Thread: Winchester 88 Bolt cam lock pin

Been working on restoring a 1961 Winchester Model 88 and it's going nicely.
Disassembling the bolt revealed an issue. It looked like the last person to disassemble couldn't drift the firing pin retaining pin out and had smacked on the bolt cam lock pin shattering it in two. It still worked like that but not ideal. Very grateful that the firing pin wasn't broken or damaged.

Unfortunately the New Zealand Winchester 88 parts store is fresh out of business. So I guess I'll make one. Conveniently a #7 drill bit is exactly the right size for the pin so I ordered one of those. It is a cobalt drill bit and hard as a hard thing! I probably should have found a simple HSS one as it was very hard to get a hole through! I had quietly hoped the shank would be softer and I could pop a 2.5mm drill bit through it but I was definitely not that lucky.

I don't have a mill so out with the diamond burrs and spent about 2 hours slowly boring a hole through the shank of the drill bit keeping it cool. Once the hole was all the way through it was much faster to widen and finish out the slot as I could cut on the side of the bits which have much more cutting speed. A quick deburr and polish later and I've got a functional part. I suspect it's harder than the original so should give at least another 60 years service.

The problem.


Could hold it together to get measurements. It has one round end and one flat end, I copied this to ensure proper function.


#7 Drill bit, perfect diameter shank to use for the pin.


A couple hours later.


Tools, simple but it got the job done.


Test for clearance on the firing pin.


Test fit with bolt head, bolt cam, and bolt body, the firing pin goes through the slot in the pin inside the bolt body. You must remove the firing pin before disassembling the bolt.


The stock is coming along nicely. Just building up the finish slowly. Takes forever to dry in this weather. Once the finish is built up I can then re-cut the checkering.