Mauser 98 misfiring

[LawrenceA]

If its barely marking the primer when it miss fires and its got a strong spring in it id be checking that the firing pin isnt binding in the bolt..

That was the only logical conclusion I came to if the primers aren’t the problem. Firing pin is occasionally dragging on something causing a weak strike

Not sure that is what he means.
The M98 being cock on opening needs to have the bolt all the way down to impart full force to the primer. If the bolt is up a smidge then the cocking piece will hit the cam before or as the firing pin strikes the primer.
So the firing pin may protrude fine out of the rifle but not when fired.
If you chuck some lamp black on the underside of the bolt handle and see if it strikes the wood will indicate if the bolt is closing all the way.

[bigrich]

If its barely marking the primer when it miss fires and its got a strong spring in it id be checking that the firing pin isnt binding in the bolt..

That was the only logical conclusion I came to if the primers aren’t the problem. Firing pin is occasionally dragging on something causing a weak strike

Not sure that is what he means.
The M98 being cock on opening needs to have the bolt all the way down to impart full force to the primer. If the bolt is up a smidge then the cocking piece will hit the cam before or as the firing pin strikes the primer.
So the firing pin may protrude fine out of the rifle but not when fired.
If you chuck some lamp black on the underside of the bolt handle and see if it strikes the wood will indicate if the bolt is closing all the way.

it's a possibility . it's sometimes the simple things that catch us out

[straightshooter]

If its barely marking the primer when it miss fires and its got a strong spring in it id be checking that the firing pin isnt binding in the bolt..

That was the only logical conclusion I came to if the primers aren’t the problem. Firing pin is occasionally dragging on something causing a weak strike

Not sure that is what he means.
The M98 being cock on opening needs to have the bolt all the way down to impart full force to the primer. If the bolt is up a smidge then the cocking piece will hit the cam before or as the firing pin strikes the primer.
So the firing pin may protrude fine out of the rifle but not when fired.
If you chuck some lamp black on the underside of the bolt handle and see if it strikes the wood will indicate if the bolt is closing all the way.

The comment may have some merit with regard to a Lee Enfield and similar but I suspect it has been offered without any concise understanding of how a M98 functions.
I suppose the term 'cock on opening' serves to differentiate it from actions with a cruder form of cocking.
The reality is that the M98 has cam assisted cocking with about 60% achieved on opening the bolt and about 40% achieved on closing.
The bolt needs to be turned down sufficiently for the safety lugs on the firing pin to clear but that leaves enough space such that the bolt handle does not need to be fully bottomed.
To add to my earlier post, another thing to inspect is if a protruding spring coil is binding inside the bolt. This is possible with a non original spring without ground ends.

[Oldbloke]

Yeah,I was just chatting to a mate who knows a fair bit about mausers and I'm going to soak the bolt body in petrol and give it a good scrub out

I was under the impression you had already cleaned it.

[bigpete]

Yeah,I was just chatting to a mate who knows a fair bit about mausers and I'm going to soak the bolt body in petrol and give it a good scrub out

I was under the impression you had already cleaned it.

Its already clean as a whistle but there's nothing lost from giving it a good soak and another go

[northdude]

While its apart id check the firing pin to make sure its not slightly bent. See if theres any tell tale marks or burs that may suggest binding..

[bigpete]

While its apart id check the firing pin to make sure its not slightly bent. See if theres any tell tale marks or burs that may suggest binding..

Screenshot_20220606-161000_Messenger.jpg (269.59 KiB) Viewed 6510 times

This is how it came out of the gun....

[Oldbloke]

Obviously the rifle is funked. I'll do you a favour and give you $20 for it.

[bigpete]

Obviously the rifle is funked. I'll do you a favour and give you $20 for it.

Not on your life

[Oldbloke]

Oh, come on, be nice.

Got a pic of the offending primer?

[dnedative]

Assemble to bolt without the spring and see how the firing pin moves by hand.

[straightshooter]

Also try reassembling the firing pin into the cocking piece so it is rotated 180 degrees as compared to the picture.
The bright marks on the safety lug area suggest rubbing and crooked bores inside the bolt are know to exist.

[Oldbloke]

Was there a resolution to this?

[bigpete]

Not yet

[No1_49er]

I'm not at all familiar with the M98 action but I'll take a punt.
Many years ago I had a similar problem that evaded resolution until taking a very close look at the "tail end" of the rearmost action screw, where it protrudes into the raceway. A little bright spot revealed that the screw had been over-torqued and was protruding sufficiently into the raceway to, sometimes, cause a light strike / fail to fire by rubbing on the cocking-piece.
Cured it be fitting shim washer and re-torquing. End of problem.
Make sure that the screw is not protruding, even the smallest amount, into the raceway.

[madang55]

I had miss-fire and extraction problems with a Haenel 9.3x62. End result...Not a problem with the firing pin, extractor or the factory ammo. Winchester, PPU, Remington. Emailed the manufacturer and got a replacement part and an instruction video. It was the inch long piece on the underneath of therear end of the bolt. It was the wrong length. That they fixed it so quickly meant they must have known it was a problem

[madang55]

Capture.JPG (11.24 KiB) Viewed 6287 times

Actually the black bit behind the arrow.
My 9.3 and I are good friends now.
When I say problems
1. strike but no bang,
2. no bang no extraction,
3, bang, no extraction
4. load, close bolt, no extarction even on an unfired round.
made for a very frustrating day when 60 percent of all the factory ammo had the same problem.

[JohnV]

Remove the bolt and make sure you have the cocking piece screwed all the way onto the thread .
Pin protrusion should be between .064 and .074 .
My Mauser 98 the firing pin has blocking lugs that don't allow the firing pin to fall with the bolt half open .
Sometimes the slot and lugs don't line up perfectly .
Another possibility is the primers were not seated properly down on their skirt .
Seating flush is not always right . You seat the primer down as far as it will go .
Buy a cheap doctors otoscope and look inside the bolt body .

[No1_49er]

I'm not at all familiar with the M98 action but I'll take a punt.
Many years ago I had a similar problem that evaded resolution until taking a very close look at the "tail end" of the rearmost action screw, where it protrudes into the raceway. A little bright spot revealed that the screw had been over-torqued and was protruding sufficiently into the raceway to, sometimes, cause a light strike / fail to fire by rubbing on the cocking-piece.
Cured it be fitting shim washer and re-torquing. End of problem.
Make sure that the screw is not protruding, even the smallest amount, into the raceway.

Here's an image of what I had tried to describe.

[JohnV]

Yep that is correct the rear action screw can be too high in the tang and it interferes with the cocking piece moving forward . I forgot that one and I should not have because I had that problem on my Mauser when changing stocks .

[straightshooter]

All factory stocked M98's, both military and commercial, have a steel compression sleeve for the rear action screw. This is to prevent the effect of over tightening of the rear action screw that leads to compressed timber, a bowed action, poor bedding and the the screw protruding as described by others. This bush is sometimes missing from custom or aftermarket stocks.

[JohnV]

Sounds like you are onto it , something is binding the firing pin travel .

[madang55]

I have found the video Merkle sent me to fix my problems
When I say problems
1. strike but no bang,
2. no bang no extraction,
3, bang, no extraction
4. load, close bolt, no extraction even on an unfired round.
made for a very frustrating day when 60 percent of all the factory ammo had the same problem.
Very simple. May be what you are suffering and give you an alternative to pulling everything apart.

[Oldbloke]

Bigpete, did your find the problem and a solution to this?

[bigpete]

Not yet !

[Oldbloke]

Bugger

[bigpete]

Ok,I did solve this in the end. As a couple of people suggested but I didn't check till recently, the rear action screw was protruding into the raceway ever so slightly. I filed about 1mm off of it and it APPEARS to have fixed the problem

[No1_49er]

Phew, that took a while. Must have too many guns - didn't need this one right away.

[Oldbloke]

Obviously the rifle is funked. I'll do you a favour and give you $20 for it.

Well it's finally fixed.

I'll raise my offer to uuummmm......$40.

[bigpete]

Phew, that took a while. Must have too many guns - didn't need this one right away.

Pretty much. That and I only shoot when I need to kill something