Loading Problem with Mauser C96

[Bruce McAskill]

The big problem with WD-40 is that it finally starts to become sticky capturing dust, dirt and burnt powder. Then it starts to harden and it can become like concrete and builds up in layers. I have had many firearms that I have had to take apart for people who have used it for years as the firearms no longer worked and even had to chip it out of the actions.

[Patrick Chadwick]

I have one about a Bren believe it or not. Maybe another time.

Why not now? Don't be coy, let's hear it!

[browningautorifle]

OK...see'ns you asked. First, nothing really bad happened. I was on a range in about 1983 and there was a substantial supply of milsurps brought to shoot. One was a Bren, 7.92, Chinese. Mint condition with correct mags. We had shot until we hated the sound of gunfire and two of us decided to go for some lunch. As I passed the Bren, I found one lonely 8mm cartridge lying where it had been dropped during handling. All the ammo used this day was of questionable sources and this cartridge was no better. Since everything had been fine to that point, I said "I'll just tap this one off and we'll go...the Bren was right there and I picked up a mag, loading one round. I fitted the mag and drew back the action. When I touched off the trigger, the round detonated and the world changed. The internals of the mag had hit the roof above us, blown clean out. The mag was shaped like a stove pipe but still fixed. The gun had cycled and the back of the cartridge had separated, leaving the front in the chamber. The bullet had gone down range. The primer pocket was about three times it's original size and stretched oval. The headstamp was mostly obliterated. The primer was gone. When all this happened, I can still see the face of one of our number down the benches a bit and I immediately said "Did you see that?" He said nothing. And we turned and left. The gun worked perfectly even after and we hammered the mag back to more or less shape so it worked. I can still see his amazed face. I was totally unhurt and I think I owe it to the magnificent strength of the Inglis Bren (they're all just as strong). The ammo? It was 8mm. Probably surplus from three wars before and cooked and shaken and stirred and...could have been worse.

How was that one? Did I ramble enough? Should make even Capt Laidler yawn...

[jmoore]

...The primer pocket was about three times it's original size and stretched oval. The headstamp was mostly obliterated. The primer was gone...

8mm and BREN? Meet 9mm and Sterling:

Attachment 44156



No damage to the SMG. But as a LH user, I got a wee bit of spray during a long burst of random ammo. Reloads, hollow points, lead bullets, Egyptian, and who knows what all... Not enough bothered to quit shooting, though, after a brief inspection!

[Ludwig99b0]

I'm sure that's true if you use it in place of a regular lubricant, Bruce, but I just use it as a bore-cleaner, when, of course, it's swabbed out immediately. My method is to wrap a patch tightly round a bore-brush, soak it in WD-40, push it through, and then swab the bore until a patch goes through completely unmarked. Touch wood, I haven't had any problems - yet.

[browningautorifle]

No damage to the SMG

We used to see those occasionally when the chamber would get dirty. The case would stop and the fixed firing pin wouldn't. You get variations of burst casings and bullets in the barrel on that one. I'm sure Peter saw one or two...

[jmoore]

We used to see those occasionally when the chamber would get dirty.

In this case it seems to have been a bad load, as the SMG ran fine the rest of the afternoon. No great surprise, considering the rounds used were odds and sods. None of my reloads, I think, but the lead bullets certainly pointed to some of the ammo at least being non-factory. The lovely part is that these old beasties are tough!

Not so much C96 pistols. Have seen several that have been pounded to death. Sort of surprising, as it doesn't seem to be a Mauser trait. Locking seems fine, but the bolt retention block and supporting structure aren't all that strong, comparatively.

[browningautorifle]

The guns were largely hand made too from what I can find out. They were hand blued too, I had one that had no blue inside under the hammer mech. That's when I found out they used a browning sort of technology to blue them. The gun was like new with the stock, 1918 manufacture.