German method to re-install HK/PTR-91 bolt.

[Ignition Override]

This works better on my brand-new PTR (it's my first HK gun) than any other technique.

He is a retired SMSGT of the Luftwaffe, and the Bundeswehr also did it with this simple method.
Norwegians, Portuguese and possibly other military branches did so, based on foreign viewers who commented on his video.

Many have thanked this guy for making this easier than probably any other method. >> No tools were allowed by the Lufwaffe for doing this.<<

You know the thin rubbery grips to help remove tight bottle caps? Such a grip helped to turn my Dry, but still somewhat slippery stainless steel bolt.

The borrowed Luftwaffe G3 used in the video must have been very dry in that area.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzi1t5i95CQ

 

[Classic12]

Thanks for posting that

A few days ago, the LGS was putting the bolt back in the HK 51 he is selling me. He was swearing and cussing for 10 minutes, and mentioned that German soldiers learned to do it in a few seconds and he saw the video (maybe the same one) and felt dumb for not being able to do the same.

 

[stagpanther]

Brings a smile to my face--a friend bought a used PTR (the GS that sold it to him told him it was a foreign AR 10) and asked me to clean it up and I took the bolt out--having never worked on one I thought I ruined it at first and had to learn that funky roller lock thing. Thing I don't like about them is that they beat up the brass.

 

[Ignition Override]

stagpanther:

That's so funny that a gun shop owner or manager thought it was a foreign AR-10. Honest mistake.

Most people seem to claim that the chamber fluting - more than just the force of extraction - makes most of the brass unuseable or such .

I once did reloading, but using the Single-Stage Lee, I got tired of it after a year.
Part of it was the tedious weighing of powder on scales, >>>>reloading just to create cheaper .303 and .308 ammo to shoot at plastic bottles<<<<. Literally, plastic bottles - still my main target after I check a gun's sights for alignment.

Classic12: Very cool HK you have/will have. HK 51.
Just read up on it- a PTR as a Very short carbine, originally with select-fire. Truly a nasty little beast?

 

[4V50 Gary]

I learned that method decades ago. It was through experimentation.

 

[precision_shooter]

Learned this the hard way with much cursing on my PTR91 years ago. Easy once you know it, frustrating as all get out if you don't.

 

[Ignition Override]

4V50 Gary: That was nice insight and patience you had.

precision shooter: that must have been a real b***h .

Using a thin rubber Jar Lid Gripper from our kitchen makes it even easier.
The bolt locking lever Spring on my nib gun isn't nearly as bad as what some people describe.

 

[stagpanther]

Most people seem to claim that the chamber fluting

Forgot about that--that's actually a pretty sophisticated piece of engineering--the gas bypassing a total case seal to the chamber walls to assist in the delayed bolt unlock--if I recall correctly.
The PTR I worked on and fired was a big and heavy rifle I thought and still had an oddly heavy recoil for such a big rifle IMO. The other notable thing about it was that it is (was) one of the only semi-auto rifles I've ever fired that ejected the brass further than an AK--like, the next solar system instead of just earth orbit.

 

[44 AMP]

Most people seem to claim that the chamber fluting - more than just the force of extraction - makes most of the brass unuseable or such .

I had an HK 91 in the 80s. Never needed any rubber "gripper" or other tool with the bolt. Never had any problem with the fluted chamber, either. What I did have a problem with was the cases being "wanged" off the rear of the ejection port so hard it left a deep dent in the body of the case, with a sharp crease in the bottom. THAT worried me.

I got the ejection port buffer and the deep dent got shallower and the sharp crease went away, so I reloaded those cases. Never had one bit of problem with the flutes on the brass, the sizer "irons them out" a bit.

--that's actually a pretty sophisticated piece of engineering--the gas bypassing a total case seal to the chamber walls to assist in the delayed bolt unlock--if I recall correctly.

You are recalling almost correctly,

The fluted chamber does not "bypass a total case seal". The case DOES seal to the chamber, that's what puts those flutes on the brass. The clever thing they do is, when the pressure drops enough to allow the case to spring back, the flutes allow gas pressure down the body of the case as soon as it starts to spring back from being sealed and this "pops" the case loose from the chamber walls slightly sooner and in a very positive way. This compensates for the fact that there is no camming action "pulling" the case loose from its grip on the chamber walls.

The biggest complaints I had with mine were its ergonomics (could not operate the safety with my had in a firing grip. I believe there is some German gun designers' philosophy that says the safety is to be operated with the "off" hand...), the one way charging handle, and the way it beat up fired brass. Also while it was 6 inches shorter than my M1A, it weighted just as much.

 

[Scorch]

I had an HK 91 in the 80s. Never needed any rubber "gripper" or other tool with the bolt.

I had a HK93 back in the late 80's-early 90s. Never want to own one again. Finally found a guy who wanted it real bad after the AWB passed and he gave me a goodly sum of money for it. Glad to see it go. It was a major pain. Not because of anything to do with the bolt, never had a problem with that. Yes, the fluting makes reloading a pain, not so much because the cases were hard to resize as for the carbon and roughness of the case surface and the dent from ejecting. Of course, that was IF I could find the cases after they ejected. my HK93 would throw them 30 feet out into the desert after smashing them into the ejection port and caving them in. If HKs get dirty, they can bend the case rim on extraction as well.

 

[zeke]

Had a HK-91 for a short period of time. Liked the sights, cheap mags, reliability and ease of tearing it down to clean. Don't remember any difficulty in reassembling, but had instructions. Recoil was heavier than the semi 308's was familiar with, and cog further forward than these short arms liked. The action starts extracting the brass earlier than most, which believe is the reason for the fluting, and had a tendency to stretch the case. Took 2 resizings to get the shoulders back.