Thread: A sad day

Ok, I'll put my serious hat on.

Imagine standing a length of wooden dowel upright on a hard surface like a concrete floor. It's supported only by its contact with the floor. Now hit the top of the dowel with a hammer. The dowel will likely vibrate, bend, split or fracture depending how hard you hit it. That's what a rear locking LE bolt has to tolerate on every firing because the bolt head is not locked to the breech.

Now imagine the bit of dowel still standing upright, with its base on the floor, but with its top end also held in a vice. Hit that with a hammer and there's not much going to happen except a bit of mushrooming around the top. That's a front locking bolt.

In the LE 303, if its heavily tapered case is given room to move through excessive headspace, it's like a several ton hammer smacking the unsupported top of a slim steel dowel standing on the floor.