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View Full Version : SHOT Show 2014 - SRC Relia-Bolt



Eric
17 January 2014, 23:50
From the Sharps Rifle Company (http://srcarms.com/) is the Relia-Bolt. I'm not sure that a proper mil-spec bolt requires any improvements, but the SRC has one.

S7tool steel, NP3 electroless nickel finish (improperly called electrodes nickels by SRC) and redesigned lugs. SRC claims improved reliability and strength.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v503/AR15forme/2014%20SHOT/IMG_4872-1.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/AR15forme/media/2014%20SHOT/IMG_4872-1.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v503/AR15forme/2014%20SHOT/IMG_4874-1.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/AR15forme/media/2014%20SHOT/IMG_4874-1.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v503/AR15forme/2014%20SHOT/IMG_4877-1.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/AR15forme/media/2014%20SHOT/IMG_4877-1.jpg.html)

rob_s
18 January 2014, 05:07
More strength by removing material?

usbp379
18 January 2014, 10:51
I have one of these that I hope to test tomorrow.

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usbp379
20 January 2014, 06:36
So my test went well in that nothing unusual or unexpected happened. The "test" was simply to shoot a magazine through the rifle. The gun worked fine with the bolt installed and I had no issues with cycling. The bolt locked open when empty.

After this, I cleaned the bolt thoroughly and note nothing out of the ordinary so far. Locking lug surfaces look normal. I will continue to use the bolt and we'll see how things develop as the round count increases.

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usbp379
26 January 2014, 07:25
I ran another couple mags through my rifle yesterday with the Relia-Bolt installed. The lugs are showing good even contact with the barrel extension and the NiB finish cleans easily. Almost all the carbon fouling behind the gas rings wiped off with a patch after soaking for a few minutes in Bore Tech C4 carbon remover.

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usbp379
26 January 2014, 07:51
Really, I can think of only twice where I've had an issue that this bolt might have helped with. One was a failure to feed that resulted in a bullet getting pushed into the case mouth followed by 25 grains of ball powder getting spilled into the barrel extension. The other instance was a blown primer that found its way into the extension and kept the bolt from rotating fully into battery.

I think I'll deprime a spent piece of brass and drop the expended primer into the extension and see what happens. Along these lines, I need to dump a scoop of H335 into the mechanism and see if the gun will still run.
Anyone else have any thoughts? Has anyone had a malfunction that might have been prevented with the use of this bolt?

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usbp379
2 February 2014, 11:37
Today I took a couple spent primers and dropped them into the barrel extensions of an AR with a conventional bolt and my rifle with the Sharps bolt. Both rifles were laid ejection port up and then the bolt was dropped three times using the bolt catch.

On the conventional AR, the bolt fully closed on the first drop but wouldn't close on attempts two and three. On the last attempt, I had to mortar the gun. The spent primer looked like this:

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/02/uqujuran.jpg

The anvil is gone and I couldn't find it inside the rifle.

The Relia-Bolt closed and opened fine on the first and second attempts. On the third attempt the bolt didn't fully close and it took a pretty good pull on the charging handle to get the action open. The primer from this rifle is here:

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/02/a7ave6y4.jpg




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usbp379
16 March 2014, 16:23
I tried the primer experiment live fire this morning. I dropped a spent small rifle primer in the barrel extension and then fired five rounds. The first round chambered manually but the bolt failed to close fully on the second round. Opening the bolt a couple inches and then letting it close again got it fully into battery and I fired the remaining rounds with issue.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/03/17/eheje6yd.jpg

Next I pulled a bullet and dumped the charge of ball powder into the barrel extension and upper. The charging handle was gritty and raspy after this but the bolt still went into battery and closed easily on an empty chamber. Unfortunately much of the powder went into the chamber itself and I could not get the bolt to close on a live round even after trying three or four times. I pulled the bolt and gave the chamber one plunge with a chamber brush. This cleared the chamber enough that I was able to load and fire the rifle without issue.

Granted, I would have been screwed had I not had a chamber brush in my range bag and the argument could be made that I could have just as easily given the brush a few spins to clean the powder out of the extension. Still, the Relia-Bolt works as advertised by allowing room for crud and foreign matter inside the extension.

Of course time will tell how well the bolt's new material holds up.


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UWone77
17 March 2014, 00:16
Thanks for the update, I was curious about this new bolt and to see how it performs.

Always appreciate your informative posts.

usbp379
17 March 2014, 04:49
At this point my one complaint is the price. The bolt (with extractor) is as much as a complete bolt carrier group from other manufacturers. Also, my SRC bolt's extractor only came with the o-ring insert. No spring was present. Fortunately I had a spare. While the extractor might have worked with the donut insert alone, it really needs a spring and spring insert if we're going for something to enhance reliability.

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usbp379
2 June 2014, 04:46
As noted in my last post, price was really my only complaint. Now I see the bolt is on sale for nearly half the original retail price. Was this to spur sales or will this be the new MSRP? Anyway, you can order here:

https://store.broadswordgroup.com/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=ReliaBolt

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Eric
15 June 2014, 08:08
I ended up ordering one to try out. At $80 it's priced about the same as a BCM and LMT, less than a Colt, more than a CMT and Stag. It looks like they are about sold out, 37 left at this time. The original price was a tough sell, but the reduced price-point is decent.

skd_tactical
15 June 2014, 10:01
Well, at that Price, I couldn't resist. I would pay that much for a bolt with that coating (or just about) by itself. This seems like a great deal.

SOS

GOST
15 June 2014, 18:31
That price has got me half tempted to try one myself.

usbp379
17 June 2014, 18:52
I ended up ordering one to try out. At $80 it's priced about the same as a BCM and LMT, less than a Colt, more than a CMT and Stag. It looks like they are about sold out, 37 left at this time. The original price was a tough sell, but the reduced price-point is decent.

Down to only 18 remaining as of 7pm Pacific on the 17th.

I think there was something like 198 when I posted the link.

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Aragorn
17 June 2014, 20:00
Well.... 17 now. I just ordered one.

usbp379
17 June 2014, 20:41
It will be interesting to see what becomes of these once they run out. What will Sharps do with the price?

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KevinBLC
18 June 2014, 18:24
Is the bolt supposed to last longer too?

GOST
19 June 2014, 02:25
Putting these on sale is about the only chance these had of surviving. With the cheaper price maybe this will get enough of these into the wild for some word of mouth advertising.

Eric
27 June 2014, 00:40
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v503/AR15forme/IMG_5357.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/AR15forme/media/IMG_5357.jpg.html)

usbp379
27 June 2014, 19:38
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v503/AR15forme/IMG_5357.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/AR15forme/media/IMG_5357.jpg.html)

Did yours come with an extractor spring insert or a donut?

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Aragorn
27 June 2014, 20:57
Mine came with both...

Eric
28 June 2014, 01:36
Mine came with neither one. I have extra inserts that I can drop in, but it's odd they leave it out. The manufacturer has also failed to reply to email.

GOST
28 June 2014, 06:45
So far I've been able to resist. My C158 bolts haven't let me down yet.

usbp379
28 June 2014, 12:47
Mine came with neither one. I have extra inserts that I can drop in, but it's odd they leave it out. The manufacturer has also failed to reply to email.

I have previously exchanged a number of emails with Tim Lesser and found him to be responsive and interested in answering questions. He has now moved on to work for Leupold so maybe the consumer relations post is vacant.

Leaving out the extractor insert is a big fat NO GO in my opinion. And if they're putting in neither an insert nor a doughnut they should just leave an extractor off entirely and tell the purchaser to install his own.

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Aragorn
28 June 2014, 15:37
Oops, misread. Mine just had the donut.

usbp379
5 July 2014, 07:42
How have these been working out for everyone? I just installed my 2nd in a 14.5" pencil build. Hoping to give it a try this weekend.

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Oglee
22 July 2014, 22:59
Interesting thread. I am running one in my M4 and so far so good, do not enough rounds down range to actually know for sure how it will hold up in the long run. Given the life of the standard C158 I have no doubt it will perform better, Our Barrett's have a S7 bolt so all should go well.

Also have no stoppages to report, but I run my BCG well lubed to combat the sand. So I cannot say whether it is the lube or the bolt keeping my gun running....maybe a bit of both.

apmcdaniel
7 October 2014, 20:22
Thanka to those who contributed to this thread. I have seen a couple reviews on YouTube, but not as thorough as on here. I might give this a try, but will demand that they send a complete bolt, not just one with the donut sans spring.

usbp379
28 October 2014, 05:39
Uh oh! We've seen our first broken bolt over on ar15.com. The bolt was used in a MK18 clone with a suppressor but wasn't at a terribly high round count upon failure. Speculation is that it was too hard.

The owner has received a second bolt from Sharps under warranty. But it looks like the replacement is possibly too soft. He is seeing some bolt lug deformation at only 500 rounds fired.

Aragorn
28 October 2014, 08:14
Hmm.... well crap.

GOST
29 October 2014, 02:40
Looked like a promising design. Looks like KAC's E3 is still king.

usbp379
30 October 2014, 06:01
I have been running one of these bolts in a mid-length for about a year. It has seen a tiny bit of suppressed use but doesn't have more than probably 600 rounds on it. I might have to dedicate a little more time to this rifle to see if I can break the bolt.

Ultimately I still think the design itself rather than the steel used us what gives the bolt its merit. Maybe Sharps should switch to C158 or 9310. While they're at it they can cut a small groove in the bolt's circumference behind the locking lugs and maybe add a bit of material around the cam pin hole like some other companies are doing.

Ruger is using 9310 for their AR-556 bolts. They recently tested three rifles for longevity. Two guns suffered broken bolts just shy of 20k rounds while the 3rd made it 20k without breaking a bolt.

driver6814
4 November 2014, 17:27
Sooooo, Besides the coating, essentially they ground five lugs off at a 45 degree angle and charge more for it?

GOST
4 November 2014, 20:05
Sooooo, Besides the coating, essentially they ground five lugs off at a 45 degree angle and charge more for it?

I believe the bolt is S7 rather than Carpenter 158.

Oglee
5 November 2014, 16:23
So an update, I pulled the bolt after 1,279 rounds from my M4.

It was developing abnormal wear and there was serious overpressure signs in the brass from the M855A1 I was firing. Both of those I have not seen on my standard bolt and it has well past 4,000 rounds through it.

usbp379
5 November 2014, 16:36
The guy on arfcom has broken his second bolt. This one broke with less than 1,000 rounds fired.

Here's his video regarding the first bolt:

I Broke The Sharps Reliabolt: http://youtu.be/tE0Jw0O2Mfo

evi1joe
5 November 2014, 16:45
OGLEE: Is this M4 a carbine gas length with a 14.5" barrel? Suppressed or not?

usbp379
5 November 2014, 17:05
So an update, I pulled the bolt after 1,279 rounds from my M4.

It was developing abnormal wear and there was serious overpressure signs in the brass from the M855A1 I was firing. Both of those I have not seen on my standard bolt and it has well past 4,000 rounds through it.
What are your wear signs? Can you post photos of the bolt?

Pyzik
5 November 2014, 18:37
Saw the guy's YouTube video who broke the bolt just the other day.

Looks like I'll be sticking with the typical big names for now.

Stone
5 November 2014, 19:34
Looked like a promising design. Looks like KAC's E3 is still king.

Can the E3 be dropped into any mil-spec carrier/rifle?

UWone77
5 November 2014, 19:53
Can the E3 be dropped into any mil-spec carrier/rifle?

I believe you will need an E3 barrel extension for the bolt to fit.

usbp379
5 November 2014, 19:58
I believe you will need an E3 barrel extension for the bolt to fit.
Yes.

Oglee
6 November 2014, 09:38
What are your wear signs? Can you post photos of the bolt?

I canmot get a good picture due to the flash whiteing out everything since the steel and np3 coating are so close in color. But it looks like the costing is chipping on the lugs and bolt face, but NP3 is not a coating that chips and flakes off so I don't know if it is steel chipping off or what. I have never seen wear like it before.

As to the gun it is a 14.5" M4.

GOST
21 November 2014, 04:09
Heard they had a batch that improperly heat treated and are offering an exchange.

usbp379
23 November 2014, 05:50
Heard they had a batch that improperly heat treated and are offering an exchange.
It sounds like SRC is actually mailing out unsolicited replacement bolts to purchasers in a certain timeframe.

GOST
23 November 2014, 08:06
Very cool of them to try to take care of the issue.

UWone77
23 November 2014, 08:48
Seems like they aren't the only ones that have had a bad batch of heat treated bolts. Seems like a common theme across the industry.

Stone
23 November 2014, 10:03
Yeah, it seems like you can only bring a price point down so far before quality starts to suffer...

GOST
23 November 2014, 19:54
I personally don't think that the quality suffered due to the price point being dropped. Several quality companies had problems with a bad batch of bolts due to heat treatment, Rainier Arms was one of them. I think the problems were due to manufacturers trying to meet depand rather than the price point being dropped; because it's cheaper for these companies to have it done right the first time rather than trying to fix the problem. It's also a customer service nightmare for them.

usbp379
2 December 2014, 04:46
Replacement bolts are apparently being shipped to customers who purchased bolts within a certain timeframe. Owners on ar15.com and m4carbine.net have posted that Sharp's has been sending out new bolts along with a postage paid return box to ship the old bolts back.

Will@AR15Hunter
5 January 2015, 07:37
Replacement bolts are apparently being shipped to customers who purchased bolts within a certain timeframe. Owners on ar15.com and m4carbine.net have posted that Sharp's has been sending out new bolts along with a postage paid return box to ship the old bolts back.

This is all thanks to Jay Lesser, the new owner/president. He's a stand up guy, and he seems to be taking SRC in the right direction (unlike the others that were in control prior). I think this unsolicited recall/replacement action shows that they mean to stand behind their products.

I have one of their complete 25-45 Sharps uppers in house right now, which has their new S7 BBC (Balanced Bolt Carrier). It includes their Relia-bolt as well. The carrier is pretty slick, thanks to the NP3 finish. I'm more of a mil-spec, phosphate BCG find of guy, but this is a VERY nice BCG.

DutyUse
5 January 2015, 07:58
This is all thanks to Jay Lesser, the new owner/president. He's a stand up guy, and he seems to be taking SRC in the right direction (unlike the others that were in control prior). I think this unsolicited recall/replacement action shows that they mean to stand behind their products.

I have one of their complete 25-45 Sharps uppers in house right now, which has their new S7 BBC (Balanced Bolt Carrier). It includes their Relia-bolt as well. The carrier is pretty slick, thanks to the NP3 finish. I'm more of a mil-spec, phosphate BCG find of guy, but this is a VERY nice BCG.

Wow. That's awesome of them to do to gain/regain consumer confidence. Maybe I was hasty in judgement, but time will tell. Good on them though for proactively fixing the problem. I have to admit when I heard the new "super wonder strong ultra design bolts" were breaking left and right I just shook my head, but it goes to show sometimes things aren't what they seem.

I know Rainer is quality, and they also suffered, so it's hit or miss in this industry, it's how you go about owning up to your mistakes that separates em

Will@AR15Hunter
5 January 2015, 15:29
Wow. That's awesome of them to do to gain/regain consumer confidence. Maybe I was hasty in judgement, but time will tell. Good on them though for proactively fixing the problem. I have to admit when I heard the new "super wonder strong ultra design bolts" were breaking left and right I just shook my head, but it goes to show sometimes things aren't what they seem.

I know Rainer is quality, and they also suffered, so it's hit or miss in this industry, it's how you go about owning up to your mistakes that separates em

Yeah, I was surprised when I saw the post about one breaking. I only saw posts about two breaking, and the same guy broke both. He's on Youtube, but I saw his post over on ARFCOM.

Agreed on your last comment. They are owning up to the problem, and went above and beyond what I would expect them to do. Most good companies would just wait to hear from customers that had issues and then take care of them. They went ahead and sent out replacements without many (probably most) of the customers even being aware of a recall or possible issue. That's pretty awesome CS if you ask me.

usbp379
26 November 2015, 07:35
On sale.
http://store.srcarms.com/product-p/reliabolt.htm