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“We were not trying to set a record,” Tim Lesser, Sharp Rifle Company’s VP of Sales and Marketing pronounced in a presser. “We just told the testers to shoot a modern sporting rifle till it jammed. After 7500 jam free rounds and a fried barrel, we felt good about the Relia-Bolt’s reliability.” Which is just as well, really, given the name of their product. To accomplish this jam-free mission, which Guinness has yet to adjudicate, the bolt features an innovative rounded and tapered lug design, S7 steel and NP3 coating. NOW how much would you pay? Well DON’T ANSWER. Because the Relia-Bolt has a lifetime warranty. NOW how much would you pay? $45? $55? How about $149.99? Sharps sure hopes so.

 

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46 COMMENTS

  2. AR: I can get a special super expensive bolt that lets me shoot 7000 rounds without jamming.

    AK: That’s nice…..

  4. It’s a strange world in which tapering and rounded edges – sixty-some years on – are considered an innoation. I could draw an anatomical parallel, but choose to leave that as an exercise for others.

    In an older, simpler weapon it’s called “slop” or “play,” but here it’s newfangled and fancy. Maybe I’m just a grump, but the AR leaves me grumpy.

    • My AR and AK left me grumpy today, but my Saiga .308 and PTR-91 made me happy.

  5. I believe it is really just a super simplified fix, to a somewhat complicated design. Kinda a “why didn’t I think of that” moment. Don’t hate because some people prefer precision firearms.

    • “Don’t hate because some people prefer precision firearms”

      You mean bolt action rifles…?

      • Another {thumb’s up}

        “Precision” means different things to different folks, I guess.

        Not hatin’ on autoloaders; I love ’em. But you don’t see a lot of autoloaders in Bench Rest for a reason. Auto’s and Semiauto’s like AR’s have a different job to do, and that’s cool, too.

        • You don’t see any autoloaders in competitive bench rest or F-class competitions – ie, where you’re going up against established shootists for a score.

          They’re all custom bolt guns, and most of them without even a magazine on them. Many of the bolt guns on the bench rest lines are “load left, eject right” actions (ie, they have two slots in the action).

          There’s a reason why when semi-auto people start bragging on how accurate their rifles are, the bench rest folks start smiling wryly to themselves and chortling…

        • “There’s a reason why when semi-auto people start bragging on how accurate their rifles are, the bench rest folks start smiling wryly to themselves and chortling…”

          Exactly my point above.

          Autoloaders have a place in the world, but that place is not what a lot of shooters (myself included) would describe as “precision shooting.”

          For me personally, I’d say ‘precision’ starts at around 0.3 MOA very, very consistently (none of these 5 round groups, but 20, 50 or more shot strings) out to the mid ranges at least.

          Sub .3 MOA been done a few times at 1000 yd, such as this recent one:

          http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2014/04/best-10-shot-1000-yard-group-in-history-be-amazed/

    • You mean like a 1903 Springfield, which achieved this level of dependability about, oh, 90+ years ago?

      Or like a Garand, which achieved this level of reliability before WWII?

  6. Assuming this is the same company and not a cynical name swap/corporate acquisition of some sort, it strikes me as kinda sad that Sharps went from being associated with beautiful falling block rifles of their own make to being just another AR shop, trying in vain to polish up a half-century old mediocrity.

    • It does not appear to be the same company. This outfit appears to have only recently started business over in Glenrock, WY, working on new rounds (the .25/45 Sharps) and this Relia-bolt widget. I don’t see any falling block rifles at their website:

      http://srcarms.com

  7. 7,500 rounds without a stoppage isn’t a big deal. Unless it was full auto and/or without any lube any well made AR-15 (Colt, BCM, Noveske, and possibly others) should be able to do that.

  11. While the AR-15 was pleasant and fun to shoot, the No4 Lee-Enfield converted to .223 was serious in competition. Going to bolt-action (out of legal and financial necessity) boosted my yearly average scores by 15-20%.

    The better sights and handloads also helped as well.

  12. I don’t believe any of my semi autos has gone 7,500 rounds without some sort of malfunction. Granted, I shoot range reloads and my own reloads to keep costs down. I’m curious if the design degrades acuracy. And to the F-class / competition bench rest guys, I’m talking about a downgrade from 1.5/2.5 MOA down to 2-3 MOA or so. No reason to bust my chops – ultimate accuracy lies with custom bolt actuons, and I’m fine with that.

    I’m hoping my button – rifled DGI 300 BLK 416R stainless upper will do 1 MOA or better. It currently has an Ares Armor NP3 full auto BCG. The bolt and carrier are all nickel boron. Not sure if this widget would degrade accuracy or not.

    • “And to the F-class / competition bench rest guys, I’m talking about a downgrade from 1.5/2.5 MOA down to 2-3 MOA or so. No reason to bust my chops”

      For all I might say about bolt guns, I do have to confess…the accuracy achievable with a modern semi-auto surpasses what I thought I’d see when I thought about it 25+ years ago.

      Looking at it another way…it sometimes takes the last few percent a precision bolt gun provides to discern skill differences of modern riflemen.

      And that’s a step in the positive direction in my book.

      Still, though, what those guys can do off the bench with proper tooling is amazing to behold. I’m not one of them; that’s for sure.

  13. So the innovation here is that it has rounded edges, so the bolt can rotate fully into place even with grime build up in the barrel extension. I can see the utility in that.

    Full rotation means that the entire rear area of the lugs will take the stress from firing, lowering the max shear stress in the lugs. Which should increase the life of the bolt lugs. Will the lowered shear stress significantly increase the fatigue life for the bolt lugs? Who knows. But I think that using a shock resistant tool steel helps their bolt more than all the lug geometry changes in the world. Not to mention the number of failures that occur at the cam pin hole, not the lugs. And as far as I see, their cam pin hole is only strengthened through the use of a tougher steel.

    And I also doubt that the average AR user would ever actually benefit from using this bolt. It takes a hell of a lot of use to break a standard AR bolt. I sure won’t be dropping $150+shipping on this.

  14. My guess is the fact that they use S-7 tool steel for this piece is the main factor for durability. I’m a tool and die maker and use S-7 a lot and it’s one of the best shock resistant metals available. Not quite as hard or wear resistant as an M-2/4 or D2 or any of the CPM crucible steels but has a higher shock resistance and toughness.

    • Agreed. S-7 is what I use when I have to make a firing pin for an old(er) gun where the maker is long gone or there are no factory/NOS parts.

      The other tool steel that I might use in this application would be H-13, but I think S-7 would wear better.

  15. @dyspeptic yeah we use H-13 for higher temp molds because it is very stable over multiple extreme temperature changes. Only problem is that H-13 moves and twists like crazy after you heat treat and harden it. I’ve never encountered a tool steel that moves so much even with double tempering. Anything else I’ll leave a few thousandths to grind. H-13 and I’ll leave a 32nd of an inch grind stock depending on my piece part size. CPM-3V is probably my only substitute for S-7. Better hardness and wear resistance because of the finer grain structure but not quite as high a level of shock resistance.

  16. I’m wondering if this makes the channel the bolt rides/seats in more filthy. Sure the bolt isn’t going to stop (which is great) but instead of “scraping” the area, now it’s simply compressing the grime into the walls even more.

    • No, the bolt wouldn’t make the star chamber more filthy or “compress” any crud. (Just how dirty of a chamber are you imagining? Lol) A neglectful owner is the only thing that will accomplish an overly dirty chamber. The geometry of the bolt however provides more forgiveness between cleanings. Also, you mention the lugs on a milspec bolt “scraping” the crud… but where is it being scraped to? This is not a cleaning action by any means with a milspec bolt. It’ll just be moving any grime back and forth in the path of the lugs. At least with the Sharp’s bolt, there will be more room for crud to store without affecting the function of the rifle… which again provides the owner more time before he needs to clean the chamber.

  17. Any modern AR can go thousands of rounds without much more than a boresnake and lube. Might have worn out parts at higher round counts but that’s normal with any firearm.

  18. This is just another marketing gimmick…

    You can run 10k rounds of good brass ammo through an AR15 using the standard milspec bolt. LuckyGunner proved that already.

    I don’t know what this new Relia-Bolt is trying to prove. Use good ammo and lube your gun properly and it will run reliably.

    I certainly won’t pay $150 for just a bolt…

  19. Before you read all of this, Did i mention we cut out the middle man and are now factory direct for $79.99

    Unmatched Strength and Durability The Relia-Bolt is machined from S7 tool steel and tempered with SRC’s proprietary heat-treating process, significantly increasing strength when compared to mil spec Carpenter 158. S7 provides a 75% increase in tensile strength, and nearly 60% improvement in yield strength.

    Superior Corrosion Resistance Every Relia-Bolt is coated with NP3, an electroless nickel-based finish. This process co-deposits sub-micron particles of PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), commonly known as Teflon™, for self-lubricating corrosion resistance.

    100% Compatibility Relia-Bolt is drop-in compatible with all existing .223/5.56 variant parts groups and bolt carriers; no modifications or tools are necessary for installation.

    MPI, HPT, and Shot-Peened Magnetic Particle Inspected, High Pressure Tested, and Shot Peened, the Relia-Bolt is guaranteed to perform under pressure.

    Lifetime Guarantee If any Relia-Bolt is found to have defects in materials or workmanship, SRC will repair or replace it at no charge. You do not need to be the original owner, and no time limit applies.

  20. I purchased a relia- bolt after seeing the product at the
    NRA meeting in Indinapolis (2014), does this I will get a rebate on the price ?

  21. Sharps has this on sale right now 80$ for the bolt or 200$ for complete bolt group with their new bolt carrier.

  22. After reading through all the nonsense and whining in this post I did a little bit of research and the reliability claim is based on the geometry, the S7 material is because of the loss of mass in the lugs, and NP3 is a perk that allows you to go lubeless reducing gunk… what sold me on it was the fact that it made sense: tapered lugs chambering in a beveled barrel extention chamber. The bolt will guide itself to chambering and locking. While the flat face square mil spec bolt will only lock in a perfectly aligned, debris free barrel extention chamber.

  23. I purchased a reliabolt and balanced bolt carrier along with an 18″ 25-45 Sharps barrel. I am extremely impressed with both! The barrel is delivering sub-moa accuracy. The BCG is the finest I have ever seen. Both have delivered 100% reliability. Yes, they may be a little pricey, but you get what you pay for.

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