98K Bolt won't lock down on last round

[Mauserman98K]

Having a problem with bolt not locking down. This ONLY happens on the last round. I have installed a new extractor, replaced the weak magazine spring and follower. I even went so far as to try a new 20 round magazine. It does not seem to matter what type of ammo I use either, Spitzer, round, etc. I have also pulled the trigger guard/magazine housing as well and all seems fine. I am lost! Can anyone help??

 

[Scooter22]

Might seem like a dumb question after all you did but could the last round be popping up in front of the extractor instead of under it ? The 98 is a control feed action and the bolt won't close on a round thats pushed in the chamber. If the feed rails that are part of the receiver are out of spec, that can cause feed problems. Look at the last round and see where it' going. It should come up under the extractor and be fed into the chamber. Good luck.
Welcome to THR.

 

[Mauserman98K]

Might seem like a dumb question after all you did but could the last round be popping up in front of the extractor instead of under it ? The 98 is a control feed action and the bolt won't close on a round thats pushed in the chamber. If the feed rails that are part of the receiver are out of spec, that can cause feed problems. Look at the last round and see where it' going. It should come up under the extractor and be fed into the chamber. Good luck.
Welcome to THR.

Having a problem with bolt not locking down. This ONLY happens on the last round. I have installed a new extractor, replaced the weak magazine spring and follower. I even went so far as to try a new 20 round magazine. It does not seem to matter what type of ammo I use either, Spitzer, round, etc. I have also pulled the trigger guard/magazine housing as well and all seems fine. I am lost! Can anyone help??

That is the dilemma. The last round will not position or seat under the extractor and I cannot figure why. The bolt seems to pick it up fine and chamber the round, it just will not seat under the extractor. ?? I hate to change parts as it is a totally matching #'s FYI: I am originally from Warwick / Cornwall, NY. Tom

 

[Slamfire]

That is the dilemma. The last round will not position or seat under the extractor and I cannot figure why. The bolt seems to pick it up fine and chamber the round, it just will not seat under the extractor. ?? I hate to change parts as it is a totally matching #'s FYI: I am originally from Warwick / Cornwall, NY. Tom

This is the bolt face to my Dumoulin Mauser action.

[




this is a military Mauser



M70



I don't have a picture of your extractor, I have one around here. Your extractor is square on the bottom and the face is not beveled. It will not snap over the rim. These extractors are designed to snap over the rim. So the bottoms are rounded. And, in one that I modified, I took my Dremel took and ground a bevel on the face of the round.

 

[Mauserman98K]

First I want to thank everyone for your replies and help. I took some photos of my bolt. Please excuse the quality and I hope you can see what I obviously cannot. I also noticed that the last cartridge seems to "pop" or "jump" out of the magazine in front of the bolt when chambering it.
Thank You again... Tom

 

[Slamfire]

I would like to use your first picture if you grant me permission. If you notice, the bottom is flat.

Mauser developed his controlled round feed extractor to stop double loading that occurred with the M1888 Commission rifle, and maybe with some of his models. Mauser had push feed versions. This is a more of a push feed than a controlled round feed:



From what I have read the double loadings resulted in bullet tips causing chambered cartridges to ignite. Hence, the design mod to make the rifle magazine feed only. I don't know why this extractor type was not universal in military rifles, but it was not. I do have a Colombian Mauser where the last round would pop out of the magazine and I had to modify the extractor like the FN Supreme extractor in the picture below.

This is an FN Supreme Mauser bolt in 264 Win that cracked its lugs. The crack is unimportant to the discussion. But, if you notice, see how much the face of the extractor has been rounded. This is what it takes to make the extractor bend around the rim. I would recommend finding an extra extractor and do this modification on it, if the current extractor is needed for "correctness"

 

[Mauserman98K]

By all means, you can use the photo(s). So what you are saying is that I should try using the FN extractor?? I never saw the difference in my original extractor and the new one as in the photo(s).
Thank You,
Tom

 

[HankC]

The bottom corner of your extractor seems square to me, may not give a nice lead in to guide the rim in the claw. Round the corner to give a nice lead in helps. Why last round? maybe less spring force to push the last round up and overcome the square cover. While Mauser is control feed, it should also do push feed even if the rim is not in the claw. Relieve the extractor tension helps. I had to do one of my Mausers to do so. If a round is not in the claw and the extractor not jump over the rim, you can't close the bolt.

 

[Mauserman98K]

This 98K has sat in my safe for over 25 years w/o being fired as I was blinded in 1993. I would take it out for cleaning and such occasionally. But I never had this problem until now. This was ALWAYS a reliable and dependable hunting rifle. Years back I always/only used Remmington 198gr. 8MM Mauser cartridges and since they no longer make it, well I just assumed that was the problem. I will try rounding the corner of the extractor and see what happens. Thank you all for the input and advice.
Tom
The VA has restored some of my vision in one eye.. don't worry, I just do LARGE silhouette shooting at close range now. LOL

 

[Mauserman98K]

That is the dilemma. The last round will not position or seat under the extractor and I cannot figure why. The bolt seems to pick it up fine and chamber the round, it just will not seat under the extractor. ?? I hate to change parts as it is a totally matching #'s FYI: I am originally from Warwick / Cornwall, NY. Tom

I filed the leading/lower corner of the extractor...works like a charm with all my ammo now. Thank you so much to everyone for the help.
Tom

 

[Scooter22]

 

[Mauserman98K]

LOL, LOL Very COOL I don't think (?) I could have done it without y" all. Esp. with my poor vision.
Thank You again,
Tom

 

[Slamfire]

I filed the leading/lower corner of the extractor...works like a charm with all my ammo now. Thank you so much to everyone for the help.
Tom

Great! I am so happy when my advice works, and does not cause a train wreck!



More advice. Always feed from the magazine. Modified Mauser extractors will snap over the rim, until they break. I have had it happen on a M1903. Luckly there are lots of 03 extractors. However, I live in fear of my early push feed M77 Ruger tang safety. It has a faux controlled round feed extractor.



It looks Mauser, but actually, the action is a push feed. There are lots of people looking for a replacement extractor because the things will eventually break.

This is a better arrangement.

 

[lord frith]

Might seem like a dumb question after all you did but could the last round be popping up in front of the extractor instead of under it ? The 98 is a control feed action and the bolt won't close on a round thats pushed in the chamber. If the feed rails that are part of the receiver are out of spec, that can cause feed problems. Look at the last round and see where it' going. It should come up under the extractor and be fed into the chamber. Good luck.
Welcome to THR.

Try it single shot. The extractor should snap over without issue. I have 7 Mausers and all snap over.
Stephen

 

[Bwana John]

Inadequate magazine follower spring tension, combined with less feed rail to cartridge case friction.

With use the feed rails smooth out leading to less friction to hold the last round captive, and with use the magazine follower spring gets weaker. Different brass cases can have different coefficients of friction. Nickel plated case make it worse.

While you have performed a "work around", as the feed rails get smoother and the magazine follower spring gets weaker the loss of the "controlled round feed" function could lead to feed jams, and even partial or complete emptying the magazine when you open the bolt. If every thing worked perfectly the extractor nose could remain square, AS LONG as the cartridges were always put into the magazine first. The good aspect to reconfiguring the extractor is you can quickly throw a single cartridge into the breach without putting it into the magazine first, HOWEVER this fix will sooner or later cause the extractor nose to crack off because of too much flexing, especially on older steel that was not original intended to be constantly bent back and forth.

Nickel plated, extra large diameter cases are especially known to have the same problem due to less friction between the cartridge case and feed rails. The African "in the field" work around is to roll your nickel plated cartridges in the dirt (!?!) to create more friction because the nickel is just too slick. Not an especially comforting fix on a dangerous game rifle!

A long term solution is to make the underside of the feed rails rougher, and replace the magazine follower spring. Try making longitudinal scratches with course sandpaper on the bottom most cartridge in the magazine and see if the extra friction keeps the cartridge captive in the mag as you work the bolt through a full mag.

Extreme measures are to weld up and reprofile the feed lip geometry.

 

[wiscoaster]

New magazine springs have cured many a firearm action problem!!

 

[Scooter22]

Try it single shot. The extractor should snap over without issue. I have 7 Mausers and all snap over.
Stephen

Most do if they are beveled. Some don,t beveled or not. Still not a good idea as it puts a lot of stress on the extractor that really wasn,t designed to snap over.