I'm welding a handle onto a late war German bolt. This one has round gas relief holes and no guide rib. The handle is a Talley and the rod I'm using is Tartan G Tig rod. The weld is porous and it spits and sputters something fierce when I go to welding. I have ground it out twice now and still no joy. Have any of you run into problems with these late war bolts?

Bill Jacobs

Yes but I don't use them for sporters; they are usually Steyr bnz, or most likely, Czech, from dou or dot, or post war Kar98ks made for Israel.
Throw it away and get an earlier bolt. They put a lot of carbon in them. Might anneal the root and try again. Reharden the cocking cam, but really, these bolts are not for spotters. Too rough and no guide rib.

I did one and ended up using my MIG machine. More cleanup, but a much better result.

Jeremy

Are you pre heating? If so what temperature? Amperage? Gas flow? Let me know.

Like Tom, I don't recommend using a late war bolt.

Norwegian Krag bolts are absolutely the worst. The late war Mauser bolts CAN be made to work, but they take a lot a finesse and frankly aren't worth the trouble. That and they are FAR more valuable original than they are for using as a Sporter.

No preheat. 125 amps. 12 cfm. 1/16 inch 2% thoriated electrode. Gas lens.

If any of that helps, it is a setup that I have used for dozens of bolt handles.

Bill Jacobs

You aren't doing anything wrong; they are full of carbon, and deep. The technique doesn't matter; they are like welding iron.
I have not tried MIG, as Farb did, and I ain't going to try it. I do have about 6 of them, but there are for Kar98K restorations; NEVER on a sporter. Like NM said. They are too rough.

try changing gas almost sounds like you were not using any

Butch could be right. every few years I've ended up with a polluted Argon cylinder. You might try and "pulse" the weld

You are fine

I run more shield gas.....20 minimum

Your Amps are really high but likely not the culprit

Brutis TiG or Tig Tectic 680 can heal tramp steel

Of course, verify that you have gas.

As Tom said, you are battling carbon migration. I have found some alloys will help mitigate this. I use a 8620 filler on the root passes of the bolt handles I weld. Then do the surface passes with er70s2 and er70s6. You want to CRAM your filler material into the parent material and reduce the amount of time you have a puddle. 125A is hotter than I normally weld, and I use a 3/32 electrode (3/32? can't remember I'm not in the shop). Short quick zaps are what you are looking for.

I have also found that preheat helps reduce issues. Most of the time when I weld receivers or bolts, I pre heat to ~400 F and soak for about an hour before starting to weld. I weld for a little bit, and put it back in to warm up. After I have completed welding, I soak at 400 for another hour.

Two other little thoughts, make sure your gas lens is clear, I have seen/had them clog and make sure to keep your tungsten as short as possible. (you probably know these as well, but thought I would mention)

Thanks for the help, all of you. I welded some scrap pieces up just to see if the gas was a problem, and they worked just fine. Gas is OK. I'm just going to put a different bolt in the gun. I have not yet fitted the barrel, so no problem with a hew bolt.

Bill

You've made your choice, but if you have some 309L give it a try, you might be surprised. I've used it on old SR Mausers that have a deep case (same problem) successfully. Of course, bluing is out.