Part name: Bolt Group

Part Function: The bolt and its internal parts are responsible for stripping a round from the clip, chambering it, indenting the cartridge's primer, extracting the spent shell casing from the chamber, and ejecting the casing from the weapon.

When all of these parts are assembled as shown below they are known as the Bolt Assembly or Bolt Group.

Special Notes: Many men have had impressions of the bolt face on their thumbs. Yup, this is the part that slams forward and creates the famous "M1 Thumb".

Other items of interest in this photograph: Wartime Pennies. In 1943 the US Government was running short of the copper used to mint the traditional penny and so the mints began to produce steel 1 cent pieces. The pennies retained the traditional wheatback / Lincoln design but the silver metal turned people off. The coin was so unpopular that the government quit minting steel cents the next year (1944).

Bolt Group shown in receiver assembly.

This page was last updated on: March 14, 2002