Did I just ruin my mosin nagant bolt???

[andpinger]

So I was cleaning my mosin nagant... used boiling water to run through the barrel and onto the bolt. After running the patches through the barrel, I realized that the bolt was still wet. Me being lazy, I decided to do something I now regret. I had the oven on at 300 deg F because I was drying two dessicant packs for my ammo cans, and I figured why not stick my mosin bolt in for a few minutes to dry it off. A few minutes became about 20 minutes of 300deg fahrenheit heat because I freaking forgot about it like an idiot. So did I just mess my bolt up?? Will it kaboom if I try to use it again... Its sitting right next to me hot as hell

 

[JVaughn]

I don't think it will be an issue, it's a piece of steel. If it cycles ok after it cools and you reassemble, I would feel pretty good about it. Lets see what others with more gunsmith knowledge say.

 

[Vaarok]

You don't begin to change the composition of steel until it gets above a thousand degrees F. Your cookie sheets haven't shattered, have they?

If you had crappy steel and blowtorched it up past maybe six or seven hundred degrees there might be some structural changes, but you're not going to de-temper a rifle bolt in a household oven.

 

[caribou]

Your fine.
I don't think you could get the steel up to temp in 20 minutes, nor sopften anything atthat temp......... I doubt you took any temper out of it at all, alotta people do the same thing.

At the worst, the firing pin spring will relax, but you'll know.

Next time, try boiling hot water to dissolve and flush the bore , it will dry itself. The water on the bolt should just wipe off and then apply a light oil, wipe off and done....

 

[Steel Horse Rider]

To temper tool steel to a Rockwell hardness of 60 we had to bring the piece to 400 degrees and then "soak" it for an hour for every inch of thickness. I don't think you did that even if the Mosin bolt could even imagine a 60 Rockwell C scale hardness......

 

[barnetmill]

I believe you are ok. But just to make a note there are types of heat treatment that I have read can be compromised with slightly higher temperatures than you subjected your mosin bolt to. I used to use boiling water to clean my P17 years ago. The high temperatures of the boiling water cause everything to dry off fast. Then a coating of oil was applied.

 

[Thermactor]

now go quench it in oil!

 

[Onmilo]

Since baking Lacquer finishes are cured at 400 degrees and about 30- 40 minutes, I wouldn't worry about roasing your bolt for 20 minutes at 300 degrees. It's still Rare,,,,

 

[ball3006]

If you are worried about it, just buy another bolt or complete bolt. They are available lots of places, including ebay....chris3

 

[rcmodel]

You don't begin to change the composition of steel until it gets above a thousand degrees F.

This is not the case.

Steel is hardened at red hot 1,000+ degrees heat, and then quenched in oil, water, or salt brine.

Then the temper is drawn at between 420 - 570 degrees, depending on the hardness desired.

300 won't hurt the temper or heat treatment.

If you trust your oven thermostat that much.

rc

 

[MErl]

Good point on the accuracy of the thermostat, mine is way off.

Does your oven regularly burn things when you follow directions and don't forget the food inside?

 

[rcmodel]

The thing mine does is cycle on and off.

While it may be set at 300, it may swing well over that before shutting down and cooling until it cycles on again.

rc

 

[itsa pain]

how did it taste when you took it out was it tender or tough

 

[R.W.Dale]

Our bake oven runs delicate machine parts through a 4 hour cycle at 300

You're fine.

Now if this thread was about brass I'd be a bit more concerned

 

[Gtscotty]

Steel horse and rc hit it, for a normal tool steel or carbon steel, you didn't get your bolt hot enough to do any damage. I've tempered a few blades from quench hardness to around 60 RC in the oven before, and I believe I had to leave them in at 400 ish for 2 hours or so. There is no way Mosin bolts are that hard, so you should not have altered anything critical.

Also, even if your oven cycles (and i'm sure it does) that bolt will have some thermal inertia keeping it's temperature from varying as much as the ambient temperature. I'd be floored if the cycling caused it to reach any temperatures that would be detrimental.

 

[Reloadron]

The thing mine does is cycle on and off.

While it may be set at 300, it may swing well over that before shutting down and cooling until it cycles on again.

rc

Most home ovens do just that and will vary between around 280 to 320 degrees F. when set for 300F. If the temperature were plotted over time it would look like a sinusoidal waveform. That plus the box has hot and cold spots, household ovens aren't exactly know for uniformity or accuracy.

Anyway, I seriously doubt the bolt suffered any damage. Personally I wouldn't give it another thought. Life is good so choot the gun.

Ron