Tiny Hole in Bolt

[G-Weezy]

Hey guys, I took the rifle out yesterday and put 1000rds through it flawlessly. This morning I was taking it apart to clean and ran into this tiny little hole in the bolt. It looks like its chipping away and the extractor is right underneath it. Any ideas on what I can do? Should I call S&W? Thanks for the help, I get soo much knowledge from you guys. Wanted to ask the best.

 

[Foxtrot]

If it is "chipping away", call S&W to make sure.

 

[Citoriplus]

Don't worry about it. If you examine the bolt carefully you can see that its actually the side of the hole they drilled in the side of the bolt for the extractor.
Not sure if they intended the drill to cut through the side like that, but I suspect they did to allow for lubrication to get into the extractors spring/plunger assembly and maybe as a way to hold it in place during the assembly process.

 

[corpulent]

My bolt has a rectangular notch there, as well. I thought it was a pretty rough cut until I saw yours. Yours looks like it has some extra material lingering.

Also, on the ejector side, mine has two small round divots where yours has one large one.

 

[Shooting Padre]

Hole

It's a normal thing, just like the hole in the end of the barrel. I kind of sat up when I first saw the one on my bolt too. Just shoot another 500 rounds and it will be ok.

 

[Brett248Vista]

It's the hole that is drilled in the side of the bolt for the extractor. They are all that way.

 

[G-Weezy]

O ok. It didn't look like a perfect hole that's why I had to ask. It looked like a thin piece of metal you can see through when it starts to crack. It's funny because I never noticed it before when I cleaned. If it gets bigger I'll check with S&W

 

[springfield.45]

It's funny how something that has been there the hole time,and then one day you see it and go holy ****

I did the same thing, but i noticed the hole after 10,000 rounds.

 

[Citoriplus]

O ok. It didn't look like a perfect hole that's why I had to ask. It looked like a thin piece of metal you can see through when it starts to crack.

Rechecking your pic it looks like your hole may in fact have a piece of metal left over from drilling that was not completely removed during the deburring process.
Its nothing to worry about structurally, but that small piece 'could' get knocked loose later and maybe (but probably not) bind up the extractor.
Personally I wouldn't bother calling S&W about it, it would take too long to ship back and forth for me.
I would just fix it myself by taking a small jewelers file or knife blade to file or cut it out.
Then put the tube from a spray lube like WD-40 in the hole on the side of the bolt to flush any remaining metal chips out the bottom.