Help! I screwed up!

[Langenator]

Here's the dumb thing I did: I had the bolt of my Yugo M48 taken apart to get the last of the cosmo out of it. Had it all back togther and I let the safety go all the way to the left, which let the spring take the firing pin and cocking piece forward. So, now my firing pin is sticking through the bolt face, I can't pull the cocking piece and firing pin back out, and I can't get the bolt into the receiver?

How do I undo this?

 

[rammy]

try this:

http://surplusrifle.com/yugom48/disassemble/hs.asp

hope it helps

been there done that with my mauser m1904/39. the fireing pin and bolt head went flying across the room

 

[Kharn]

I did the same hare-brained thing with my Mauser when I was first cleaning it. I believe I ended up fixing it by grabbing the bolt sleeve in a padded vise, and then raising up the bolt handle to cock it again.

Kharn

 

[rammy]

here is what I had to do to get it back together.

1. Insert the firing pin into the firing pin spring, and into the bolt head. The firing pin will only go into the bolt head one way, so no error is possible.

2. Insert the assembly into the bolt body, and line up the slotted lug with the bolt handle. Compress the spring to insert the bolt head all the way into the bolt body.

3. Rotate the bolt head 90 deg. to line up the bolt head and the bolt body slotted lugs, then rotate it a FURTHER 180 deg. to line up with the UNSLOTTED lug.

4. Rotate the safety to the OFF position, and push the bolt knob back onto the rear end of the bolt, and hold it in that position.

5. Rotate the bolt head 90 deg. so its slotted lug is pointing AWAY from the bolt handle. Now comes the tricky bit!

6.Grasp the bolt head in your LEFT hand, and the bolt knob in your RIGHT hand, with the bolt handle pointing DOWN.

7. Go to the table and move your WRTISTS so that the bolt handle is sticking out to your FRONT. Hook the bolt knob on the edge of the table.

8. In this step the bolt knob will be sliding up a steep ramp toward becoming cocked, so considerable force is required. PREVENTING the bolt body from rotating by holding the bolt knob in its position on the table, rotate BOTH the bolt head and bolt knob 90 deg. by moving your wrists toward the table. SNAP!

9. The bolt is now cocked ---with the slotted lugs lined up with each other--- and ready to reinsert into the rifle.

 

[spacemanspiff]

happened to me too, first time cleaning my mauser m98 bolt. i had planned ahead and had printed out the step by step details on disassembly, but nothing mentioned how to solve this problem. didnt take long to figure out what needed to be done, but doing it without a vise was interesting (and frustrating).
good luck! and once you have it fixed, you'll realize you learned firsthand just how that bolt action really works!

 

[Langenator]

After a bit or research, I found this thread on the Gunsnet C&R board.

Apparently the fix is to:

1. Clamp the bolt in a padded vice
2. Use a big standard screwdriver to push the cocking piece/sear back
3. Rotate safety to 12 o'clock
4. Resume re-assembling the rifle as per the directions

Apparently, doing this to your bolt is kind of the initiation into the Mauser owners' club.

Now I just have to find myself a padded vice...

 

[Kharn]

Lead shims will work, worst case, show up at your gunsmith's with a six pack and ask for his assistance.

Kharn

 

[Ed]

Just don't do what I did. Placed the blot on the edge of the counter on the wood molding part and push down to release pressure and rotate it back. Part of the counter came off. Next time I used a vice.

 

[Feanaro]

I did the same thing with my M48A. I seem to remember fixing it by putting the cocking piece/sear against the edge of a table(I made sure it was a table no one would ever see again, I scratched it a good bit) and pushed down, HARD. Then I twisted the bolt to the correct position.

 

[Jim K]

Holy baloney, Batman, it's simple.

Put the bottom front of the cocking piece on the edge of a workbench or table.

Push down on the bolt body, using the bolt handle for a grip.

When the top of the cocking piece clears the bolt sleeve, turn the safety to the mid position.

Install the bolt in the normal manner.

Jim

 

[Roadkill]

I'm not trying at all to be a jerk, but don't the Mod 48s have the ring in the stock for disassembly/assembly? I've got a 98K and that's what the insert in the stock is used for. My nightmare was with a mosin bolt.

rk

 

[JohnKSa]

Ring in the stock?

Where?

 

[Langenator]

My M48 is, sadly, lacking said ring. I don't believe that is a feature of the Yugo-made version. German K98s and I think the Czech vz24s have them.

 

[Barrelmaker]

Grab the bolt body in one hand and the shroud in the other. Give it a twist to cam the firing pin back up the camming surface until it locks back into the detent located on the left side of the shroud. Its stiff but you can do it if you give it a good go!

 

[bbrins]

Try this website: http://www.bobtuley.com/mauser/mauserbolt.htm

 

[Jim K]

The K98k has the stock ring with a hole through it, which reportedly was also used for inserting a locking rod in the rifle rack. The VZ24 has a "dimple" in the left side of the recoil bolt which serves the same purpose of supporting the firing pin for disassembly.

But in this case, the bolt was fully assembled. Langenator just turned the safety and let the cocking piece slip into the notch. Easy to correct, but by this time, he is probably so confused with all the advice that he will toss the rifle in the trash can and take up stamp collecting.

Jim

 

[Langenator]

Actually Jim, I think I've got it figured out. Thanks to the folks here who offered advice, plus the guy over on the Gunsnet C&R forum who did it a week before I did.

The only problem is I'm sort of lacking the tools (ie, a vice, or a table/bench whose finish I don't care about) to do the fix. But there's a gunsmith over in West Cola who'll do the trick for $5. Well worth it.

And I gave up stamp collecting for rifle collecting.

 

[telewinz]

I had the same problem years ago with my Kar98. Once I knew what I was doing I could correct the problem by turning it by hand. Turning and pulling back at the same time is all it took but it is a bear and maybe your spring is newer/heavier than mine. Good luck.