Loose crossbolt - rotation

[sd408]

Continuing to tinker with the new to me 51' i just brought home and realize there's rotational play on the crossbolt. It was loose side-to-side but a quick tightening fixed it. I do not want to overtighten but there is still rotational play, and the surrounding wood looks to be pretty thin to where I'm scared to tighten too much and crack thru it.

Ideally I would like to leave this SKS as original as possible but should I think about bedding this rifle? Besides the rotational play, there is very little front-to-back play of the barreled action when it is installed. I was thinking of adding a thin shim to the back vertical face of the crossbolt, but then i found that there was rotational play as well. I figure now, my best option would be to bed that area completely and fix both issues at once. Would JB weld be a good, durable option for bedding to fix my problems?

[Greatguns]

Leave the action installed, back out the nut as far as possible without removing it from the bolt. Put a drop of blue locktite on the bolt threads then tighten the nut back on until it is snug. Have the mag out so you can check the bolt against the action to make sure they are parallel to each other then maybe go another 1/4 turn. Let stand for 24 hrs and you should be good to go. Main thing is to use a fat flat blade screw driver to keep the bolt steady and do all your turning with the nut.

[sd408]

Leave the action installed, back out the nut as far as possible without removing it from the bolt. Put a drop of blue locktite on the bolt threads then tighten the nut back on until it is snug. Have the mag out so you can check the bolt against the action to make sure they are parallel to each other then maybe go another 1/4 turn. Let stand for 24 hrs and you should be good to go. Main thing is to use a fat flat blade screw driver to keep the bolt steady and do all your turning with the nut.

Thanks for the rundown on semi-permafixing the part. I'm not too sure that it would remove/stop the rotational play of the complete crossbolt unit though. I could tighten the bolt more but if I take the action out and "twist" the crossbolt with my index finger and thumb, there will still be a rotational movement there unfortunately.

[Greatguns]

Leave the action installed, back out the nut as far as possible without removing it from the bolt. Put a drop of blue locktite on the bolt threads then tighten the nut back on until it is snug. Have the mag out so you can check the bolt against the action to make sure they are parallel to each other then maybe go another 1/4 turn. Let stand for 24 hrs and you should be good to go. Main thing is to use a fat flat blade screw driver to keep the bolt steady and do all your turning with the nut.

Thanks for the rundown on semi-permafixing the part. I'm not too sure that it would remove/stop the rotational play of the complete crossbolt unit though. I could tighten the bolt more but if I take the action out and "twist" the crossbolt with my index finger and thumb, there will still be a rotational movement there unfortunately.

Okay, I gotchya, I misunderstood what you have going on. Normally in the stock there are 2 notches in the wood where the tangs on the bolt end fit into that "lock it' in place. Sounds like those have been stripped out. In this case yes a little epoxy to lock the bolt side in place would work. You could use JB Weld as you mentioned or a regular bedding epoxy and have it done so the bolt can ultimately be removable. Maybe tape off the inside then run the bolt through the tape type of thing.

[sd408]

Leave the action installed, back out the nut as far as possible without removing it from the bolt. Put a drop of blue locktite on the bolt threads then tighten the nut back on until it is snug. Have the mag out so you can check the bolt against the action to make sure they are parallel to each other then maybe go another 1/4 turn. Let stand for 24 hrs and you should be good to go. Main thing is to use a fat flat blade screw driver to keep the bolt steady and do all your turning with the nut.

Thanks for the rundown on semi-permafixing the part. I'm not too sure that it would remove/stop the rotational play of the complete crossbolt unit though. I could tighten the bolt more but if I take the action out and "twist" the crossbolt with my index finger and thumb, there will still be a rotational movement there unfortunately.

Okay, I gotchya, I misunderstood what you have going on. Normally in the stock there are 2 notches in the wood where the tangs on the bolt end fit into that "lock it' in place. Sounds like those have been stripped out. In this case yes a little epoxy to lock the bolt side in place would work. You could use JB Weld as you mentioned or a regular bedding epoxy and have it done so the bolt can ultimately be removable. Maybe tape off the inside then run the bolt through the tape type of thing.

I may just end up bedding that whole front area with a thin shim behind the rear vertical bolt face, locked in with the bedding compound i'll be using. Might add a little compound to the rear as well. Just hoping i dont ruin the stock