How do I remove the bolt from a Steyr M95?

[Nicholas]

I just picked up this Steyr M95 at a small gun show and want to get it cleaned up. This is the short rifle which was made by cutting down the original long rifle. It is the Austrian rifle with the straight pull bolt. I usually start by removing the rifle bolt and scrubbing the bore from the breech. I have done some looking around on the web and found a bunch of interesting info except for dissassembly.

Is their an easy way to remove the bolt excepting cutting torches and hammers?

Any info would be appreciated. I am planning on gifting this to my son who is also a member of Cast Boolits.

[lancem]

pull the trigger while removing the bolt I believe.

[Dschuttig]

Push the trigger forward, while holding it forward pull the bolt out. Kinda the opposite of others that require you to pull the trigger.

[muskeg13]

ditto on pushing the trigger forward, but be careful not to bump the bolt head or it will snap shut (in a fired position??). If this happens, you won't be able to reinsert the bolt without pulling the bolt head back into a cocked position. Not a big problem.

I've found the easiest way for me to recock the bolt is to put on a pair of gardening/work gloves with rubber palms & fingers. With these on I can get a good grip on the bolt and bolt head. While grabbing the bolt and bolt handle with my left hand, with my right thumb and 2 fingers pull the bolt head out/away from the bolt body and rotate it to the right. It will snap back in place so you can put it back into the receiver.

After you've done this once or twice, it becomes very easy. These M95s are neat rifles.

[Nicholas]

Thanks to Dschuttig and especially Muskeg13 for your replies. Spot on info and yes I did manage too mess up the bolt head. Toughest job was finding the knobby gardening gloves to click it back in place.

Now to go continue scrubbing the bbl on this rifle.

[Fishman]

Yes, please do a good job spiffing up my future rifle. :) You are terrible at keeping a secret.lol

[oscarflytyer]

Don't screw up and disassemble the bolt, or "snap" the head, unless you know how to put it back together right. Don't ask me how I know! Old Guns and Ammo Milsurp articles cover the complete disassembly/reassembly.

If for some reason, you can't google/find what you need, PM/email me, and I will photocopy what you need. The 95 is an awesome rifle and hoot to shoot! It is like a shoulder fired artillery piece! My youngest son (now 16) LOVES mine, and has claimed it as his! He is 145 lbs and shoots it all day long. Shrugs off the recoil and comes back for more!

[Old Iron Sights]

A dime works pretty good to wedge in behind the bolt head to prevent it from snapping around. I think I saw somewhere online a small tool for keeping the head in place. Some bolts may stay in place on their own and some will not stay at all.

[frhunter13]

Pulled mine out and it immediately got jammed cocka after it cleared the rear of the receiver. So after some judicious tapping I cleared it and then had to smooth runner where it jammed. So, Try to keep it straight as you pull the bolt out. Don't think I will do it again unless it really needs to come out!

[KCSO]

Be carefull as the lightest tap will cause the bolt to un cock with some force. You will then have to pull and twist the bolt head back in place before re inserting the bolt. Bolt take down is complicated so download the instructions form the mil surp collectors forum.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I've had one M95 bolt on which the head could pull and twist out with not unduly work-hardened fingers, and lock in line with the bolt ribs, and another which would hardly ever lock in place, althou egh you could feel something tantalisingly close to catching. The answer to this is some kind of metal spacer to drop between bolt-head and body, although one cut from steel tubing has a useful advantage over a dime. It can be left in place until the bolt body is engaged in the receiver bridge, and picked out through the ejection port. I think the difference may be in the shape of the extractor, but is it a complex shape, and with none available through Numrich or Marstar, I would be wary of annealing, shaping and rehardening one.

Yes, I have great admiration for this rifle, which stood an extremely arduous torture test with no lubrication, in Austro-Hungarian service trials. It is strong, compact and I don't think you get much for a lot of extra money with the modern commercial straight-pull actions. I think the late Hungarian 8x56R, despite its odd bullet diameter, is a better cartridge than the short-necked Austro-Hungarian 8x50R.