Removing a paintball guns aluminum bolt that is corroded and stuck

I have a WGP 2003 autococker paintball gun and their is an aluminum bolt that cocks back to shoot the gun but the gun has been sitting for 8 years and not in the best conditions.The aluminum bolt is clearly oxidized and impossible to remove.I think both the paintball frame and bolt are both aluminum but I am not sure.

I am looking for ideas to remove this aluminum bolt that is oxidized and sealed inside the paintball gun. I have tried pb blaster penetrating oil and it doesn't seem to help at all.I even tried to hammer it out from the barrel side but it did not help either.i tried vice pliers and it only made metal shaving from the bolt and didn't move at all. Here a couple pics of the gun diagram and what the metal bolt looks like that is stuck

Sublime89 --

I seem to recall that the late Sheldon Brown, a nationally-known bicycle guru, recommended "household ammonia" to free corroded-together aluminum parts. I don't recall if he expressed any preference for sudsy or non-sudsy.

John

Brake fluid

If You already carved it up with the vise grips, its time to pitch it
and buy new.. Driving from the barrel muzzle end with a punch, drift, or bar
may have mushroomed the end of the bolt.. If ammonia won't make it move..
The only other thing I can think of is set it up in the drill press and
drill it out..

Good Luck

Another vote for just drilling it out. For sure the end of the bolt is now mushroomed and will be a big factor. I used to custom Machines cockers and just wondering why you would waste the time in a body that will have pitting on a piston bore. You do realize you can buy that body new with custom colors for $30 on ebay with the cocking block?

That's common in some markers- What happened is somebody left broken paint in the barrel and breech. The paint is hygroscopic, it absorbs moisture from the air, and so after a few years, the moisture slowly corrodes the aluminum. (Most stock WGP bolts being bare, unanodized aluminum.)

The corrosion products have jammed the bolt in place just like rust on an old engine block. Penetrating oils help (like PB Blaster, Kroil, or good old WD-40) but there's a mechanical issue as well- the corrosion products have more volume than the original metal, and so there's a physical lock going on too.

Strip the body down as far as possible- remove the grip frame, barrel, ASA and front block. It might take some work, but you should be able to unscrew the ram from the pump rod, or the pump rod from the back block.

Now, what I'd do, is drill a hole in a chunk of soft wood, like a plain pine 2x4. Make the hole just a bit larger than the exposed rear end of the bolt (about 3/4") and set it up so you can stand the now-mostly-disassembled body on the block, over the hole.

Now, use a heavy punch, or steel rod or other suitable drift you can hammer on- and size it so it can fit down inside the nose of the bolt. That should help prevent or reduce "mushrooming". The rod will likely need to be right around 5/16" in diameter.

And, with a healthy dose of penetrating oil, try walloping it out. You may wind up spraying it, giving it a few blows with the hammer, letting it sit and soak for a while, then spray again and give it another work-over with the hammer.

Eventually it should come out. The bolt itself is probably toast already just from the corrosion, and the bore of the body is probably badly pitted as well. However, replacement bolts are common and dirt-cheap (used for maybe $5 and shipping) and there are no seals or anything that would have a problem with pits in the body.

Once it's apart, finish disassembling the body (remove the RVA, hammer and valve- you'll need a special tool) and give it a good scrubbing with hot soap and water, and a toothbrush. Make sure the corrosion sports in the upper tube are cleaned out.

If you'd like, you can always send the whole thing in to me ([email protected]) and I'll be happy to fix it. That is, after all, my day job.

Doc.