Originally Posted by
MistWolf
One of the few places a manufacturer can actually exceed mil-spec is by developing a manufacturing process for bolts that eliminates the need for HPT. HPT tests bolts and barrels at pressures beyond what they are designed to take. Each barrel and bolt has a limited, but unknown, over-pressure events it can withstand before it fails. Each time a bolt or barrel is HPT tested, that finite number is reduced by one. HPT testing can also start a failure within the part that is still within allowable limits, or even below detectable limits, yet set the part on the path of failure.
Some will insist a bolt must be made of Carpenter steel and must be HPT tested, yet it's interesting to note that KAC does neither