Help and Advice needed on fixing safety and magazine plate on a bolt action rifle

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rabbits

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Hi everyone, hope I'm posting in the right forum?

I recently bought several bolt action rifles on the forums and most have been great. I'm just getting back into target shooting and a little bit of collecting but am not that well versed with gunsmithing.

Unfortunately, one of the sellers sold me a custom rifle that he said was perfectly functional that has some parts broken on it. It is a mauser action with a tang safety in .243 cal. When the bolt slides back and forth it travels very close to the tang safety and I think it affects it's function. I do not have any ammo for it yet so can't test it at the range. But when I have tried it at home and dry fired it the safety does not block the trigger, doesn't matter which position I put it in (it is also very difficult and stiff to move).

I contacted the seller for help. I asked if I was doing something wrong or was missing something. Later I asked for a refund or partial refund to help fix it. He called me a scammer and accused me of breaking it. Anyway, I've dealt with that through the feedback mechanics, $500 is not the end of the world for me.

However, I need advice. Am I doing something wrong? If not and it is broken, I'm wondering how difficult it is to fix? Is swapping out a safety or putting in a better type (like the 3 position type I have on most of my other bolts) something I can tackle myself? I have some reasonable mechanical skills around machines and cars but have never tackled any gun work. Alternately, is it something that would be very expensive to have a gunsmith look at?

The rifle also has a second problem. When I try to open the magazine plate it pops open but is stuck at 1/4 inch. I have not tried to force it open worried that I would break it. It is metal. The seller said he used the gun with a single shot follower in it. I assumed that I could reverse it and use it with multiple rounds. Again he said I broke it and it's not his problem (lovely guy, and he had a lot of positive ratings).

Lastly, it has a custom heavy barrel on it that does not have an ammo stamp. I figured it would be a good idea to have that added to the gun for the future. Is that something that would be expensive? Can you guys think of alternative ways to add the bullet caliber to the gun without etching it in the metal?

Anyway, before I break anything I thought I'd ask some questions. If I'm going about this all wrong I'm open to advice. Thanks everyone.
 
So in other words, everyone stay away from "gunasaurus". Sounds like you got screwed.
Onto your issues, I would have a gunsmith look at the safety issue and while he's at it, check out the other issues since it is there already. You don't want a gun firing when the safety is engaged/disengaged. Laser etching on a barrel shouldn't be too much either.

North
 
Sorry North, did I come off as whining about the seller? I can't do much about him, I was more trying to see about the best way to deal with the rifle. I've never used a gunsmith so am not familiar with what they charge and if it's worth spending on a $500 rifle or if I should just tackle it myself. Was hoping for some thoughts from those of you with more experience fixing something like this

Is there a listing on the site for gunsmiths? Anyone have a recommendation for someone in the west end of gta? I found a guy in king city through google search but that's about an hour hike for me.
 
A good place as any to start, would be to shuck it out of the stock, and have a good look at the safety lever and its linkage, if any, to the trigger.

It would seem reasonable to me, that a bump on the side of the safety might result in a bent part, possibly making it stiff to move, and possibly causing it to not function at all.

That's where I would start looking.
 
rabbits said:
Sorry North, did I come off as whining about the seller? I can't do much about him, I was more trying to see about the best way to deal with the rifle. I've never used a gunsmith so am not familiar with what they charge and if it's worth spending on a $500 rifle or if I should just tackle it myself. Was hoping for some thoughts from those of you with more experience fixing something like this

Is there a listing on the site for gunsmiths? Anyone have a recommendation for someone in the west end of gta? I found a guy in king city through google search but that's about an hour hike for me.
Click to expand...

I didn't think you came off as whining, I was just posting the name of the seller. Im sure it could just be some tweaking needed for those fixes, however, I am not personally familiar with the platform and would have somebody who knows look at it. Sometimes it seems like an easy fix and the gun appears to be working fine, but a slight bump may set it off. Reminds me of a mosin I bought that somebody "polished" the sear. Would not pass the bump test. In your area I dont know of any smiths, I usually use s&j hardware in Belleville.


North
 
I'd do as tj suggested.
Split the halfs and see wtf iz gewn awn in there.
Could be the trigger adjustment is set a tad light if there is such an adjustment.

Hard to beleaf a bloke with ne'er 1500 t/r's would be that ………………. ?????

Such is life.

Oh, check some yewtewb videe-ohs awn yer gal with this sort of problem.
Lots oh gooder info out there if you manage to click awn the right one.

Keep this thread updated with yer findings.
 
Pop the action out of the gun and test safety and floorplate again - sometimes on a 'custom' gun a poor inlet or bedding job can prevent parts from moving as they should.
 
OP - you stated it was a mauser action with a tang safety. I presume that you mean behind the tang - like a shotgun style safety. The only one I know that was done that way was the Voere conversions of the mauser 98 - that safety was actually a separate piece added on behind the mauser tang, and the stock inlet was extended rearward, accordingly. The result was there was an internal arm that extended forward to block the trigger itself, but I no longer remember the specifics. I owned several - all of them were cracked or eventually cracked in the grip area, where the extra inletting was done to make room for that safety. I do not recall any particular magic in disassembling them - action screw behind trigger guard and ahead of the magazine. Once apart, should be easy to see what is going on. And, although I know the Isreali's converted a bunch of 8x57 Mausers to 7.62 NATO, I have not been able to get my mauser to feed 243 Win from the magazine, so I use a single shot follower in that one.
 
Your second issue about the magazine floor plate. I am assuming from your description that it is a hinged floor plate, and the rear end (nearest the trigger loop) only opens that 1/4". There will be a hinge on the front of that magazine floor plate. A normal military floor plate is released and slid backward about 1/8" and then completely falls off. A hinged floor plate stays attached. When you have the rifle dis-assembled, take a look where that hinge has to move - a "normal" stock has to have a recess cut into it, just behind the front action screw hole, to give clearance for that hinge to swing. If it has been "jamming", no doubt you will see marks on the wood where the hinge has been hitting. I paint up that hinge with inlet blacking, swivel the hinge, then carve off the black marks - repeat until floor plate hinges freely, all the way open.
 
Ok First update: picture becoming clearer.

I unscrewed the two bolts on the bottom holding in the magazine plate mechanism and the trigger guard. This part is some kind of soft metal, magnet sticks to it so not aluminum.

As I tried to pull it out gently I noticed it is very tight. The builder must have wanted very tight tolerances. As I worked it back and forth the end with the trigger guard came out about 50%. That loosened up the magazine plate enough that I could open it. The one shot follower popped out the bottom, looks like aluminum. The rest didn't want to budge much.

That's when I noticed it. There are two small crack lines which I saw before and told the seller about, thinking they were scratches or molding marks. They looked like hairline cracks close to the pivot point of the magazine plate. Now that I've loosened it my fears are confirmed. They are in fact cracks from someone in the past trying to pop this part out. I looked from the top of the action and can see small tool/screwdriver marks in several places on the metal of the magazine well. Looks like it was stuck real good in there and someone tried to hammer it out in the past. Whatever they did they cracked the metal in two. So they re-assembled it as best they could and shoved it all back in hoping the stock would hold it together. Of course since it was jammed in there that put too much tension on the plate door causing it to seize when I tried to open it upon my first inspection.

I'm going to guess that the crack in the magazine well prevented the spring feed plate follower (not sure I'm using the right wording here?) from feeding rounds properly into the action. If the magazine plate is not firmly secure because of the plate, the spring doesn't get enough tension to push rounds properly into the chamber. So the seller (or whoever he got it from) bought a single shot follower for the magazine well to at least be able to shoot the rifle one shot at a time.

Initially I had given the seller the benefit of the doubt and assumed that he simply missed these problems (not realizing it was actually cracked and broken), figuring he had the gun a while and forgot. He confirmed in an email previous to my feedback that he hadn't "checked the magazine for 6 or 7 years" and hadn't ever shot it with multiple rounds loaded. If he had the rifle any length of time there is not way he didn't know about these problems as just this initial examination revealed them quickly. I guess it was more outright fraud than I expected.

I count myself as lucky still. I've had almost 20 transactions on here and this is the first time I've been screwed and cheated. I feel for those guys who have sent thousands and not even received a gun. At least I have a gun I can try and fix.

So now I'm at a crossroads. It doesn't want to come out easily and will require some "persuation". It is already broken so not sure what my options will be. I would need to get another magazine trigger guard assembly I suppose, I've never bought one so don't even know how they are listed or how one knows they would fit?

Also, the seller had said the barrel was in a glass bed. I've never had a rifle like that and don't know much about it. I'm assuming it's not a permanent thing (ie as it is glued in place?) I assume I can still take everything apart and when I put it back together the barrel will fit the same?

All this is not even related to the trigger safety mechanism. I won't see that until I take the action off which will be the next step I suppose.

Thanks for the advice guys. I can post pics if it helps for you to see? Haven't done that for years will need to figure out how.
 
sounds like a bad bedding job (glass bedding = epoxy) - quite possibly the original 'fitter' got the mag well glued in there, could not get it out and just left it. (?)

we are gonna need some pictures. :)

GTA, not in the Oshawa area are you?
 
I am a little confused; you stated :"...The rifle also has a second problem. When I try to open the magazine plate it pops open but is stuck at 1/4 inch. I have not tried to force it open worried that I would break it. It is metal. The seller said he used the gun with a single shot follower in it. I assumed that I could reverse it and use it with multiple rounds.."
It sounds to me that the rifle may have been set up as a single shot heavy bbl target type rifle.
You assumed that it could be reversed and made into a mag fed rifle again.
Was it glass bedded in such a way that the base plate and spring were bedded into place, as was the intention of whoever built that rifle?
Maybe that is why the safety does not work? Many of my dedicated target rifles have no safety or a safety that does not work any longer.
Some of them have had the single shot "follower" installed and the mag well is closed off.
In my poorer days I used converted mauser actions that sounded something like how yours looks (from your description), they were single shot rifles made from repeater bolt actions.

Did the seller say that it could be made back into a mag fed rifle ?
 
Last edited:
Yes similar. The tang is off to the right side of the rear of the action. It's is a shot gun style. I'll post pics in a little bit.


Potashminer said:
OP - you stated it was a mauser action with a tang safety. I presume that you mean behind the tang - like a shotgun style safety. The only one I know that was done that way was the Voere conversions of the mauser 98 - that safety was actually a separate piece added on behind the mauser tang, and the stock inlet was extended rearward, accordingly. The result was there was an internal arm that extended forward to block the trigger itself, but I no longer remember the specifics. I owned several - all of them were cracked or eventually cracked in the grip area, where the extra inletting was done to make room for that safety. I do not recall any particular magic in disassembling them - action screw behind trigger guard and ahead of the magazine. Once apart, should be easy to see what is going on. And, although I know the Isreali's converted a bunch of 8x57 Mausers to 7.62 NATO, I have not been able to get my mauser to feed 243 Win from the magazine, so I use a single shot follower in that one.
Click to expand...
 
It could be a bad bedding job, I don't know enough about these to be able to tell. However, the plate did open partially at first. For all I know the hinge was broken which is why it was converted in the first place. Which is fine, but that is not how the gun was sold or described to me.

I'll add pics in a bit.

I'm in west end (Mississauga/Brampton) so Oshawa is a little bit of a hike, especially on the 401



sean69 said:
sounds like a bad bedding job (glass bedding = epoxy) - quite possibly the original 'fitter' got the mag well glued in there, could not get it out and just left it. (?)

we are gonna need some pictures. :)

GTA, not in the Oshawa area are you?
Click to expand...
 
farshot said:
I am a little confused; you stated :"...The rifle also has a second problem. When I try to open the magazine plate it pops open but is stuck at 1/4 inch. I have not tried to force it open worried that I would break it. It is metal. The seller said he used the gun with a single shot follower in it. I assumed that I could reverse it and use it with multiple rounds.."
It sounds to me that the rifle may have been set up as a single shot heavy bbl target type rifle.
You assumed that it could be reversed and made into a mag fed rifle again.
Was it glass bedded in such a way that the base plate and spring were bedded into place, as was the intention of whoever built that rifle?
Maybe that is why the safety does not work? Many of my dedicated target rifles have no safety or a safety that does not work any longer.
Some of them have had the single shot "follower" installed and the mag well is closed off.
In my poorer days I used converted mauser actions that sounded something like how yours looks (from your description), they were single shot rifles made from repeater bolt actions.

Did the seller say that it could be made back into a mag fed rifle ?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response, let me try to clarify.

The single shot follower is a piece of aluminum that sits inside the magazine well on top of the spring plate follower. I may have been inclear, I don't think this rifle takes a magazine, it is a military style magazine well with a bottom plate that can take several bullets (like the old style rifles that were fed with strip clips if that makes sense?) I'll post pics in a bit.

It was being used as a single shot heavy barrel rifle and he said that. What he didn't say is that it was set up that way because the hinge was broken, or that it was permanent. He also did not say it was not reversible. I assumed I could take the single shot follower out (which now I have) and use it as a multi shot, probably 3 rounds. It's not a huge deal for me to use it as as single shot like he did, but it would have been nice to know the hinge was broken and metal cracked to both sides of the hinge pin.

It was glass bedded but not in such a way as to seal everything up. Now that I have taken the screws out the trigger guard portion has come partially out, the forward portion where the plate is broken is tuck. However, it has loosened up the door and it has swung open all the way, letting me get the single shot follower out of the well.

Maybe the safety doesn't work because it was set up this way. But when I asked the seller about it after receiving it he insisted it worked and implied I was just dumb: he said "go and try it." Then he responded that it worked when he had it and I must have broken it and the magazine hinge after receiving it and it was my problem not his.

The seller said he never used it as a multi shot nor did he test the magazine but then he said that it worked that way 6 years ago and he didn't know what my problem was (nor didn't care it seems).
 
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