1891 Argentine 7.65 Mauser bolt is broken

[MagnoliaHunter]

Hey, I have an 1891 Argentine 7.65 Mauser that we inherited from my wife's Grandfather. I clean/oil all my guns every 3/4 months cause the humidity is so bad here in Mississippi even with a dehumidifier in the gun cabinet. I know I am probably overdoing but it gives me a chance to take them all out. Any way enough rambling. When I took the 7.65 out the other day, I noticed that the end of the bolt closest to the stock had a piece broken off of it. I guess it broke the last shot at the range the last time I shot it a few years ago. What is missing? What else should I look at to see if anything else is gone/broken?

If more pics or information are needed to diagnose the problem, just let me know.






Thanks,
Trav

[MagnoliaHunter]

After looks at a website with parts for my gun, I think it is the firing pin, part #2 in the link below, that broke. and the cocking piece. part #9 is missing. I don't see parts #5, #6, or #7 on my gun. What am I not seeing? where should parts 5-7 be?
thanks,

https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-man...r/91-argentine

[Moleman-]

Parts 5-7 are the safety detent parts and are in the safety lever. Liberty tree has the firing pins for $39

[MagnoliaHunter]

it looks like I am also missing #9. Just to be clear, when you say safety lever, you are referring to part #8 right? I have part #9 which slides into #8, but I don't see anything else attached to #4 or #8.

This is all the parts that I have from the bolt:

[john.k]

You appear to have a "lo-swing" safety , an aftermarket part for scope clearance .....so wont need the little bits from the original safety......all you need are the firing pin and the end piece that in the 91 screws on,later Mausers it fits three grooves with a 1/4 turn.

[MagnoliaHunter]

John, thanks for the reply.

Is the end piece part #9 in the diagram I have linked?

So does the end piece screw on to the firing pin?

Since I have a different safety is the end piece still the same?

Is the end piece what keeps the "lo-swing" safety on? Because right now I can just pull it out.

thanks again for all the help.
Trav

[elk hunter]

I will suggest a trip to your local gunsmith. Your after market safety and your new cocking piece will likely need to be adjusted/fitted to work together properly. The cocking piece is the part that screws on to the end of the firing pin. If the gunsmith is any good at all they can fix your bolt very quickly.

[405grain]

Looking inside the bolt sleeve (part #4) in the photo above, is that crud in there or oddly shaped metal? When you fire a Mauser the firing pin moves forward under spring pressure. The face of the cocking piece (part #9) striking against the inner face of the bolt sleeve is what makes the firing pin stop. The inner face inside the bolt sleeve should be smooth and flat. If the face of the cocking piece is hitting inside the bolt sleeve at an angle, it will be canting at an angle and trying to snap off the back of the firing pin with every shot. If that's crud inside the bolt sleeve clean it out. If its bad metal, replace the bolt sleeve.

[Moleman-]

I wonder if whoever bent the bolt put a 93-96 low swing safety in it.

[Texas by God]

The MK2 safety requires a slot to be cut in the bolt shroud to retain the safety lever in the down(fire) position. The cocking piece holds it in place when in the up(safe) position. At least that's how it works on my 93 and the 96s and 98s I've had. The 91 might be different.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[smithnframe]

Check with Numrich Arms or Jack first for parts.

[john.k]

Unfortunately a lot of bolt handle alterations ruin the hardening of the ramps/cams in the cocking end of the bolt......if the ramps are soft ,the camming edges dig in and that alone can cause firing pin breakage.

[MagnoliaHunter]

ok. I received my firing pin and my cocking piece.

I cleaned all the parts of my bolt. they are nice and shiny.

405grain, the stuff you were concerned with in the bolt sleeve was all crud and its all gone. There was enough crud built up that it was almost a 1/16 of an inch thick on one side. No metal, just crud. I don't think the bolt had ever been taken apart and cleaned. My wife inherited this gun from from her father who got it from her grandfather.

I have found my safety, It is a Dayton Traister - Mark II Safety as in the link below:

https://www.brownells.com/rifle-part...-prod5686.aspx

TexasByGod, could you post a pic or two of your gun so I can see what you are talking about please? I don't see a piece labeled a bolt shroud in the parts list diagram in the link. Is it called something different in the diagram?

Since I am just replacing the firing pin and the cocking piece, I would think any adjustments would already be done unless they are to be done to the cocking piece. But the safety doesn't stay in when cycling the bolt except for when the safety is all the way to the right.

I am going to take the gun to a gunsmith. I'm just trying to get as much info as I can for when I talk to him.

[Texas by God]

I'm having trouble posting pics at the present time, but what I'm calling the bolt shroud is called the bolt sleeve on a diagram that I just looked up. I wish that I had a 91 to look at. I hope the gunsmith fixes you up.

Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

[Der Gebirgsjager]

The Mk !! safety is sort of a problematic device. I've installed several of them, and have a couple of my own rifles equipped with them. Their main advantage is low cost. When installing them you must cut/grind a notch near the rear of the bolt shroud to retain the safety in the shroud when it is in the off/safe position. Looking at your photo it appears to me that perhaps your notch has broken off, not uncommon in these rifles, as there isn't much of a surface in which to grind the notch, and the result is a pretty thin rear wall of the notch which is not only prone to breakage, but which situation is perhaps enhanced by the heat of the actual grinding effecting the temper of the metal. When the safety is in the "off" or "fire" position with the wing up it is not held in by anything except the friction of the safety's shaft inside the shroud. Later versions have a small rubber "O" ring to assist in retention, but I never saw one that couldn't just be pulled out to the rear when in the fire position. My advice, especially on the 1891 Argentine, is to re-install an issue military safety if you do not intend to mount a scope on the rifle. This will give you a positive safety, something that is not likely to break. You can probably reuse the same shroud, as the military safety is much more positive and does not require a notch.

DG

[MagnoliaHunter]

Der Gebirgsjager,

In the next to last pic, i have two red lines drawn. It looks like it is broken off there. Is that what you are referring to? This gun already has a scope on it. For my wife to hunt with it, it will have to have a scope. So it looks like I should order a new piece and have a gunsmith notch it , correct? I can take him the old one as a reference for how far to notch it. You said that you had done this. Do you sell them notched? If so, how much?




















And here is a link to video of me showing the parts from all angles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnPXmQMCHTU

thanks,
Trav

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Yes, that is exactly right. In the 6th photo from the top, it shows the safety resting in the notch. You can see how thin the rear wall of the notch is, and it does appear that the upper part of that wall is broken off as shown in the photo with the red lines. Only you can determine if the safety is still functional with the amount of notch remaining.

So, if the bolt was all assembled and operational, lacking the missing part of the notch you could pull the safety straight back and out of the bolt when it was "on safe"--in which case it certainly would not be safe as the rifle would be cocked and the safety missing. It is conceivable that a tree branch could snag on the safety and pull it out, and the rifle be ready to fire without your knowledge. A remote possibility, but stranger things have happened.

I am familiar with the safety piece as shown with the nylon/plastic retention button on the shaft to retain it in the shroud. I have seen them no longer work after being rounded off from being pulled out of the bolt just once or twice, and then the safety can start working it's way out of the bolt from the recoil of firing.

As I said before, I have installed several of these safeties, own a couple of them, but don't like or trust them. If you would like to reassemble the bolt with an as-issued military safety, I have a nice one that I found this morning when looking for a broken bolt shroud to take a photo of to illustrate what we have been talking about. I found the safety, but not a shroud--I guess I trashed them. I will send the safety to you as a gift if you want it. They aren't ideal for use with a scope, but you can compensate by using high mounts and rings. They require a 180 degree rotation from safe (left) to fire (right). PM me your address if you want the part.

DG

[MagnoliaHunter]

DG, that is awesome. Thanks. I can at least send you a check for shipping if you want. So with the part you are shipping, All I would need is a new shroud? It already has high rings so I think I am good there. I will PM you my address.

thanks, This site is awesome.
Trav

[MagnoliaHunter]

Quick question. Does this site have a max image/video posting limit?

[Der Gebirgsjager]

Address received. It will go out Monday. No check needed. It's very likely that you can use the same shroud.

As far as I know there is no limit to posts. We have a couple of inane threads that have gone on well over 300 posts and get added to every day. As for images, yes there is a storage limit. If you upgrade your membership the storage allowance increases. If you attempt to post an image and the site notifies you that you have insufficient storage space remaining, you can go your Profile area and look for "attachments", click on that and delete images you no longer want to create storage space. This results in the image(s) disappearing from the post(s) on which they were originally shown, and when viewed by someone at a later date they see "Image removed by owner" or sometimes a small black box with a white "X" in it.

DG