Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Mauser Bolt Sticking

Any idea what would cause the bolt on a M98 to stick on a fired round at about two-thirds the way into the lift? I fire a round, raise the bolt to extract it and it meets with incredible resistance the last third of the lift. Once I get it open, sometimes the extractor releases the round before ever hitting the ejector.

Thanks.

Check camming surface on the bolt for a flaw.

Shoot 'em too hot and the lugs set-back creating a hump. When you open the bolt you have a little bit of springback that allows the bolt to start moving.

When the lugs try to leave the "valley" created by the setback it is an uphill run and the force required to get past it can be heavy.

I assume the bolt is not difficult to operate empty?

Has there been a history of hot loading?

Look at the bolt lugs and look for incipient cracks angling down and away from them on the bolt body.

My father liked mausers and loved to load stuff hot, so I have seen more than a few such cracks!

Not sure what you mean. Newbie to mausers here.

Factory fodder. Works fine in M70.

Extracts and ejects fine with snap-caps and unfired rounds. It's only fired rounds that are the problem.

The front surface of the bolt root has an angle on it. This mates to the angled surface on the rear of the bridge. These two surfaces make up the extraction mechanizm on a Mauser. If either surface is galled it can lead to difficult extraction. If the bolt handle has been welded/replaced, there is a good chance the cam on the root is too soft. Also, if the handle was replaced the cocking cam "V" at the rear of the bolt could be soft. This too can cause hard bolt lift. If cocking after dry firing isn't difficult then look to the former.

If none of these surfaces exhibit galling then setback is a possibility.

It is not what you shoot in it that matters... it is what has been fired in it before. The setback in the lugs is permanent and though you are shooting reasonably light loads the previous owner/user may have run some hot stuff through there.

The brass will always expand to match the chamber. With the lug setback the chamber is now longer when fired, but gets shorter as you attempt to raise the bolt.

It is not uncommon...

While possible, galling is far less likely than setback in a Mauser.

Ok, well, today is the first time it's been shot since leaving the factory (Zastava M98). The only thing ever run through it will have been a proof load.

What's the fix? I just shot it, the bolt was hard to open, and the extractor didn't have a bite on the round at all. It slid out of the chamber.

Nope, just had the action bedded and the barrel floated. That's it

Okay... I made some assumptions from the beginning and should have spelled more of them out... None of my assumptions included it being a new rifle. My mistake and something a little more detailed question would have prevented.

Starting from the top... Assumption it is not a mini-mauser (they are push-feed and would have different potentials)...

Taking the bolt apart and looking for the wear points on the extractor, bolt body, retaining clip will help figure out what is binding.

Places I would look include the extractor itself right at the front lug. The extractor may be catching on the bolt lug as it tries to ride under it. A tiny bit of slop (normal) may be allowing the bolt to come back a tiny bit causing it to catch.

The extractor may have a little tweak, or need one, to ride true along the bolt body.

Rough areas or machining marks on the lugs may also be causing an issue but only after firing because the case is preventing it from coming ahead slightly.

Essentially it looks like an extractor issue.

I had one in the shop that was rough when turning the bolt.
Turns out the recess where the extractor ring rides was rough as a cobb.
Polishes all the waves out and it was slick as a button.

Thanks, and my fault: I should have been more forthcoming about the rifle. Accurate bugger; just not terribly useful if it won't extract and eject. Off to a gunsmith?

By the way, it has a whopping 26 rounds through it, all today on the range.

Probably not... The extractor appears to be the issue and any number of little things could cause it to hang up. Taking them apart is not difficult and finding the tight spots is all you really need to do... and then polish them out.

That pretty much puts me over my head!!

Why would it do it on a fired round but not a snap cap?

There must be a YouTube video of a mauser bolt disassembly. There might even be one where the dude has a done it before!

Here you go!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdhNUr4C2UQ

Thanks, Sitka.