6RAT (WOA barrel) Bolt?

[15Tango]

Looking to build a 6RAT. Will a standard 7.62X39/Grendel bolt work with John Holliger/WOA barrel & extension or do I have to use a proprietary bolt?

Thanks

Wayne

 

[JohnO]

Re: 6RAT (WOA barrel) Extension?

I believe the bolt face is the same. The only caution is that you have M4 feed ramps. Otherwise, the 6mmRAT will have feeding issues. If you order a barrel from Holliger he may insist you buy the bolt from him at the same timee as well.

 

[15Tango]

Okay. He was saying they normally use the LMT Enhanced bolt - I'm assuming they're made to the same specs as a 7.32X39/Grendel bolt so I don't see why I couldn't just use one of those since the LMT Enhanced are 3 times the price of a standard Grendel bolt.

Thanks

Wayne

 

[JohnO]

When I ordered my barrel from John, he remarked that there were a lot of inferior 7.62X39 bolts out there and he did not want the liability of bolt failure. (not that I personally would ever blame him) But, since I didn't have any bolt at all, I took his word and ordered his bolt as well. That is not to say that what you have won't work, however.

 

[Recko555]

John told me the same thing about the enhanced bolt. I decided not to buy a 6Rat barrel then, but save up for the entire upper. I should be ordering it soon.

 

[infantrytrophy]

Recently received my 6RAT upper from John. It's a work of art.

The bolt is truly "enhanced". Looks like some sort of space-aged alloy - I have no idea what it is. The ejector is quite unusual. There are two ejector springs hiding in there.

No question, I made the right choice - I'll do the shootin' and will leave the designin' and buildin' to John.

Randy

 

[15Tango]

Randy,

I've researched it and it's just a Lewis Machine Tool Enhanced bolt. Yes, it has a peculiar extractor that has two springs and it's all chromed.

I'm on the fence about some things right now but if I do this build I have no hesitation about using an Alexander Grendel bolt. I know I've put my Grendel through its paces and even went over max so hard on one load that I popped a primer and it fell out of the case on virgin brass.

Wayne

 

[Recko555]

Infantry,
What was your lead time on the upper?

 

[infantrytrophy]

Infantry,
What was your lead time on the upper?

Best guess, about 6-7 weeks. I remember being pleasantly surprised when it was delivered. I can't precisely document when it was ordered because John didn't charge my credit card until it was ready to be shipped.

Randy

 

[JohnO]

Randy,
What brand of barrel did you get from John?

 

[infantrytrophy]

Randy,
What brand of barrel did you get from John?

Krieger.

I didn't specify a particular barrel; that's just what John said when I asked what it was. He has not steered me wrong yet.

Randy

 

[JohnO]

When I bought mime from John I got a Wilson and it shoots very well. Later, I bought my own reamer and had a Shilen based upper made on a Mega upper receiver.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Randy,

I've researched it and it's just a Lewis Machine Tool Enhanced bolt. Yes, it has a peculiar extractor that has two springs and it's all chromed.

I'm on the fence about some things right now but if I do this build I have no hesitation about using an Alexander Grendel bolt. I know I've put my Grendel through its paces and even went over max so hard on one load that I popped a primer and it fell out of the case on virgin brass.

Wayne

Wayne, the Alexander bolt IS CUT DEEPER than std. x39 bolts. I think by .011", but check it. Deeper as in more headspace. I have an AA bolt here. I'll measure and let you know the depth. I may have a std. x39 somewhere and will check both if I can find the x39.--Mike Ezell

 

[15Tango]

Wayne, the Alexander bolt IS CUT DEEPER than std. x39 bolts. I think by .011", but check it. Deeper as in more headspace. I have an AA bolt here. I'll measure and let you know the depth. I may have a std. x39 somewhere and will check both if I can find the x39.--Mike Ezell

Interesting. If you can give me the measurements I can compare it to what my Grendel bolt measurements are. If it's .011" deeper that would give excessive headspace, I could adjust the die to fix that though and gain case capacity in the process. At least in theory.

Thanks

 

[old_gasgunner]

Just for everyone's information, I found out that Grendle bolts and 7.62x39 bolts ARE NOT interchangeable. The story goes that Alexander Arms "invented" the Grendel and made the original bolts by remachining 5.56 ones. In the rework process they increased the depth of the boltface .012" in order to clean up the new larger diameter, so this became the industry std. So.... Grendel or Rat barrels that were set up with AA/Grendel bolts have chambers shorter (.012") than ones set up with a 7.62x39 bolt.
I found some chatter on the net that AA did it to make the assembly proprietary, maybe so, but also read they wanted to make sure you used their bolts made with proper steel and heat treat instead of a cheap 7.62x39 bolt made from or by who knows.........? (I did see some chatter about broken bolt lugs on some early 7.62x39's but not any 6.5 Grendels.
Tom in Michigan

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Wayne, the Alexander bolt IS CUT DEEPER than std. x39 bolts. I think by .011", but check it. Deeper as in more headspace. I have an AA bolt here. I'll measure and let you know the depth. I may have a std. x39 somewhere and will check both if I can find the x39.--Mike Ezell

Interesting. If you can give me the measurements I can compare it to what my Grendel bolt measurements are. If it's .011" deeper that would give excessive headspace, I could adjust the die to fix that though and gain case capacity in the process. At least in theory.

Thanks

Wayne, the AA Grendel bolt I checked measures .1348 from the front of the lugs to the bolt face.--Mike

 

[Recko555]

Just ordered 6Rat from WOA with the enhanced bolt. Know I have to deal with the wait time (but worth it).

 

[flatlander]

I had John use a LMT enhanced bolt on my 1st 6 RAT after hearing of some 7.62x39 and converted 5.56 bolts breaking lugs in other applications. That upper was 100% reliable - no feed or eject failures.

I recently had John do another 6 RAT bbl. for me, this one a 24" Wilson. I asked about bolt choices, and he said he'd gotten some Les Baer bolts for Les' version of the 6.5 Grendel. So that's what I had him use this time. Don't have enough rounds through this RAT to have any idea of the Baer bolt's durability yet, but it's functioning smoothly so far, and the cost is just over half that of the LMT.

 

[spclark]

When I asked John late last September to re-barrel an AA billet upper for me with a Kreiger in 6RAT, I asked about keeping the AA bolt. Completed upper arrived shortly before Christmas.

He allowed he's using the enhanced LMT product for a number of reasons so I went with his choice despite the somewhat higher cost. Reliability means a lot; John's standing behind what he sells means even more.

If nothing else now I have the AA bolt and Walther/ CSS 6.5 Grendel barrel (two of 'em, truth be known) to sell as a complete set.