Mauser "Bolo" Issues

[jonnyc]

Had my "new" Mauser pistol out today for a road test. Clean, lube, and inspection showed no problems. Hand-cycled a bunch of dummies with no problem. The sear is not original to the pistol, but all other parts are matching. Fired first round with no problem. Unfortunately the fired case (and all the subsequent ones) did not extract, and the hammer did not recock. Recovered cases show no unusual damage.
Any thoughts?

 

[Cherokee]

Factory ammo or reloads ? Sounds like extractor problem or insufficient power. When you were hand-cycling dummies, was there any extraction problem ? Extractor may be worn so that it is not catching the case sufficiently. As to recocking the hammer, sounds like insufficient power which could also be the extraction problem.

 

[jonnyc]

I was thinking ammo, but it was brand new Prvi 7.63 Mauser ammo. Didn't seem like the loads were too light, but this is my first Mauser experience. No problem extracting the dummies by hand.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Unfortunately the fired case (and all the subsequent ones) did not extract, and the hammer did not recock. Recovered cases show no unusual damage.

The pistol is not cycling fully -- if it were, the hammer would cock, regardless of whether the fired cases were ejected or not.

From the wording of your post, it seems the fired case is still in the chamber -- is that the case?

 

[jonnyc]

Yes. It then cycles by hand and fires.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

As I said, if it were cycling fully, the hammer would be cocked. If there is no excess effort required to cycle by hand, I'd blame the ammo. It's not generating enough energy to cycle the pistol. Try a different brand of ammo.

 

[GCBurner]

I've got a "Red 9" bolo in 9mm Luger. I've heard advice that it's not good to shoot hot modern loads in a 90 year old pistol, but considering the mass of metal that has to be moved to unlock and cycle the action, mine seems to require fairly stiff loads in 124 gr. or 147 gr. to cycle reliably. Non +P loads with 115gr. or lighter bullets lead to failures to feed, and stovepipe jams.

 

[jonnyc]

After discussion with the PO, I should add that the barrel is all but shot out, so there could be some forward blow-by reducing the power of the charge.