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Mosin-Nagant Bolt Handle Relocation
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If you need to move the bolt handle REALLY low, lower than bending will allow, on an M44, either because you used the scope mount shown here, or for any other reason, this seems to be as low as it goes:
The bolt knob and shaft have been cut off so as to clear the scope. On this 1952 Russian, the cutting was done with a dull hand hacksaw, the metal was not hardened.
The red line was made by closing the bolt and drawing a line along the receiver, with the action OUT of the stock. The red line indicates the limit of our work, for if any new metal falls below the line, it will interfere with the closing of the bolt.
The "stem" of the M-N bolt measured very close to 5/16-inch, so, Ý Ý Ý I bought a Grade 8 (very high strength) 5/16 x 6-inch long bolt. I elected to go with a plastic knob, but you could use the old one just as well.
I made a strong center punch mark at the apex of the flat surface, Ý Ý Ý on the under side of the bolt body, a very little more than half of the diameter of the 5/16 bolt away from the red line. I have no idea what all the other marks are.
I made a little jig to hold the bolt, and drilled through on the center punch, AT AN ANGLE. I started with a 1/8 drill and worked up to a 5/16- inch bit. I first measured the body of the 5/16 bolt and found it to be just a couple of thousandths less than 5/16-inch. I wanted only one or two thousandths of clearance when the stem of the bolt was in the drilled hole. The angle didn't seem critical, just a little less than 45 degrees. The angle is to the flats of the bolt, not to the axis of the bolt. If you find the drill wanting to walk downhill to the red line, grind or file the underside (where you are drilling) until it is at a right angle to the bit.
This is the drilled hole, from the underside. Ý Ý Ý Ý See that the hole "leans" inward, towards the body? I could have been a little farther from the red line, but no matter.