I must've gotten lucky. I picked up a spare bolt for my F/A FNC a few years ago. Heeding the warnings posted on this site, I bought 5.56 head space gauges to double-check. The spare head spaced perfectly in my gun...
FN FNC Bolt
- Thread starter navgunner
- Start date
ScottinTexas
UZI Talk Life Member
What would you sell that bolt for now?
IIRC, I think I paid $300 when I bought it. I doubt I'd consider selling it while I still have the FNC. What do they go for now?
EDIT:
Holy Sh*t!!!! I just went over to GB to see if there were any FNC bolts for sale...nada.
However, I did find a couple of recently sold extractor sets:
AK5 Extractor - Heavy Duty - Early Version - FN FNC - AK-5 - NEW -
AK5 Extractor - Heavy Duty - Improved Version - FN FNC - AK-5 - NEW -
$631.95 for an extractor!!!
It's a little weird that both sold for the exact same odd number to the same bidder, but they did end at the same time.
I just double-checked...I have (1) spare old style extractor and (2) of the new style
Are FNC small parts now in this pricing sphere? If extractors are going for that kind of money, what the h*ll would a complete spare bolt go for?
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JoshNC
Well-known member
The FNC bolt should not be difficult to produce in the US. Plenty of US manufacturers make complex items. This is not much different than an AK bolt. Pending price, I would personally buy three to five.
Headspace should not be that challenging for someone who knows how to do it, and I would think it can be safely done with less complexity than the FN process.
Headspace should not be that challenging for someone who knows how to do it, and I would think it can be safely done with less complexity than the FN process.
ScottinTexas
UZI Talk Life Member
No way to divine if the bidder is real or a shill but this is in line with my observations about availability and price of parts for the FNC's.
That's why I bought the nice semi at ~$3K for spares.
In hindsight, I probably should have kept both, but knowing I would never fire either, sold at a fair profit and lowered my exposure to potential new punitive laws pushed me to sell.
I had to replace a faulty takedown lever for a sort of more common Sig P230 and the challenge to find one supported my concern about any FNC parts becoming available in my lifetime.
ScottinTexas
UZI Talk Life Member
I messaged him 3-4 months ago and bought some custom M1 rear sight covers….so he’s alive and well.
I have had excellent dealings with fuatos. I bought a lot of FNC stuff years ago from him when I planned on owning one, but decided to go the M16 route instead due to parts availability concerns and I wanted a faster rate of fire that the M16 offers over the FNC for the fun factor . (I'll get a transferable M16 eventually)
Some potentially very exciting news- I was just told by someone who works for a reputable company that producing FNC bolts is "in the works". I gave him a link to this board, so hopefully he'll come here for any discussion or feedback they're after.
JoshNC
Well-known member
Well that’s great news.
okpud
UZI Talk Supporter
"Any" FNC bolt will work if you are installing a new GM barrel at the same time. If you're not installing a new barrel, headspaced to your bolt, you are rolling the dice that headspace will be in tolerance and safe. As stated in older threads, this is why the GM FNC barrels do not have the gas port predrilled. FNC receivers and barrels do not have clocked threads for barrel installation. When I was working with GM on designing the 1st prototype barrels, this was the first thing we determined. You need to install and headspace the barrel before drilling the gas port to make sure it is in the proper orientation.
FN decided it was easier to have a bunch a different depth bolt faces to make it faster/easier to install/replace barrels with gas blocks preinstalled and to use the different bolts to adjust headspace. We've had a few customers manage to get a AK5 or new factory FNC 1/7 twist barrels over the years. Being original factory barrels, they had gas ports already drilled. In two cases, headspace was far enough off when installed on their FNC receivers/bolts that we had to remove material from their bolt face for proper, safe headspace. It would be great if someone decided to make new bolts, but I'm not sure how they'd get around the headspace issues. Few folks have installed many that FNC barrels and end up not understanding the complexities of it. Having worked on dozens, I can tell you that there are multiple different versions/revisions in the US. They were not all imported at one time as part of a single batch.
FN decided it was easier to have a bunch a different depth bolt faces to make it faster/easier to install/replace barrels with gas blocks preinstalled and to use the different bolts to adjust headspace. We've had a few customers manage to get a AK5 or new factory FNC 1/7 twist barrels over the years. Being original factory barrels, they had gas ports already drilled. In two cases, headspace was far enough off when installed on their FNC receivers/bolts that we had to remove material from their bolt face for proper, safe headspace. It would be great if someone decided to make new bolts, but I'm not sure how they'd get around the headspace issues. Few folks have installed many that FNC barrels and end up not understanding the complexities of it. Having worked on dozens, I can tell you that there are multiple different versions/revisions in the US. They were not all imported at one time as part of a single batch.
Great insight, thank you for sharing your experience.
It sounds like if someone encountered the catastrophic and unlikely scenario of having to replace a bolt, having a new $200 barrel installed at the same time would circumvent any headspace roadblocks.
In situations where a bolt must be headspaced to an installed barrel for some reason, it does seem to require an experienced gunsmith - removing material from the bolt face if too little headspace, or if not enough headspace, potentially weld shut the barrel's gas port and move it.
For bolt versions, sounds like it's time for us to take stock of what version we all have. I'll post a photo of mine later tonight, hopefully there is at least a clear majority of one type, but we can see as more people post what version they have.
JoshNC
Well-known member
JoshNC
Well-known member
Is this the same company that the OP is using? https://www.sturmgewehr.com/forums/index.php?/topic/33005-fnc-bolts/
Hey guys, alive and well. Just extremely busy. Not a lot of time to post on the boards anymore.
If interested in parts, please reach out. Most of the time I can only reply to inquiries and emails very early in the morning and it might take a few days...
navgunner
UZI Talk Life Member
See my answer in #41
My “knowns” (@okpud , please correct me if I’m off):
There’s NOT a one-size-fits-all bolt; period. However, most (if not all) of the FNCs that were imported into the US prior to the ban can be made to function to factory standards with a new bolt like the one that I’m making (a mirror copy of my factory bolt).
Changing your bolt will absolutely require a headspace check and it’s more than highly likely that your gun will require a headspace adjustment by a gunsmith who’s well versed in the FNC rifle. Heck… you’ll probably need a new barrel installed but that’s ok. I’m not making these bolts to be used in some sort if rotation, but rather as an alternative if truly needed, where more than likely the original bolt failed or is outright missing. Insurance if you will. As of today, there are an estimated 6,500 FNC’s here in the United States and based on direct conversations that personally I’ve had with the people in the know, there are about 3,600 versions that are transferable with the average MG FNC hovering around the $20,000 mark. Let’s be real honest with one another… If we’re going to keep these things going for generations to come, we’re gonna have to get creative and find a solution for spare parts. I’m just acting on it by literally putting my tens of thousands of dollars towards the effort with absolutely no guarantee of any return on investment.
For those living outside the US, I can’t export these things even if I wanted to, so I’m not factoring your rifles or other variants into my equation. I’m only focusing on those 3,600 individuals here fortunate enough to own a transferable FNC. Of those very few people I’m guessing that just a few percent will actually want one of these things but that’s OK because they’ll exist as an opportunity to feel more comfortable about shooting your guns knowing that there’s at least one option out there if something were to go wrong.
Below is a project update (part of this is an excerpt from a PM that I wrote to a Sturm member):
I've already sent out my bolt for 3D scanning which should be done in 4-6 weeks, prints will get their initial tolerancing shortly thereafter.
Once all the above is complete, I can start producing/refining (iterative process) the first article samples until I get a version that's appropriate for production. If all of this goes well, and there's at least enough demand to sell an initial production run of 40+ units then I'll kickoff sales.
Unfortunately, there's still a lot that can postpone or even kill the project so... fingers crossed.
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