M14 Forum

pepsi71ocean

Hey,

I took one of my German mausers to the range it is a 44 BCD, the bolt is all matching and the rifle is all matching, however they aren't all the same, must be a bolt swap.

Anyways, while shooting 1950's yugo 8mm i notice the the ammo chambers and extracts easily, no isues here, but then once you fire the weapon it becomes ungodly hard to extract, you literally have to fight with the bolt to get it to rotate to the open position. I am not sure why this is but i suspect it has to do with the fired casings being to big?

So the same rifle shoots, and extracts 70's rommy 8mm without an issue. needless should i say that that the rifle can't hit paper at 100 yards with either ammo, it doesn't swollow the bullet but it comes close to it.

My M-48 will not hit paper with the Rommy but hits good and tight with the 50's yugo.


can someone explain what the issue is with my 98k?

bigbang

During WW2 the Yogo partisans loaded the Mauser ammo with dynamite to enrich the enemies with a bigbang. Maybe you found a leftover. Extraxtion issues are usually a sign of tremendous overpressure.
Wolf

Swamp Rat

Give the chamber a good cleaning.

Other than that, it's just the ammo, which can vary from being nice and mild to punishing. The higher pressure will cause heavy bolt lift and extraction issues.

One thing I have noticed with Mausers is that the rifle/ammo combo shoots better when the countries match.

pepsi71ocean

the issues are only present with the 98k, the same box of 53 dated ammo shoots and extracts just fine in my M-48, but drop 5 rounds into the 98k and all hell breaks loose.


for now i will be inclined to agree, when shot my M-48 holds a 4 inch pattern at 100yds with yugo, but misses 4 out of 5 rounds with the rommy




Can i use a 38 or 40 caliber bore brush to clean the chamber?

PvtJoker

Have you checked the headspace? The bolt-swap otherwise-matching guns are *usually* pretty good, but the headspace might be just enough on the limits to not like the hot Yugo ammo?

Or if you don't like it, you could always send it to me for "proper disposal"!

Mike the Impaler

The bolt being different is sometimes because when the Germans surrendered, they piled rifles into one pile and bolts into another pile. Your rifle is commonly referred to as a bolt mismatch, or, a bolt m/m.

A good cleaning in the chamber area should help. Remember to clean the barrel immediately after shooting with corrosive ammo.

I would also break the bolt down to its component parts and give it a good cleaning.

Tommo

Used to have the same problem years ago with Portugese 8MM ammo manufactured in the 1950s and 1960s. It was very accurate but turning the bolt was always tough, sometimes had to pound on the bolt handle with a piece of 2X4 to get the bolt open.

Talked to a gunsmith about it, he said might be ammo loaded for machineguns which had thicker rims.

TNJEB

I have also heard the bolts had to be surrendered when boarding the ships home, and they got mixed there. Either way its very common on bring backs. Definitely check the head space. If nothing else for piece of mind.

willriskit

When enemy positions were overrun, it was standard procedure for Marines to remove the bolts from Jap rifles and throw them as far as practicable in case the enemy attempted to use them again either by being by-passed or through infiltration. I have also heard from GI's in the ETO that they did the same thing with German weapons, including bayonets. Later, when the area was secured and it was safe, bolts were refitted to these weapons and they passed into the hands of rear echelon troops as trophies. Unfortunately, no one cared if the bolts matched. Add to these numbers those boltless but otherwise matching 98K's marketed by Ye Olde Hunter and others beginning in the 1950's and the number with mismatched bolts increases considerably. My personal experience with 98K's began in 1959 when I bought my first from the unemployed GI who captured it for $35 (a week's pay for a kid). Regardless of date of manufacture, I have found these to be not only accurate, but safe and trouble-free shooters. In shooting every available cheap surplus ammo in these I can never recall having a problem that wasn't ammo related. The most common being duds and hang-fires from corroded cartridges.

Whatsinaname181

Yes, on the end of a cleaning rod section on the end of a hand drill, soaked with solvent. rinse, lather repeat.

willriskit

Not to steal the thread, but has anyone owned a 98K with believable bringback papers? I have had many with duffle cuts which were obviously brought back under the radar but can't recall ever seeing one of these with papers. These forms usually list pistols and other smaller items which were checked into the armory. I make it a point to only buy those with four-digit dates in high all matching condition, so headspace and other mechanical issues have never been problems.

pepsi71ocean

Actually i saw on Sons Of Guns TV show a K98 that had papers on the camera, and they rebuilt the Mauser from the parts.




Here is a video i shot, hopefully you guys can see what im talking about.

the opening of this movie shows the bolt from the GI take back i have.


http://youtu.be/Pik1hGfP-dU

bsaubin

Had the same issue with one of mine. I just threw that lot of ammo away and tried some commercial. Everything was fine. Then went back to the surplus stuff.

willriskit

It was treated with reverence, but a relative in Germany kept an unloaded 98K along with a shotgun under the sofa. I can't remember him firing either, but about once a year he took both guns out and cleaned them and it was the only time that I was actually allowed to handle either. The 98K fascinated me and is probably the reason I became a firearms enthusiast. As I recall, there were quite a few veterans who owned them. Of course these guns were registered and when uncle passed away, the police visited and I believe ownership was transferred to one of his Stammtisch buddies.

USMC 711

I would concur that it sounds like a headspace issue, and had similar lock ups with it's American cousin, the 1903 Springfield.

Likely, when the case expands to fill the void, their is pressure excerted on the lugs, which is probably beginning to peen the inside receiver locking surfaces as well. I would definitely try to find something close to an NOS bolt if you can first determine whether or not the chamber is shot out and the barrel does not need to be corrected first.

711