Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles "Extra" hole in Mauser front lug? FN Commercial.

Anyone have info on why this is here, the hole on the left side if the front lug? Don't recall seeing it on other actions. It is a FN Commercial action.

Hole is not threaded.

Thanks,
Kent

Gas escape if one has a cartridge failure?

Probably, but any idea if it is factory or is it added by the gunsmith that built the rifle?

Kent

The only Commercial 'M98' I've ever seen with such a hole from factory ,
is the Brevex magnum mauser....but never an FN.

But theres always some cottage gunsmith somewhere who thinks the world has been waiting
for someone to show how the Mauser brothers should have designed the M98.

The same kind of smiths who will tell you to put .375H&H into a std M98,
but then have no idea at what point the action will now fail after compromising its strength by
removing metal from the lower lug abutement.

I asked one self-esteemed high priced smith If I could fire H.E. .375H&H factory loads in his std.98 .375H&H conversions
and he wouldn't give an answer...was more interested in telling how good his stock inletting was.

OF course this is the same smith who built a DG mauser for a customer , that failed to feed a round on safari.
more interest in expensive cosmetics than actual function.

Action is stamped FN with a custom barrel that were blued together. Mostly I am just curious about the hole, can't see how it changes function or strength really.

Thanks for info.

Kent

Unlikely was done at factory.
Incidentally you mentioned that it was in the lug area
Actually in the left receiver ring

It is a gas vent,in case of brass case head rupture.
There is a corresponding vent in the bolt body,to vent gas out of the bolt.
One of the differences between a mauser 95 and a 98,the other being a third lug on the bolt body.
Definitely Factory.
This is the reason I sold all my mosin nagant rifles,no provision to handle escaping gas.

Ok, now we need more pictures from the OP. So this is a 95 or 98?

It is a large ring 98. The 95 is a small ring. The position of the hole on the edge of the ring, and at/below the stock line looks a bit like a bubba gun-plumber...doubt it's a factory option. Would have to rip a big hunk of wood to work properly.

Excuse me Kent, the hole appears to be through the left raceway only. I personally have not seen a large hole situated so low, does it clear the stock wood?

FN are themselves modified from Mauser blueprints in that they have a H-ring rather than a C-ring.
Fns that have been blown up , have in some cases split directly through that additional H weakening of
the left receiver wall and torn/split the receiver all the way back to the bolt stop! The metal fatigue
taking a course more or less through where that hole is now. So potentially he has weakened the action
further than FN did.

People do such mods with I suppose good intensions, but really have idea if they are actually making
things better or worse. Just because people see asimilar hole on the M70, doesnt necessarily mean
its appropriate on an M98. Differences or modifications in design, metallurgy and hardness need to be considered.

Thanks for all the input. It is a large ring 98 and yeah that is the left side of the receiver ring.

It is right at the stock line.

From the info I guess the guy who built the rifle in the 50's-60's thought he was making an improvement. Definitely done before the barrel and action were blued.

Kent

FN are themselves modified from Mauser blueprints in that they have a H-ring rather than a C-ring.

Mostly true, but some early ones are C-ring. My 1948 FI import is one of them. Finding it was a happy accident, as the GB seller didn't mention it in the description.

Given that bazillions of H-rings from various makers have performed just fine over the years, it's really no big deal. The hole on the OP's gun is a puzzler.

I buy and clean-up a few commercial Mausers a year. Re-do stocks and such.

And I agree the hole is a puzzler.