Damaged 788 bolt

[wmitty]

After 43 years I finally managed to damaged the bolt handle on my 788 in .22-250. Stuck case from forcing a round fired in a M 700 with a fractionally longer chamber into the 788's chamber and closing the bolt. Tapped the bolt handle in trying to open the bolt and sure 'nuff; it bent it to the point of almost falling off. I got the case out by tapping on it with a cleaning rod, but the damage has been done. Any ideas on how to go about repairing the bolt handle?

[Mooseman]

Qualified Gunsmith and have it tig welded...

[John Taylor]

I have one in the shop now that someone tried to TIG weld, made a mess out of it. Waiting on the customer to send the threaded bolt plug so I can straiten out the bolt threads. Will most likely use silver solder like Remington did for the repair.

[MtGun44]

Besides Mr. Taylor being a REAL gunsmith, and actually knowing something about the 788 bolt,
which I know only a bit from reading, I tend to agree that doing silver solder is less
likely to damage the bolt than welding. However, there are some really skilled welders
out there - finding one would be the main trick.

Bill