Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Problem with Mauser Bolt closing hard

I have a 98 mauser that has been rebarreled. The bolt has smooth travel. However, to close, it takes forward pressure on the bolt handle. It appears that the last 1/8" of the travel is where the reverse tension on the bolt needs to be overcome by having to place forward pressure on the bolt handle and then it will close. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thank you Lwr308

Try cleaning up the bolt lock plunger spring or even replacing it with a lighter one.

Clemson

Possible that the extractor groove is not deep enough on the new barrel.Pushing the bolt forward with force may be bending the extractor enough to close? Does it do this with or without a cartridge in the chamber?

Thanks all for your suggestions. It closes hard without a cartridge.
Lwr308

Unless my memory's toast, Mausers don't have an extractor groove; the breech is turned flush..

The extractor should not be coming into contact with the breech. One way to eliminate that from consideration is to remove the extractor and collar and then re-insert the bolt.. If you have resistance then, it's something else entirely...

Was your bolt handled altered at the same time. Possibly the front weld contacting the receiver a little hard when dropping the handle down into it's fully closed position.

My bad,I was thinking of the cut breech on Win CRF when I said that.I had a Maser rebarreled once and the Extractor was causing a bind,a little fitting cleaned it up....Good catch,you be the MAN!

I would check the trigger and cocking piece tolerances. As the bolt is closed the last bit of travel usually takes the firing pin spring load off cocking piece/end-of-bolt-body mating surface and transfers it to the sear.

On the 700 for example a small detent is overcome. Mauser bolt bodies are flat there, but I have seen small detents cut in there and that could be loading the spring onto the bolt handle a little early.

It also shows why the cock on open feature is such an upgrade.

The problem may not be there, just listing possibilities.

I would guess the trigger was "adjusted" and too much metal was taken out. Depending on the exact trigger there are one or two mating surfaces where metal may have been taken off.
art

Having lived through a similar experience, I would suggest you look closely at the bolt lug races in the receiver also. Check to see if the lugs may have set back in the raceways when the rifle was fired, making it difficult to both open and close the bolt. In my case the receiver was dead soft, it didn't even come up on the Rockwell "C" scale when tested.
Just a possibility here as many model 98's produced at the end of the WW II years didn't have any heat treating, as mine didn't have.

Don

Thanks everyone- this is helping. I took the firing pin and spring out and it works perfect. I know very little and assume that this means the extraction claw maybe is not the problem. The rifle has an adjustable trigger. So where does this narrow me down to?
Thanks Again Lwr308

Thanks Don The steel is very hard I do not think that is it.
Thanks again Lwr308

Are you syre that it has 98 trigger in it?

If memory serve correctly the 95/96 type triggers are a little different. They will all fit just not work corretly.

With the rifle empty, (and make sure it is really, really empty),
hold the trigger back and close the bolt. The firing pin should go into the fired position.

If the bolt closes normally, then the problem is most likely with the sear.

Another possibility is, if the main spring was replaced, it could be a little bit too long, not letting it compress quite enough when the bolt is closed. Try another main spring, if you have one available.

Has any parts been modified or replaced? Parts such as the cocking piece or trigger, or the bolt shroud, or the safety?

When you remove the cocking piece, firing pin, and bolt shroud, then replace it, does the firing pin turn all the way in, and the little spring loaded plunger, I don't remember what it is called, line up with the notch it fits in?

Problem Solved--- After chasing possibles; Clemson " The Man" was right. Plunger spring was too stiff. I filed 2 coils off and she works slick. Thanks everyone, this actually caused me to learn something. I had it rebarreled with a 30-06 Contour 3 Barrel. Pleased to say my son whom I had the rifle barreled for put 2 out of 3 touching and I managed a ragged hole with 3 at 100. This remaining problem bothered me but hopefully now it is history. Sure appreciate everyone helping. Lwr308

Good to know it was that simple a problem.. I've not run into that particular issue with a Mauser before. Always good to learn something new...