Mauser Bent Bolt modification

[Aguila Blanca]

Has anyone performed the "bent bolt" modification to a Mauser? Not a partially bent bolt like on an M48, but the kits that convert a straight bolt mauser into a fully bent bolt for scope clearance. I'm interested in trying one of these, but I can't afford to have a professional gunsmith do it, and I also can't afford to screw up if I attack it myself.

Is this something an average Saturday shade tree mechanic can accomplish in the comfort of the home garage, or am I asking for trouble?

 

[cracked butt]

If its a bolt forging kit, it would probably be more worthwhile and cost effective to have a smith do it. If its one of those kits where you cut the bolt handle off with a hacksaw then drill/tap the bolt and and attach another handle on with a screw, it shouldn't be difficult if you are good with hand tools, though the results won't exactly be pretty.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

The one I had in mind is the $15 "hack & tap" version.

After doing some Googling, I discovered that the replacement bolt handles are aluminum, and the new handle is just screwed on, not welded. Aside from appearance, it doesn't seem very secure to me.

My Googling accidently led me to a site that offers scope mounts which replace the rear sight and require no modifications to either the action or the stock. They do mean using a long eye relief scope, but you don't have to modify the bolt. It's a bit more money, but I think it sounds like a more elegant solution. The notion of whacking off the bolt handle with a hacksaw doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy feel.

 

[dakotasin]

i had mine done by a 'smith in kansas...i bought the handle from brownells, then sent the works down to him. he cut off the old, welded on the new, and polished it up nice and purdy. the handle ended up fitting tighter to the stock than any commercial rifle, and had a nice elegant sweep back.

any person w/ a welder, heat sinks, and heat paste and metal cleaning tools could probably handle it themselves, but welding on a bolt concerns me, so i sent it off to someone experienced.

 

[Dale Taylor]

The Boltman, Jim Roberts has display ad on www.gunboards.com. He is doing mine now. ~$35.00 I also sent bolt handle from Brownells, but not sure I needed to. [email protected]

 

[db_tanker]

I had mine welded as well...used a M-70 style bolt handle...but now I would be curious if anyone has had a "spoon" type handle welded up on theirs?

D

 

[dfaugh]

I did one myself...Using one of the cheapy Mapp gas torches...Would've been alot better off w/ oxy/acetylene, but didn't have one available. The bolt handle where you'll wanna bend is quite heavy, and to get enough heat to it is hard, without heating up the whole bolt... So here's what I did:

I took a 4" grinder and "under cut" the bolt where I wanted it to bend...didn't need it to be neat, as I'll explain later.

Wrapped most of the bolt in wet shop clothes, and clamped it in a vise. Heated the area i wanted to bend, and went after it with a hammer to get it "down". Once I had it at the right angle I used brazing rod to fill the cut I'd ground, and to strengthen it

In the end I also used a similar technique to "raise" the knob end, resulting in a slightly "S" shaped bolt.

I then ground the knob flat on both sides, as well a flat along the top (I have a big scope mounted low, so this just barely clears the scope).

I did this mostly just to see if I could do it myself, and all things considered it was a pain in the butt. It worked well, but I'm not sure I'd do it again, without proper torch and welding equipment. Also, because I brazed it, it can't be blued. It does look (painted black) and work quite well, however.

If I was gonna do it again I'd have a gunsmith do it.

 

[SaxonPig]

On this 98 I had the bolt handle cut off and then welded back on at a downward angle. Makes it look like the pre-war sporter style. I think this is a job for a smith, though, and I would recommend biting the bullet and paying the $40-$50 it would cost to make sure the job is done right.

 

[oldfart]

Go to Steve Wagner's Home Page http://www.gswagner.com/. He shows a method that works quite well. I have two Mausers, one with the bolt bent by a gunsmith and the other done as he shows. One cost me $50 and the other $5. They both work just fine.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Go to Steve Wagner's Home Page http://www.gswagner.com/. He shows a method that works quite well. I have two Mausers, one with the bolt bent by a gunsmith and the other done as he shows. One cost me $50 and the other $5. They both work just fine.

Thanks for the link, but despite my wish to pursue this project on a tight buget -- that thing is SO ugly I'd rather forego having a scope if that was the only way to get one.

Phew! There's just no way I could do that to a Mauser action.

 

[Ivy Mike]

Hawkmoon, you could always reuse the steel ball from the original bolt to give it a bit more classic look.

I wouldn't mind mounting a scope to my Mauser, but even though its a Yugo, its a captured German rifle. I just couldn't bear the thought of drilling through the German proof marks on the bolt (even though the rifle is sporterized)

 

[Aguila Blanca]

I'm tempted to try one of these:



It replaces the rear sight, and supposedly requires no modifications to the action, barrel, or stock

http://www.scopemounts.com/scout.html

It requires the use of a pistol scope, or a scope with long eye relief.

 

[dakotasin]

hawkmoon - i sent ya a pm. hope it helps some.
best of luck!

 

[oldfart]

:banghead:
Please, someone educate me. When someone says that guns kill we all recite the well-known mantra "Guns don't kill, people kill. The gun is just a tool." Yet most of us polish, blue, wax and primp our "tools" as much as we do our kids. Do we treat our hammers and saws similarly? I try to keep the handle of my hammer clean enough that it won't slip out of my hand at an embarassing moment, but I danged sure don't polish it!
Sure, Steve Wagners' bolt handle lacks the sensual curves of some more expensive ones, but it works every bit as well. If you're worried about drilling holes in some museum piece you could buy another bolt and drill it, saving the "more valuable" one as a status symbol.
My rifles are indeed 'tools'. Like my hammer with the scarred handle, they'll never win a beauty contest. Instead, they win the odd target match or drop the occasional deer or elk-- which is what tools are for.

 

[Cosmoline]

LEARN TO USE THE STRAIGHT BOLT HANDLE BEFORE YOU HACK IT OFF!!!

If you don't want a straight bolt DO NOT BUY ONE IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

The straight bolt handle is faster than a bent bolt and is designed for use with war rifles. You will ABSOLUTELY DESTROY any value in your rifle by hacking it and putting one of those hideous kit bolts on it. Moreover, you'll destroy most of its functionality. If you want a traditional American-style sightless bent bolt rifle BUY A SAVAGE. You will spend far less in the long run, and be perfectly happy.

LEAVE THE STRAIGHT BOLTS ALONE FOR THOSE OF US WHO KNOW HOW TO USE THEM AND APPRECIATE THEM!!

It's not merely a matter of looks or history. Hacking a straight bolt handle is the equivalent of filing off the extra steel on a philips head screwdriver to make it standard. It shows you don't understand how the tool works.

 

[eab]

Uh, he wants to make his M48 into a sporter. You know put a scope on it, low profile safety, maybe a easier to access magazine lever thing, maybe even double set triggers, something like that you know.

It’s an M48 Mauser for crying out loud, it’s never been in any wars, (except maybe the slight possibility of some ethic clensing in Kosovo), it was built after WW2 and promptly stored for the most part. If he will get more use out of by sporterizing it and making it a fine hunting rifle all the more power to him. If he wants to make it a safe queen and never touch it that’s fine too.

And secondly it does not have a "STRAIGHT BOLT HANDLE!!!" Its an M48, the handle is bent down already, I know I have one, its just not bent down far enough for it to not hit the scope.

So chill maybe and let people "hack up" there old rifles if they want to....

 

[Cosmoline]

You will still spend more time and money destroying a perfectly good rifle than a used Savage would cost you. There might have been some justification 40 years ago, but there's none now. It's a foolish waste of time and it destroys an otherwise perfectly good rifle.

Why don't you just learn to use the iron sights and forget trying to beat a scope onto the thing.

 

[oldfart]

Cosmoline, do you have an office or shop address where I could contact you? Some day I might get an urge to spend some money and want to ask you for advice.... NOT!
Please try to follow along: It's MY money. It's MY rifle. It's MY choice!

Any questions?

 

[Aguila Blanca]

Why don't you just learn to use the iron sights and forget trying to beat a scope onto the thing.

I'm not at all sure that your attitude even deserves a response, but I'll give you one anyway.

I don't have to learn how to use iron sights. I did that about 55 years ago and they haven't changed much in the interim. I even managed to qualify on the M14 back in the Army without your helpful advice. Imagine that. I also know how to use a bolt, and I understand that a straight bolt is faster and more "tactical" than a bent bolt.

However -- I want to mess around, so I feel like mounting a scope to a cheapie Mauser action. If I had wanted to buy a used Savage, I would have bought a used Savage. But then I would have ... a used Savage. I want something that I have created and given some unique personality to. Not a big-bucks fancy sporter, but a learning experience. I learned a lot about the 1911 by building one, now I want to learn about the Mauser.

And I have no intention of destroying a perfectly good rifle.

 

[Cosmoline]

However -- I want to mess around, so I feel like mounting a scope to a cheapie Mauser action. If I had wanted to buy a used Savage, I would have bought a used Savage. But then I would have ... a used Savage.

As I undestand your plans, you're thinking of buying a bent bolt kit to take the angle of the M-48's bolt down in order to mount a standard scope on it. And I suspect the irons are history in such a plan. And the military stock will need to be cut. And you're going to do it in your own garage with your own tools. So you'll end up with a sightless rifle with a standard bolt and standard scope and standard stock, all done in the garage. The pawn shops are absolutely full of such efforts, and few turn out well. Even if your project does turn out to be above average, you will AT BEST have created exactly what you say you don't want--a used Savage. Only it's doubtful your effort will shoot as well.

I'm no purist, far from it. But what's the point of all this wanton waste? I can already tell you what you will learn. That if you really want to make a custom Mauser it's a far better plan to start with a 550 action in the white and do it properly. That way you'll end up with something of real value rather than the same sad shadow of a rifle I've seen a hundred times before.

 

[Ivy Mike]

Waste of what?
A rifle that has never seen action and probably sat in a warehouse waiting for communism to fail?
Why worry about cutting into the military stock that has probably been repaired a few times anyway. I doubt it was made of super high quality turkish walnut anyway.
While there is some history to it, its not like its a valuable weapon.
This isn't like some classic Ferrari. Think of it as some late 70's Vette that never had much soul to start with.

 

[Cosmoline]

But what's the point of making yet another travesty of a sporter? There are so many tens of thousands of them sitting in the shops as it is. I'm not even getting into the issue of destroying history or value. It just gets my goat that the first thing so many American shooters think when they pick up a Mauser is "Gee, maybe I can turn this thing into a Remchester." First of all, no you can't. And secondly, you should just get what you want in the first place rather than trying to beat and weld the poor old thing into something it was never supposed to be. I have no problem with sensible modifications, but hacking a perfectly good bolt to put on an American style scope? What's the point? Just use the irons or a scout scope. It's far easier. And if you don't like irons or a scout scope, why are you buying an old war rifle to begin with?

 

[Ivy Mike]

because old war rifles (which the Yugo Mauser isn't...its just milsurp) are cheap and usually of good quality. They make great shooters and the ammo is cheap and widely available.

Its not like they are rare. The fact that these rifles are still available for just north of $100 gives you an inexpensive base to build a more sporting rifle on. It won't give you the same accuracy as a Remchester, but you didn't build that Remchester either.

You know what, I think I'm gonna start hacking into my uber-clean Mosin Nagant M44...just to make another sporty scout rifle.

 

[lawson]

you used to be able to get swedish mausers for under $100.

i'm not the type to tell anyone what to do with their guns, and i get the yearn to play around with old milsurps as much as the next guy. luckily, you can get a gun someone's already hacked into for much cheaper, and often they shoot just as well and have just had some slight modifications.

 

[Dale Taylor]

Sporterizing old mausers. They can be very accurate, as is my M96 6.5x55 and M98 338 Winmag with Douglas barrel. I've had lots of fun. Don't knock the hobby. [email protected]