Mauser saftey probs

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1944 DOU 8mm mauser I just obtained. Rifle is in great condition. All of the numbers on the bolt match. The safety will go to the fire position and the half saftey straight up and down but it won't go to the full safe all the way to the right. If I turn it on half safe and remove the firing pin assembly from the bolt body it will go to all 3 positions. However, if I push the button that engages when you cam the bolt (excuse the vague terminology) it will not go to the third position, even if the firing pin assembly is removed from the bolt body.
 
1944 DOU 8mm mauser I just obtained. Rifle is in great condition. All of the numbers on the bolt match. The safety will go to the fire position and the half saftey straight up and down but it won't go to the full safe all the way to the right. If I turn it on half safe and remove the firing pin assembly from the bolt body it will go to all 3 positions. However, if I push the button that engages when you cam the bolt (excuse the vague terminology) it will not go to the third position, even if the firing pin assembly is removed from the bolt body.

This is just a totally wild guess as it's similar to an issue I once had with a Springfield 1903 which is very similar to the Mauser action: Make sure that the bolt is all the way closed. I had a stock swell just ever so slightly so it wouldn't let the bolt handle close all the way and it wouldn't let me fully utilize the safety. I figured this out when I pulled the action out of the stock and it would allow me to close the bolt all the way. I had to put a very small spacer between the action and stock to raise it just a fraction of an inch which resolved the issue.
 
Your firearm needs attention and is not safe to go to the range before ensuring that its safety system works.

If you have detailed stripped the bolt, cleaned the bolt firing pin channel and other pieces thoroughly, and checked each piece of the bolt for chips, gouges, broken keys on the firing pin end, etc. then assuming that you have the military safety, you may need to fit a new safety/firing pin/cocking piece/sear. It can be done by yourself if you know what you are doing, this information is tucked away on the internet including pictures, or simply get Jerry Kuhnhausen's shop manual for Mausers as a guide (recommended anyway if you have Mausers).

The Mauser safety system is designed to physically block the firing pin from contacting a cartridge by positively levering the firing pin out of position where it cannot physically touch the cartridge primer even if dropped (if you have detailed stripped, that is what those notches etc. around the firing pin collar are for--burrs/damage on these surfaces can prevent movement of the firing pin to safe condition). The safety lever itself has gentle beveled curves to allow for using it as a lever against the cocking piece to pull the firing pin back from a forward firing position when on full safe. Burrs on the safety camming surface or a worn camming surface can prevent the safety lever from doing its job in pulling back the firing pin. A worn or tinkered-with cocking piece (the cocking piece-sear engagement has a specific design for safety ) as well as the sear surface on the trigger assembly can allow the firing pin to be too forward to pull it back with the safety lever. Botched trigger jobs can often be the culprit of this--people remove too much material from cocking pieces, safety surfaces, and/or sears to make the trigger smoother which results in an unsafe rifle. The point is that the sear, cocking piece, safety lever (eg safety), firing pin, bolt channel, etc. work as a unit to keep the rifle from firing in the safe position despite being dropped, etc.

If what I say appears to be gibberish--then take the firearm to a gunsmith that can work on old rifles as it is not drop safe in its current condition and might even fire when closing the bolt. The middle position is not really for firing safety but rather to unlock the bolt and allow it to be removed from the receiver.
 
Your firearm needs attention and is not safe to go to the range before ensuring that its safety system works.

If you have detailed stripped the bolt, cleaned the bolt firing pin channel and other pieces thoroughly, and checked each piece of the bolt for chips, gouges, broken keys on the firing pin end, etc. then assuming that you have the military safety, you may need to fit a new safety/firing pin/cocking piece/sear. It can be done by yourself if you know what you are doing, this information is tucked away on the internet including pictures, or simply get Jerry Kuhnhausen's shop manual for Mausers as a guide (recommended anyway if you have Mausers).

The Mauser safety system is designed to physically block the firing pin from contacting a cartridge by positively levering the firing pin out of position where it cannot physically touch the cartridge primer even if dropped (if you have detailed stripped, that is what those notches etc. around the firing pin collar are for--burrs/damage on these surfaces can prevent movement of the firing pin to safe condition). The safety lever itself has gentle beveled curves to allow for using it as a lever against the cocking piece to pull the firing pin back from a forward firing position when on full safe. Burrs on the safety camming surface or a worn camming surface can prevent the safety lever from doing its job in pulling back the firing pin. A worn or tinkered-with cocking piece (the cocking piece-sear engagement has a specific design for safety ) as well as the sear surface on the trigger assembly can allow the firing pin to be too forward to pull it back with the safety lever. Botched trigger jobs can often be the culprit of this--people remove too much material from cocking pieces, safety surfaces, and/or sears to make the trigger smoother which results in an unsafe rifle. The point is that the sear, cocking piece, safety lever (eg safety), firing pin, bolt channel, etc. work as a unit to keep the rifle from firing in the safe position despite being dropped, etc.

If what I say appears to be gibberish--then take the firearm to a gunsmith that can work on old rifles as it is not drop safe in its current condition and might even fire when closing the bolt. The middle position is not really for firing safety but rather to unlock the bolt and allow it to be removed from the receiver.

I believe the rifle was never issued/used very little based on its condition. Even in the middle safe position the firing pin is backed and held out of the way. There's simply a blocker in the 3rd position to keep the bolt from opening. I'm going to try to upload some videos.
 
Have you fully turned your firingpin/cocking/safty assembly?
A thread unturned and your safety may not be aligned to engage the slot in the firing pins rear. Getting that last turn while holding back the firing pin isnt easy. Theres often a round steel 'doughnut' on a Mausers butstock to press the firing pin into to hold it back while turning the cocking peice to assemble.disassemble....later war rifles and Yugoslav Mauser's often have a hole in the buttplate/cup itself.

Even if its never been fired outside of factory acceptance shots, a Mauser would not have left the factory with a bad safety. I imagine someone uncrating one and disassembling it to remove the protective storage cosmoline might not have fully reassembled the cocking piece.
 
Interesting enough, being in a spotter stock there was just a small amount of wood blocking the bolt from closing fully about a 16th of an inch. I sanded it down and now it functions perfectly. Another cool side note. When I took the butplate off, it had the 2 holes in the back of the stock like a cleaning kit would go in. There was a note in there giving the name number and address of the original owner dated November 1960!
 
Interesting enough, being in a spotter stock there was just a small amount of wood blocking the bolt from closing fully about a 16th of an inch. I sanded it down and now it functions perfectly. Another cool side note. When I took the butplate off, it had the 2 holes in the back of the stock like a cleaning kit would go in. There was a note in there giving the name number and address of the original owner dated November 1960!

Yep, exactly the issue I had. The Mauser and Springfield 1903 have nearly identical actions and it sounds like they both have this same behavior.
 
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