Picture is blurry but the center of the bolt is marked ALM 31… what does that mean; Manufacturer, serial ID, tested?
Have had a magnetic particle tested M&P15 bolt expectedly marked MPI… but ALM 31? Huh
IM “Eric”. He can fill you in.
I’ve seen (and have) Armalite bolts marked this way and they indicate it is a lot number.
Yeap.
All the Armalite bolts I have dating back to the late 90’s are marked AL(older models) or ALM(newer models) followed by either a two digit or three digit number.
The most recent Armalite bolts I have are from 2007-2008 and are marked ALM16 and ALM19.I’ll further add that the ALM19(sample size of two) have a weak magnetic charge to them,enough to stick to the carrier when disassembled.Im told that is due to not being fully demagnetized from MPI.
According to Armalite they only batch test for HPT and MPI,so I must have got two that were MP inspected.
But it makes me wonder if the M added to the newer lot# prefix indicates MPI.Getting a straight answer on the subject from Armalite techs is difficult so I have to speculate.
Anyway,another identifying feature of the Armalite bolt is the locking lug opposite the extractor is relieved(set back from the lug plane) ,and threrefore shorter in length than the other lugs.The relieved lug is easy to spot as the locking surface will have no wear as opposed to the other lugs.That is a Armalite patented design,and I have seen no others like it.
Hey Eric,
Whats the round count you have on that LEC now?
Do you still have it in out of the box stock assembly,i.e. staking,springs etc.?
I have not seen any reports on it recently,and as an old Armalite fan was curious on recent feedback.
I haven’t kept a count on it, but I would guesstimate only about 3K. Since it was not deployed as a duty weapon, I did leave it as is, with the lack of staking and original components. No negative issues to report. However, I’m still a hardcore believer of proper staking on the gas key and end plate.
Thanks for the followup.Good to hear the LEC is 100%.