1871 mauser fireing pin problem?

[tony1]

I have just aquired a 1871 mauser and have found that the firing pin is only denting the primer but not discharging the cartridge, any imformation or help to correct this fault without having to find a new fireing pin,the bolt seems to have a strong pull/tension.any help or advicewill be of great help.

Information

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[jamie5070]

Is it a light dent? If so than I would think could be crud built up inside he bolt or a weak spring.
john

[Patrick Chadwick]

There are several possibles reasons why the primer is not detonating. More than one may be contributing, so please follow the check list before maybe fixing the wrong problem!
To detonate the primer, the firing pin must move far enough forwards to actually drive the primer base down onto the internal anvil, and with sufficient impact.

1. Impact problems - Spring force is insufficient.
1a. The spring is really weak. Theoretically possible, but I have not experienced it up to now.
1b. Spring is OK, but the bolt assembly is so clogged up with fossilized grease that it acts as a brake, thus reducing the impact on the primer. Not theory - I had this effect with my Martini-Henry. A clean-up cured it.

2) Firing pin not moving far enough forwards.
2a. Movement blocked by dirt within the bolt. Quite possible.
2b. Firing pin is badly worn. Once again this is theoretically possible, but a properly hardened firng ought to be able to hit brass hundreds of thousands of times without being significantly worn. And when you dismantle the bolt, you will see that each component, including the firing pin, has an inspectors stamp, and most of them will have the last two figures of the rifle number as well! So a badly made firing pin is very unlikely.
2c. Firing pin shortened by rust damage. Quite possible, but in this case you will probably have rust pitting problems in other places as well.

Check for 2a and 2b: look at the tip of the firing pin under an eyeglass. It should be smoothly rounded (no sharp edges) and project about 0.08"-0.1" (the values for my 1871s) when the bolt is not cocked. I do not have any tolerance values, so take my figures as a very rough guideline.

3. Case is too far forwards. I.e. grossly excessive clearance. The first check on this is to take a case and a used primer. Push the primer into the pocket far enough that it does not fall out, but not all the way. Inser the cse into the chamber and slowly close the bolt. The bolt will push the case hard up against the step in the chamber, and then force the used primer into the pocket. Remove the case any you will probably see that the primer still project a little way out of the pocket. The amount of this projection is the effective head clearnce. From the CIP figures this could be anything from 0 to 10 thou + bolt end play. If you have been able to fire any cases in your rifle, check them out as well. A projecting primer is a sure sign of excessive head clearance. But once fired cases will probably perform much better when they are reloaded - because the shoulder has moved forwards to fit the actual chamber dimensions - a good reason to use neck-sizing in general.
3a. Chamber is too deeply cut or worn. Theoretically possible, but unlikely, for the same reasons as given under 2b.
3b. Bolt assembly is too far back (i.e. the firing pin starts way back, and doesn't drive the primer base down onto the internal anvil. This could be caused by a worn bolt or a bolt that is not matched to the rifle. Does the bolt number match the system? There will some end play on a closed, fired bolt, but this should be a few thou, i.e. insignificant when compared with the firing pin travel.
3c. Cartridge base too thin. Here, at least we, have a standard. The Mauser 11,15x60R cartridge is included in the CIP tables. The cartridge base thickness is given as 2.40 mm MAX 2.15 mm MIN. Check the cartridge base thickness. You can't do that directly with a micrometer, because of the falnge form. Stand the cartridge on a flat surface (surface plate or glass plate) and use a height gauge or the depth rod on a slide gauge to measure the height. Case that have been reformed from some other caliber may have rims that are too thin.

I know that was rather a lot to do, but you will have to do it one day - either to get the rifle to fire at all, or to optimize case preparation. And you will understand your rifle a lot better afterwards - and why BPCR shooters often use neck-sizing (or even no sizing at all - if one can cast bullets of the right size).

Good luck, and let me know how it turns out!

Patrick

[tony1]

Thank you both for your advice.
I have searched the internet for pictures or written information on how to dismantal clean and reassemble the 1871 mauser bolt so far without any success, if any member could discribe how its done it would be of great help.
Even better does any know of site where this information already excists.

Thankyou

[gunner]

Hi tony1,

look at here and scroll down!

Disassembling the 71-84 Mauser


Regards

Gunner

[tony1]

Thankyou gunner for your fast reply I should have said that I have the information on the 1871/84 bolt.
The 1871 bolt seems not to be dismantal in the same way as the 1871/84
and don't want to damage my bolt in igorence so still need giudence about correct safe method to dismantal

[gunner]

Hi tony1,

from my information it should have the same bolt like the 1871/84 or the 1887. The only difference is that it has no ejector. It should work. In this link is under External Links a Owner Manual. I can not open it it seems to bee on an US server, try it eventually is there a usefull manual in it.
Mauser Model 1871 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Regards

Gunner

[Patrick Chadwick]

Sorry Tony1, I missed out a reference:
"Military Rifle Disassembly and Reassembly" by Mowbray and Puleo, ISBN 1-931464-32-4, is the work to have for just about any non-automatic ex-service rifle you are likely to come across.

(I had include the reference in my original posting, but the software garbled everything and repeated a huge chunk of text instead.)

Patrick

[tony1]

Thankyou all for your help I remove and cleaned the bolt and all is now working.