98 Mauser will not stay cocked when closing the bolt...sear/cocking piece problem

[hornady308]

I have a Paul Jaeger rifle built on a Berlin-Lübecker Maschinenfabrik action from 1938. All parts match, with the exception of the barrel which is chambered in .270 Winchester. It's a nice rifle, but unsafe to use since the bolt barely catches on the sear as it is being closed, and sometimes does not catch at all. The trigger has not not been worked over, so I can rule that out as a possible problem. It seems I need to either replace the sear, the cocking piece, or both. My question is, how do I know which one needs to be replaced? The mating surface on the sear shows that the sear and cocking piece are just barely touching at the tips. Obviously, this isn't right. Any guidance is appreciated as accidentally shooting oneself can be very expensive.

This is a closeup of the action.
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This is how the sear should match up with the cocking piece (but it doesn't).
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Both humps are visible on the trigger, so it has not been filed to try to make it a single stage.
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This is the sear. It looks pretty good to me.
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The sear measures 0.521 inch from base to tip.
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The face of the cocking piece that matches up to the sear is closest to the camera. It looks good.
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The cocking piece measure 0.781 from the top to the bottom.
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It really is a nice rifle with a very heavy, but tapered barrel. I love the Lyman receiver sight.
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[RustyReel]

Both of the pieces in question are inexpensive. I would pick up one of each and replace them, either both at once or one at a time to see which is at fault. If you have another '98 Mauser in working condition you should be able to use the parts from it to do a temporary swap to see which of those two parts is the problem. Those parts are easy to swap out as well.

Also, the spring at the front of the trigger group is not in your photo. That part is present on the rifle, correct? And is it unaltered??

[Cap'n Morgan]

The original Mauser trigger normally has plenty of bearing surface height between sear and cocking piece. Have you tested the trigger with the stock removed to check sear height or movement when the bolt is closed? The cocking piece edge seems to have been slightly rounded, indicating stoning, but my best guess is that the trigger pull has been lightened at some point by using a weaker sear spring.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Does the operation of the bolt raise the cocking-piece just a little further than it needs to be, so that the cocking-piece is lowered onto the sear as you close the bolt? If not, the movement of the cocking-piece may have been reduced by wear, or by ill-conceived polishing in an attempt to improve smoothness. I believe I can detect some rounding on the cocking-piece. Perhaps there isn't room feor the sear to rise into place.

There may have been substitution of parts from another rifle. Check that the sear isn't contacting the action slot where it shouldn't, and if there is any difference in its position with the trigger removed from the sear.

[Ben]

Yes, one question is ........" Does the barreled action behave this way when it is removed from the stock ? "

If so, I'd replace the trigger, the sear spring, and the sear. None of which are very costly.

[kysunfish]

It's the cocking piece (to short). The sear and trigger look OK but all this must work together. I take it either doesn't stand cocked or fires when closing the bolt. When doing a safety check after you get it to stand cocked put the safety on pull the trigger then flip the safety off and see if it fires. Be very careful to check it about 2 dozen times making sure it will not fire until the trigger is pulled. If it can be made to fire in any way other than pulling the trigger it is un-safe. Sunfish

[Tenbender]

Buy a Timney and throw that one in the recycle bin !

[Cap'n Morgan]

Buy a Timney and throw that one in the recycle bin !

:goodpost:What the man said!

[Wolfer]

Buy a Timney and throw that one in the recycle bin !

This is also what I do.

I suspect as you close your bolt the cocking piece sets down on top of the sear instead of behind it.

[hornady308]

Thanks for all the advice. I put the trigger back on the receiver without the stock and everything worked fine. Perplexed, I added the trigger guard and magazine just to see how things worked. Now, the bolt and sear were not working correctly. But why? That's when I noticed that someone had drilled a hole in the trigger guard and installed a pin that holds the trigger back. Interesting idea, but poor execution on the part of the person who did this. I drove the pin out and now everything works fine. Time to order a Timney.

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[kysunfish]

That's a first. I've never seen someone use a cross pin for take up. You need something that you can adjust.

[akajun]

you were measuring the wrong surface of the cocking piece. The forward piece is what engages the sear.
The sear on your gun looks good and sharp, i doubt thats the problem.
THe modification with the pin was commonly done to make a "crisp" trigger. However, as you have found, as parts wear you need a way to adjust sear engagement. You can either file the front of the trigger where it contacts the pin, or the pin itself.
If it was my gun, I would buy a timney, its in a whole nother class than a modified mauser trigger.

[KCSO]

Also make sure the front of the trigger is not pushing or binding on the guard and the inlet.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Thanks for all the advice. I put the trigger back on the receiver without the stock and everything worked fine. Perplexed, I added the trigger guard and magazine just to see how things worked. Now, the bolt and sear were not working correctly. But why? That's when I noticed that someone had drilled a hole in the trigger guard and installed a pin that holds the trigger back. Interesting idea, but poor execution on the part of the person who did this. I drove the pin out and now everything works fine. Time to order a Timney.



A crosspin? I see it now I know what to look for, but a better and commoner way of doing the same thing is a short extension at the front of the trigger, to accommodate an adjusting screw. Neither can be as good as an after-market trigger like the Timney, since the engagement is with the cocking-piece, which has some free movement. In the Timney the engagement of cocking-piece with rocking sear is very large, and the finely engaging parts are both firmly located in the body of the trigger. ike the Winchester Model 70

I wouldn't go for the Timney with a trigger safety, though. The cocking-piece safety is one of the best things about the Mauser action. You can buy a reasonably cheap safety with a shorter lever, or a new bolt shroud and safety with a vertical spindle, not reasonably cheap, like the Winchester Model 70.

[Char-Gar]

Looks like you found and fixed the problem. Good solution. I lust after than fine rifle!

That is a decent way to convert a military two stage trigger into a lighter single stage trigger. If the pin was a smidge farther away from the trigger, it would be a good fix.