Hi Guys,

Wish I could share more in what was done, but the papers enclosed said "replace bolt" The one paper was a parts list with
part nos, description, repair, replace. I would assume the gunsmith was supposed to circle or highlight what he did. No
marks at all.

It lists the bolt as bolt carrier assembly. Dose this mean the whole unit, or just the bolt carrier? Firing pin, extractor, pins,
bolt head are not listed as individual parts.

In looking at the bolt carrier, the staking of the gas key screws is different than the original. Looks like they are staking them differently now. on the side of the screws rather than the top.

The rifle was definitely test fired. The bore was very dirty, as the bolt. I had thought that S&W would have provided more info as to what happened or what was causing the problems I ran into. Nope that was it - "replace bolt"


In my opinion, the problem was in the gas key. While it was tight, maybe it was cracked underneath, or the bolt carrier itself was cracked and not seen with the gas key in place. Either way the gas was leaking, causing the short stroke condition. So I guess we'll never know exactly why the rifle
was malfunctioning.

All I can say is that the rifle went back to the factory, was repaired, and returned in firing condition at no cost at all to me.
As I said many times, I could have played with it, threw parts at it, got it to work at my cost. Complete bolts are running
$80 - $100 when the factory will fix it for free IF a defect is found. They apparently found it. S&W did their job, and I'm a very happy customer.

Will come back and report the function once I get out with it.