WE M4 Bolt Carrier Dilemma.

[Rotting]

Looking for some help regarding a broken area of a bolt carrier for the WE M4. Picture below shows what exactly is broke.


The red square shows where the top guide piece is supposed to screw down into the carrier to secure it. However, my gas tube wasn't secured properly and fell back into the upper receiver and caused that guide piece to get banged around and eventually snapped off that little lift that has the threads to secure the rail above.

I tried to see if it would screw in still since there is about 1-2 threads still there, however the screw simply strips.



So now I'm at this point with a couple ideas, however I'd like input from someone more versed with the WE M4 platform. The picture below has a couple areas marked.


First and foremost: Green square. What exactly is this extension providing? My intension here is to graft the rail guide directly to the bolt by JB welding at the orange square area by roughing it up between the top guide and the bolt carrier and seat it so it doesn't move. The screw where the purple square is located would be removed since it cannot secure into the carrier. Instead, JB weld would be applied in there to create a kind of post. It would adhere to the bolt carrier as well as the top guide.

The problem: I don't know what exactly the purpose is of that extension in the green square. If I graft the top guide directly to the bolt carrier, that extension would now be blocking access to the little screw that helps keep the nozzle in place. Obviously, nozzles break and need replacement, which I wouldn't be able to do if that extension remains there.

What I'd like to do is grind down that extension (green square) just enough to get a precision screwdriver in there if necessary to remove/replace the nozzle. I'm talking like 3mm-4mm of grinding if that. Just enough to clear a pathway for a screwdriver to be able to get in and then remove the screw. Am I looking at any sort of complications regarding this? I took at look at s friend's M4 to see if that extension is supposed to be securing anything, but I'm not seeing a purpose for it besides just more length for the guide.

This is a steel bolt carrier. I'd really rather not have to consider this a write-off. Any ideas or input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[cav.]

The extension there is there to probably guide the charging handle and provide less stress to the nozzle guide?

Exact thing happened to my RA bolt carrier! Garbage tbh. I think it's better to get an aluminium nozzle so at least you wouldnt have to replace nozzle. JB welding the nozzle guide and the rail guide would be good, not sure how it would hold up to recoil. I JB'd the top nozzle guide and it still got loose!

Should look into Angry Gun steel carrier, 2 screws instead of 1 and their design for the nozzle guide is far superior as there is rear support for it, as opposed to just the front support on the WE and RA carrier, which gives stress to the rear as there is no support!

[BioRage]

Originally Posted by cav.

The extension there is there to probably guide the charging handle and provide less stress to the nozzle guide?

Exact thing happened to my RA bolt carrier! Garbage tbh. I think it's better to get an aluminium nozzle so at least you wouldnt have to replace nozzle. JB welding the nozzle guide and the rail guide would be good, not sure how it would hold up to recoil. I JB'd the top nozzle guide and it still got loose!

Should look into Angry Gun steel carrier, 2 screws instead of 1 and their design for the nozzle guide is far superior as there is rear support for it, as opposed to just the front support on the WE and RA carrier, which gives stress to the rear as there is no support!

Or... just look into a GHK M4 like cav did.

[Rotting]

Purchasing a new rifle isn't an option and personally I don't quite look at AngryGun's stuff with high hopes since I've had a decent amount of failure from their equipment before and with all the poor reviews I've read regarding the AngryGun bolt carrier I'm just not quite willing to dump $100+ on something that isn't being well received by others.

I'm happy with RA-Tech's equipment. This fault wasn't due to poor product, it was due to poor maintenance. I'd just like to know if my proposed solution is viable or if it's better in the meantime just run the stock WE bolt carrier until I can afford a new RA-Tech bolt. I'm happy with RA-Tech's stuff and the entire rifle is outfitted with their stuff. I like sticking to a brand I personally am content with.

[Danke]

I'd repair that spot with a time-sert.

[Rotting]

Thought about time-serts but the hole in the bolt carrier is extremely shallow. Maybe about 2mm deep and that's it.

[MaybeStopCalling]

I ended up using a tap and die with a new screw to resecure this component.

[ebfud]

Originally Posted by MaybeStopCalling

I ended up using a tap and die with a new screw to resecure this component.

+1 To that.

Id suspect that any other resecuring method i.e. jb weld / glue is only going to get destroyed by the recoil force over time. Potentially causing even bigger problems.

[Drake]

Originally Posted by MaybeStopCalling

I ended up using a tap and die with a new screw to resecure this component.

+2

use a slightly larger steel screw and you can use it to tap directly into soft metal of the bolt carrier.

OR fill the screw hole with JB Weld or some other workable epoxy and then redrill/tap the hole to work with the original screw.