going to ride her hard....... er...... what was this thread about again?




Truth is my FNC Bolt has lasted way longer than my marriage.

 

[terminator]

Just keep her lubed up if you're going to ride her hard....... er...... what was this thread about again?




Truth is my FNC Bolt has lasted way longer than my marriage.

i read some figure like a few thousand rounds or so, so it was kinda putting me off from an FNC as a first time MG purchase.

has anyone tried to bring in AK5 bolts as replacements?

 

[deadduck]

I don't shoot it all that much. My FNC has well over 10K rounds through it. It was semi when I bought it and it looked fairly new then. Still does.

As for AK5 parts....
Super hard to get anything now and the bolt (AK5 or FNC) has been the unicorn gun of parts to find. It's up there with upper receivers.

That said - I wouldn't hesitate to buy another FNC tomorrow. If the price was right of course.

 

[parrthed]

I absolutely love mine as well. Just keep an eye open for parts, they pop up from time to time. Or grab a semi.

 

[sweersa]

While the FNC bolt is of a similar design to the AK, I do not thing the broken bolt issue associated with the FNC applies nearly as much to the AK. I'd imagine there are many, many more times AKs in the US, and world than FNCs, and I rarely hear of AK bolts breaking but am aware of a handful of cases of broken FNC bolts, which is not great with the relatively low number of FNCs out there compared to the AK. I think I only remember one case with a broken Chinese AK bolt in my years owning AKs, and hanging out on gun forums, one of which is AK specific.

 

[dubagel]

Just curious. Were the broken bolts associated with full auto rifles or semi-autos?

 

[terminator]

Will an AK5 bolt work in an FNC?

 

[deadduck]

Will an AK5 bolt work in an FNC?

I have been told by many (including Swedes) that they are interchangeable. I'm sure someone will be along shortly that will know for sure.

If you find a source, I will be in for 2. So will a bunch of other guys I know.

 

[Gracie]

This thread made me think of a question. I have an almost new spare bolt. Wondering if this would have to be mated with my F/A FNC if it were to be installed? i.e., headspacing, etc., and/or any other mods/adjustments by a smith or just pop her in? Seem to recall a discussion about this years ago but forgot the answers. Thanks for any info.

 

[sweersa]

This thread made me think of a question. I have an almost new spare bolt. Wondering if this would have to be mated with my F/A FNC if it were to be installed? i.e., headspacing, etc., and/or any other mods/adjustments by a smith or just pop her in? Seem to recall a discussion about this years ago but forgot the answers. Thanks for any info.

Yes, headspacing should be checked (and adjusted, if necessary) when replacing a bolt on an FNC, as it should be with an AK.

As far as which gauges to use, and how to correct headspace, I'm not certain.

 

[rhandle]

I have over 30k rounds thru my f/a FNC with no bolt issues. I don’t worry about breaking any part other than the sear because I bought 2 spare FNCs when they were cheep(1300). Every one criticized me back then but even at 3500 ,,today, for a semi fnc it is still worthwhile having A guaranteed source of parts for a fully automatic FNC that can be worth close to $20,000.