Jim Gaska Custom Bolt Handle Installation…Pic Heavy!

This is the end product….

Jim Gaska (Marmot_Militia) contacted me regarding my inquiry for a custom bolt for my .25 Marauder, which I am making several cosmetic changes to. With his instructions, I was able to install this bolt in less than a half hour, taking my time. Here’s how I did it.

Tools needed:

First step is to remove the hex bolt, so the bolt can be withdrawn from the Mrod:

Keep this bad boy in a safe place during your installation:

Pull straight back and the bolt should come out without problem:

The bolt is held in place with a “LocTite” type of substance and requires some heat to melt it enough to twist and pull to remove the OEM bolt:

Once it comes out,you need to remove the remaining bits of sealant from the bolt hole and bolt. As you can see, the OEM bolt simply slides into place:

After cleaning, use LocTite 640 Sleeve Retainer to coat the new bolt insert:

DO NOT drip the LocTite into the bolt hole. It will create a hydraulic pressure block when you try to insert the new bolt handle. Jim’s tolerances are extremely close! If you do experience this, simply use a paper towel, and twist it down into the hole to remove the excess liquid:

Now, the easy part, coating the sides of the Gaska bolt, simply slide it into place firmly until it goes no further:

IF you cannot get the Gaska Custom Bolt all the way in, as the pictures shows, pull the bolt handle out and repeat the step above of cleaning out the bolt handle hole with a paper towel end. Don’t worry, the LocTite does not begin to set up for about an hour:

Once the bolt handle is in, and this is all with easy hand pressure, clean the excess LocTite from the surrounding metal:

Since the Loctite takes an hour to begin to set up, I wrapped my bolt handle in place with masking tape for the first hour to ensure it stayed in place. Jim’s friction fit is perfect, and this wasn’t necessary, but I was taking no chances:

Now you wait 24 hours for it to completely set up. I chose to put my bolt back in the breech and let it set up in place. You may have to slightly loosen the set screw on the top back of the breech that puts pressure on the bolt. Easily done with your fingers or a small screw driver.

And that is all there is to it! Jim also said you can simply push his new bolt into place, right after you pull the old one out, and let it cool. I chose the slightly longer path of using new LocTite. Having done it, I now see either way would have worked.

Many thanks to Jim Gaska for coming up with this very nicely finished addition to my Mrod. Considering he will mill them to your design specs, his price is really competitive at $25, and I just had to give this a try.

Kindest regards,

H 😯 😯 T