Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Mauser 98 257 Roberts - Rounds rattling in magazine

Kar98 mauser with Brownells aluminum bottom metal. I've replaced the mag spring with another I had acquired with no luck. The rounds still move around in the mag when you tilt the rifle. Has anyone tried the 10% stiffer mag spring from Brownells with any success? I'm no gunsmith, just a tinkerer. Is there anything else I need to look at.

Some of my Savage 99's do that with the rotary magazine 5 up. I take one out to improve it. Totally different scenario I realize.

I've shoved a lot of cartridges into Mauser magazines over the years and never encountered that problem. What exactly do you mean by "move around"?

One of the cartridges is moving back and forth like there's no enough spring tension to hold them up tight against another. I have no issues with feeding however. It's not a big deal but is a little annoying and I'd like to remedy it if I can on the cheap.

Hmmm. I guess I too would try a new stiffer mag spring. Was the follower altered in any way?

Unsure if the follower was altered but it was jeweled so possibly. Maybe I need to source a follower and see if that works.

I have a Vanguard 243 from the mid eighties that has always done the same. It feeds fine but the shells slide in the mag. The darn thing is a long action without any block, I don't know if that was normal, or it is a screw up. I was only 14 when I bought it and was so proud, I would not have taken it back if it sounded like a rap song.

Try stretching the spring currently in place to increase tension.

If ONE round is moving about, and the round is on top, there could be some kind of high spot that keeps the case off the feed lip and "floating." COULD be...
Jeweling wouldn't have an impact on how the follower "follows," however, the follower MIGHT not be pushing "straight" -- you hear endlessly about no-tilt followers in AR magazines.
I would try tweaking the follower spring just a bit depending on which end of the "rattler" is the loosest in the column. Probably won't take much.

Messed with the spring to no avail. It's always the 2nd round down, towards the ejection port/bolt handle that's sliding around. It's like there isn't enough tension to hold the rounds together. Not an issue with feeding so possible the spring tension is fine and it's a follower issue but it's like nails on a chalkboard to me....can't stand hearing it rattle around when I change positions of the rifle.

Follower

The follower would be my guess as well. The easiest trick to try is to tilt the follower slightly by bending the spring one way or the other, but it might have to be filed slightly narrower.

John, I tried bending the spring to adjust tilt on the follower but ran out of time before seeing any results. Before ordering another follower I'll fiddle with it again.

I'm curious about this as my Zastava M98 does the same thing. Four in the magazine and one will slide back and forth as the rifle is tilted. Three in the magazine and there's no sound at all. And like yours, there are no feeding problems at all, regardless of the number of rounds in the magazine.

If it's the second round down (left). I'd think the follower spine or ridge isn't putting enough lateral pressure on that round.

I'd try filing some material off the left side of the follower so it could move more left, better trapping that second round. If you file too much, the top round may not be held as tightly under the right rail as the follower shifts left.

I'd try building up the left side of that rib with tape to see how much thickness is needed to put pressure on the second, left round. That may give an idea on how much material needs to be removed from the left side of the follower.

Just an idea.

DF

Before we start permanently altering parts, I would suggest measuring the mag box dimensions to determine whether they are correct for the cartridge- don't assume that they are. I recently encountered an expensive Mauser magazine whose dimensions were way off, despite being "designed" for the cartridge in question.

I had the same problem with my .35 Whelen in a Mark X Mauser. The angle of the follower varied because of the spring. The rifle was originally a .243 and the part of the spring that slides into the follower had been shortened for the short follower and could slide back and forth in the new full length follower.

I replaced it with the stiffer spring from Brownells, not so much for the added stiffness but to get a new full length spring. Haven't had a problem since.

I have the exact same problem with a M70 Classic in 6.5x55. I have tried messing with the spring and I also bought an aftermarket follower. I have determined that for my rifle this is likely an issue with the dimensions of the round vs the shape of the shelf ridge on the follower and the fact that this is a mid-length cartridge in a long action.

Initally, I too was only able to put one round in the magazine to keep it from rattling. It was always the second round placed in the magazine that rattled. After looking at the relationship of the rounds as they sat on the shelf of the follower, I had a tool and die maker friend take the follower and lower the ridge on the shelf (which the second round rest on) and change the angle to more closely reflect the angle of the 6.5X55 cartridge. This helped a little. Now, I can place two rounds in the magazine and it won't rattle, but after placing the third round in, it rattles again.

Realizing that this is a long action meant to primarily handle the 30-06 class of cartridges, I decided to see what happens when I place my .280 or 30-06 rounds in the magazine. No problem at all. I can place any number of rounds in the magazine and no rattle. This tells me it's not a spring pressure issue or problem with the follower tilting etc. I'm thinking it's a problem of geometry between the cartridge (these older style cartridges like the 7mm Mauser, 6.5X55, have a steeper angle from base to shoulder than the 30-06 case) and the followers designed to work primarily with the 30-06 class of cartridges in these long action rifles. One size does not fit all equally well. What I don't understand is why some who own these very same rifles in these same calibers don't also have these problems. Maybe that's just a matter of the minor differences in manufacture that doesn't affect the larger 30-06 class of rounds but do affect these smaller "long" action cartridges, which these long actions were not made to specifically accommodate.

Doubletap, how do you go from what should be a short action rifle for the .243 based on the .308 to a long action 35 Whelen? Was the .243 in the Mark X a long action?? If so, those stubby rounds must have been swimming around in that magazine box. If that is the case, they must have had to really change the follower to allow for it to feed smoothly. Your issues are different than what I think the OP and I are dealing with and I think ours need a different solution, if one is even possible.

Mark X .243's had a blocked magazine for the shorter round. When it was changed to .35 Whelen, the block was removed and the follower replaced, but the original spring was retained.