Mauser Guru - Bolt /Safety Help Please

[RPRNY]

So it was about two years ago that I last shot this rifle. I recall there was some issue, something to do with the aftermarket safety installed by a previous owner. As I recall, the safety shifted around somehow. Anyway, I put it away and forgot about it until now.

Steutzen sporter built sometime in the 1960s from an M49 Persian Mauser by a fairly talented amateur. Fajen stock well done, aftermarket floor plate, and aftermarket flag safety - reads "Mark II" with two stars engraved on it.

So, removed the bolt, flicked the safety, it shifted, and now, I cannot operate the safety, i.e. the flag won't move, and the bolt will not slide back in because the safety is rotated counter clockwise on the bolt and a protrusion under the safety is stopping reentry.

Took photos. Hoping I can post and that someone can diagnose what has happened with this safety and how to fix. Thanks very much.

Top photo shows Bolt in position for reinserting to receiver with safety at obviously counterclockwise rotated position. Rest are self-explanatory.

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[Der Gebirgsjager]

It appears to me that you have was/is called a Mark II safety. It also appears that the bolt sleeve has rotated counter-clockwise on the bolt body, made possible by dropping the safety lever when the bolt was out of the receiver. The first thing I would do would to be hold the bolt body in a stationary position and pull backwards on the bolt sleeve while rotating it clockwise until it stops, then use your third hand to raise the safety lever to the upward position. The bolt should then re-insert all the way into the receiver and the safety function as normal. In photo 2 you're looking at the top of the bolt sleeve which is shown at an approx. 90 degree angle to TDC, viewed from the rear it would be at 3 o'clock instead of 12 o'clock. It needs to be rotated back to TDC. If this cure fails, there is a plunger located on the side of the sleeve that when depressed and flipped sideways into a notch will allow the entire bolt sleeve to be turned off the body.

[RPRNY]

Thanks for the speedy reply. I'm not sure I've got it exactly, but it's probably a comprehension issue rather than an explanation issue ;-) I'll fiddle with it and see where I can get to. I may need more guidance...

[Texas by God]

You'll need to grasp the cocking piece with vise or careful use of pliers and pull it back while rotating the sleeve and safety back to the cocked position. The Mk2 safety uses a wedge to move the cocking piece backwards off the sear. Fitting one usually requires grinding a bevel on the cocking piece and filing on the Safety. If overdone, pulling the trigger will release the sear against the safety- causing the gun to fire when you push down the safety. Get it back together and analyze the operation of the safety and let us know. Best of luck!

[RPRNY]

I got it. Your explanation was very clear once I was holding it. Thank you. Now, I can't figure out/remember what the issue was when I last shot it. :(

Thanks again.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Yeah--I might have worded it a bit clumsily. Another approach is to take the bolt out of the rifle and while holding it very firmly--like both hands--place the cocking piece's cocking notch against a sharp unyielding edge like the edge of the jaw of a bench vise and push the bolt body vertically downward while the cocking piece remains against the edge. This will have the effect of moving the bolt body forward and allowing the sleeve to turn. It might take several tries to get the hang of it and the right position of the edge of the vise. Alternatively, as suggested by Tex, you can grip the bottom of the cocking piece in the top of the vise jaws with the bolt body in a horizontal position and pull the body to the right or left (depending on which handed you are) and then turn the bolt body to conform to the position of the sleeve. About the pliers.......I'd use a lot of caution there....the internal problem is that the sleeve won't turn back to where it belongs until the mainspring is compressed either by moving the cocking piece backward or the bolt body forward, and once you have done this you have to raise the safety lever to the "on " position to hold the cocking piece to the rear. Whew! There...best I can explain it. Watch your knuckles when working with the vise.

[RPRNY]

I put the bolt in a vice, wrapped in chamois with the front lugs on either side and pulled the cockingbpiece back with a screwdriver in the little indent, presumably designed for such, and twisted. Quite easy that. Will analyze the mechanism according to TbG's diagnostic. Got sidetracked for the moment pretending to help my ninth grader with Geometry...

[opos]

I have a Mark X in 7mm Mauser and I got had the similar "safety issue"...there are a number of you tube videos about untangling the issue..got me right through it...I thought I'd lost my mind as I have messed with Mausers for many years and never got into that mess before..

[Texas by God]

I often wish I had bought a Mauser bolt disassembly tool when they were cheap and common.

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[fast ronnie]

Even the original safety will do that if rotated with the bolt out. Guess how I know!!

[Hardcast416taylor]

The same thing happened to my Brother with a new pre-64 Model 70 that came into our general store with other new merchandise. It took me about 15 minutes to realise that the bolt needed to be manually recocked before it could be inserted in the rifle action. The lesson learned here is don`t play with a positioned safety on a rifle bolt that is in a `safe` position.Robert

[405grain]

212289 A Mauser bolt disassembly tool is that hole in the stock. To disassemble a Mauser bolt (make sure that the rifle is empty) cock the action and put the safety on safe. Now pull open the bolt release, (the ejector box), and withdraw the bolt from the action. Do not take the safety off while the bolt is out of the gun or the blot shroud will rotate and you'll have to manually hold the cocking piece back to engage the safety and put the bolt shroud back in position. With the bolt removed from the rifle, and the safety on, depress the detent on the front of the bolt shroud and unscrew the bolt shroud from the bolt body. Once the bolt shroud is unscrewed, the firing pin, main spring, bolt shroud, cocking piece & safety will all come out the back of the bolt as a single unit. Now place the firing pin tip through the hole in the rifle stock, (or any handy hole that will work) and grasping the bolt shroud, press downward depressing the main spring until the cocking piece is clear of the bolt shroud. Once the cocking piece is all the way out of the bolt shroud, rotate it 90 degrees and lift it off of the end of the firing pin. Carefully allow the main spring to decompress, and the bolt shroud will come off of the firing pin, as will the main spring. Once the bolt shroud is off of the firing pin, the safety can be removed by rotating it all the way to the right and pulling it straight back. Assembly is done in the reverse order. Removing the extractor from the bolt body is done by rotating the extractor until it is at the top position of the bolt, and pushing up on the nose of the extractor as you also push the extractor toward the front of the bolt body. Installing the extractor requires significant amounts of cursing, a minimum of three hands, and the probability of cutting one or more of your fingers. It is a learned and despised art, but can be done by hand. All told, except for something to push against to compress the main spring, disassembling a Mauser bolt requires no tools.

[Texas by God]

All that is true. The bolt tool is for recocking (by hand) an uncocked bolt. I think it was Israeli issue.

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[GSample]

Resurrecting an old thread.....

I inherited a sporterized Mauser 98 that has been in my family for roughly 75 years but it is somewhat unfamiliar territory for me.

In taking the rifle out the other day to shoot (1st time for me), I accidently flipped the safety lever when the bolt was cocked and retracted from the receiver. When this happened, the bolt safety shroud rotated counter clockwise about 45 degrees. I was able to pull the cocking mechanism back and get the safety into a vertical position and then I was able to remove the bolt from the receiver. The shroud is still out of position in a counter clockwise direction. So, I'm unable to put the bolt back in the rifle and cannot manually rotate (clock-wise) the shroud back into position while holding the bolt. I have also pushed the spring-loaded pin on the shroud to un-screw the shroud (counter clock-wise) from the bolt for bolt disassembly. The shroud will not rotate.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Der Gebirgsjager]

The cocking piece is the key to the entire problem. You have to be careful how you go about this or you'll seriously skin your knuckles. The mainspring is fully extended inside the bolt body and must be compressed before you can turn the shroud back into normal position. If you have a good bench vise one method would be to clamp the cocking piece lug in the vise so that the rest of the bolt is above the top of the jaws and horizontal with everything forward of the cocking piece sticking out and away from the vise. Clamp the cocking piece's bottom lug very tightly and pull the bolt forward away from the vise. Maintain the pull, which is compressing the mainspring, and turn the bolt body to align with the shroud. Use your other hand and move the safety to vertical. You can accomplish the same thing if you have an edge such as the corner of a workbench. Catch the cocking piece lug against the edge of the bench and hold it there while pulling down on the bolt body and turning it.

DG

[LAGS]

I just hook the cocking piece on the corner of a wood table.
Then push the bolt body down to retract the cocking piece.
When the cocking piece is far enough , I turn and re ingage the safety.
Now the firing pin assembly can be rotated back into the bolt body.
Or unscrewed from the bolt body to remove the firing pin assembly.

[Gtek]

In the Mauser box is a 3/8" Ty-Rap in about a 10" loop. Putting body in soft jaws in vise and left hand around cocking piece holding Ty-Rap tight in front of cocking piece. Pull with right and rotate with left to position, nothing to it. I looked at the Israeli tool years ago also but I have a bunch of Ty-Raps.