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I recently bought an old beat up Spanish Mauser at a gun show for $100. Most problems were relatively easy to fix but the bolt is really giving me some trouble. It travels forward and back smoothly but when I go to lock it, i get a lot of resistance. It takes a lot of force to close the bolt. I think it is making contact somewhere in the receiver and that is making it hard to turn. Anybody have any suggestions on how to fix this or know what part is causing it?
Welcome to the forum, is there any grease buildup that might have turned hard inside the bolt? Is there a screw inside the barrel ring from it being drilled and tapped? It's hard to say without any pics or anything...? Is it the right bolt for the rifle?
Probably hasn't been drilled and tapped as these came direct from storage on a sunken Spanish galleon recently found off the coast of Florida. Fossilized grease would be my guess as well but it's possible something it bent. These $100 rifles are the worst of what wasn't the best of imports to begin with. I went through about 40 of them and only found one worth buying. The metal really wasn't that bad but the stocks were almost all busted.
Guess we need to have a look to be of any help here.
One other thought, don't take this the wrong way - the gun is cock on closing, have you ever operated one before? Push it forward, then push it all the way forward until the cocking piece extends, then down. It is a different feel that takes a bit of getting used to, some shooters hate it, I prefer it with a properly designed bolt (the P14/M1917 comes to mind). It should be smooth though. Alternatively, as said above could be grease, crap in the chamber... I assume this is happening when dry/unloaded correct?
He hasn't been on since he posted this so it could take a couple days to find out...
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I disassembled the bolt to see if there was any problem with the internals that would be causing a problem. I run into the same problem with the stripped down bolt. I checked for hardened grease inside the receiver like suggested and cleaned it. There are no screws drilled into the receiver and there are no dents in the metal. I'm pretty certain that the problem is with the bolt body. I think it is making contact somewhere in the front of the receiver. I think the right thing to do would be to buy a replacement bolt. Thoughts?
There isn't a blown out casing in the chamber is there? Low odds but worth a check.
A couple of photos might be helpful also. You may have the wrong bolt for the rifle.
Why don't you buy some engineers dye paint the bolt/internal action then judiciously place it in the rifle (means carefully) try it like you have before withdraw carefully and see what marks are there.
My summation is horizontal lines will be from forward rear movement and circumferential one from rotation what your looking for is area where it should not be contacting like a circumferential marks half way down the bolt which could/may indicate a bent bolt.
Do the recoil lugs on the bolt as well to see how they are engaging in the action
Failing that if you know a friendly gunsmith take it to them and just say can you quickly check this (hopefully they will do it for nix)
Thats my 5c worth (2c is no longer a currency in Aus)
I got one of these Spanish Mausers and the bolt lugs were peened and deformed. It looked like someone tried to correct excessive headspace by deforming the lugs with a sledge hammer.
I say again...Quote:
Originally Posted by browningautorifle
Could be the receiver is warped/twisted or the extractor ring is binding.