Custom Mauser question (updated with pics)

J

JUSTinTYME

New member
Good morning everyone, been too long since I've been on here. Anyway I just had a lot of work done on my model 98. It has a nice new boyd's walnut stock, rechambered to 30-06, cerakoted to sig gray, and I had an aftermarket trigger put in.

The problem is the bolt seems extremely stiff now that all this work was done to it. It could just be me but I don't remember it being this hard to open the bolt. I'm not talking about just when I'm shooting either. Its when the bolt is opening and cocking. I have not shot it yet, just safety checked it and dry fired it. I plan on going to the range today and maybe taking it for bear tomrrow-wednesday.

Any ideas why the bolt seems to be stiffer? Maybe the fresh cerakote tightened everything up a litt bit and it will loosen up a little after I put some rounds through it?

I know, pics or it didn't happen. I'll get some soon.
 
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Not enough information. No way to tell with any certainty. So, the following is all speculation.

No particular reason for the effort requited to open the bolt to increase, unless perhaps a stronger striker spring was installed. That would do it. As for the ceracoat, I can't see how that would affect it....assuming that they didn't ceracoat the INSIDE of the receiver. And WHY would they do that ? I suppose, if they applied ceracoat to the internal bolt parts (cocking piece, etc), the tighter tolerances created (more friction) would increase effort. But that would be stupid, if they did that.

Mauser 98 actions are pretty straightforward. So, if the effort truly has increased, I would disassemble the bolt and look for signs of ceracoat on the internal parts, where it should NOT be. Also, find out if a new/ stronger striker spring was installed.
 
Thanks for the reply. I don't believe the insides were cerakoted and he never said anything about a new striker spring. I did ask him to make sure it was 100 percent reliable however so maybe he did put new springs and such in. I'll have to ask next time I'm down there. I'll look up how to disassemble and reassemble the bolt soon and I probably should give a good cleaning when I do that.
 
I did ask the smith about it. He just said it's a mauser and it's the nature of the beast since it's cock on open. I knew that but I can't even operate the bolt from my shoulder like I use to. It's definitely harder to open once the firing pin is forward.
 
Another thought....just a thought. Did you have the bolt handle changed or re-forged ? A change in the size or angle, etc., could translate to more effort on opening.

The only other thing I can think of is debris in the bolt lug recesses. Have you thoroughly cleaned it since you got it back from the smith ?

That's as far as my thinking takes me.....
 
You said the rifles was rechambered to 30-06.
Do you mean rebarreled to 30-06?
If it is a re-barrel job I have to assume it was an 8mm Mauser before and if that's the case the feed lips of the receiver are set up for that 8MM case. They need to be re-worked to fed the 30-06 easily. It's not hard to do, but it needs to be done
 
I didn't have him do any work to the bolt. He I will give it another good cleaning before I shoot it.

The rifle was rechambered/rebarreled to a 30-06. I have not put any rounds into it since it was worked on. The smith fired 3 rounds through it to test it and make sure everything was working right and in spec. He said it functioned flawlessly but wouldn't tell me how it shot. I like the way it looks and I hope I like the way it shoots just as much. And yes wyosmith it was
8mm before.
 
First? It would be nice if the smith would say "I know what it isn't" when 'it' is the problem. I will assume there are smith that build and completely assemble a rifle before testing. Me? I am much slower than that, I would install a striped bolt into the receiver, that would include 'without' the extractor spring/ring.

If the bolt operat4ed without going to a bind I would start assembling the bolt with the firing pin assemble and extractor. I would expect resistance to bolt opening after firing, then there is opening the bolt when cocked and the safety on. The cock on opening resistance comes from the cam cut on the rear of the bolt and pressure of the spring.

Spring? I am the fan of killer firing pins. I want my primers to be crushed before the case, powder and bullet know their little buddy, the primer has been crushed. Then there are those little holes in primers, it has been suggested I call those primers 'blanked:eek:', I suggested the hole in the primer was caused by the a balnking weak firing pin spring.

What could you do? Get a weak firing pin spring for test purposes. Then there is the cocking cam on the back of the bolt, the surface should be clean and smooth, it is a moving part so I suggest you lube the mating surfaces.

When opening the bolt the bolt cams back. there is a chance the cam-ing back of the bolt aids in case extraction.

F. Guffey
 
My 51st year of Mauser sporterizing, and I still know nothing, or I would not still be doing it.

1) When it is hard to first open a bolt with a fired case is probably dented abutments. That takes some kind of hot ammo that destroys brass.

2) When it is hard to open with no ammo,
a) I have had bulges bolt body and bulged abutments, but that takes some bolt thrust that dramatically destroys the brass.
b) I have had the bolt scraping against intrusive scope base screws.
c) I have had abrasive dust in and on the bolt.
 
I'd start with the basics: Are any of the scope mount screws or the action screws bearing on the bolt? Did you bed the action?
 
The problem is the bolt seems extremely stiff now that all this work was done to it. It could just be me but I don't remember it being this hard to open the bolt. I'm not talking about just when I'm shooting either. Its when the bolt is opening and cocking. I have not shot it yet, just safety checked it and dry fired it. I plan on going to the range today and maybe taking it for bear
Click to expand...

In post #1 JUSTinTYME qualifies his question, he starts with "He has not fired the rifle". ME? I would not have to take the bolt apart, I have at least 30 Mauser bolts. His smith should know the difference between opening and closing a striped bolt and the additional effort caused by the added resistance to cocking the bolt on opening.

Then there are the long screws. I would think long scope mount screws would scratch the bolt 'AND:eek:;) be tuff on the way in and tuff on the way out.

F. Guffey
 
F. Guffey has a good suggestion in checking one part at a time, and Slopemeno's suggestion about the scope base screws is a good one to check.

Also, who did the bolt work and how? If the cocking cam on the bolt is allowed to become hot during the bolt handle work, the heat treatment will be destroyed and the cam will become soft; that will cause the bolt lift to become harder as the hard cocking piece digs into the soft cam.

FWIW, the is (was) a standard K.98k, so there should be no problems with wrong bolt parts as there can be with a short action.

Jim
 
I don't believe the insides were cerakoted
Your pictures sure look like the whole thing got coated, and if you look at the official videos, they only plug the barrel as the coating is only a mil thick. But - the coating is applied by eye, so if the coater is a novice he might have overcoated the inside and allowed some material to puddle in the receiver recesses. As the coating has to be removed mechanically you can only hope that repeat operation will slowly work out the excess.
 
You had the bolt handle forged or welded, doesn't matter which the symptom of hard bolt lift will be the same for either. The cleaning of the bolt and then the heat from forging or welding left that steel dryer than a popcorn fart. You have metal on metal without any lubrication.

The solution is simple. Get a cotton swab, and some lithium grease, and lubricate the camming surfaces on the back of the cocking piece and bolt body.

Work the action a couple dozen times to make sure it gets distributed evenly.

Let us know if that doesn't fix the problem.

Jimro
 
I had a semi-auto 9mm pistol "something coated". The finished product was a "manually operated magazine fed" for hundreds of shots and it was a couple of years before I could get it apart due to the interference fit caused by the coating process.
Give your rifle a good cleaning to remove any debris. Lube it up with some medium to heavy type lube (CLP or 0W40 Mobil One) making sure you get plenty of lube in/on the camming surfaces of the cocking mechanism and work the action a few hundred times dry firing it about 20% of the cycles. Clean it again to remove whatever wore off and see how it feels.
 
Looks to me like the inside of the receiver was cerakoted. That could add a notable amount of material - I seem to remember cerakote adds between 3 to 5 thousandths of an inch so that could be up to 10 thousandths extra material if it's even a standard (not heavy) coating

My first thought would be to get Blue Dykem (Machinist's Blue/Red Dye) and dye the inside of the receiver and then run the bolt through it a few times to see if it's rubbing high in any one spot. Permanent marker may work too. I don't know what all would be entailed in removing the dye though. On my rifle I'd just do it with denatured alcohol and then relube everything. I'd also be checking any camming surfaces and looking for burrs, rough finishes, etc.
 
I bet they got Cerakote inside the receiver, I had a Beretta Cerakoted once and as soon as I got it back I ran into problems with it feeding. come to find out there is a little rail between the frame and the barrel (the Beretta doesn't have the Browning style lock up) and because this little rail had been coated the friction between them caused the gun to fail EVERY shot. I bet you are running into the same problem. Soak your bolt in some lube and see if it gets easier at all. Don't fire it like that but if it does get easier and then stiffen up again it might indicate there is Cerakote in the chamber.
 
I am not that familiar with the various new finishes (paint-type), so I am wondering if Ceracote did get in where it shouldn't be, what is the best method of removing it? Is it best to try to just remove it from the wrong places or should/can it be totally removed and the process started over?

Jim
 
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