Bolt damaged, safe to shoot?

Silverplate

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Hello everyone,

This is a South American contract 98 mauser in 7x57 that has a piece missing on the side of the bolthead. I have not seen this type of damage before and would like to know if this is potentially hazardous. No idea how this came to be.

Opinions?



Silverplate.
 
Hello everyone,

This is a South American contract 98 mauser in 7x57 that has a piece missing on the side of the bolthead. I have not seen this type of damage before and would like to know if this is potentially hazardous. No idea how this came to be.

Opinions?



Silverplate.

It should be ok, however such damage may be indicative of other defects reaching further into the bolt. I personally wouldn't unless the rifle had a known history of reliability after the damage occurred. Even then, I would still be leary. Fortunately it is a K98 and has the extra little safety lug in case something does go wrong.
 
Looks like the bolt was probably dropped on a hard surface at some time. It won't be dangerous to shoot as long as it feeds properly. As far as the bolt being defective, highly unlikely in my opinion, the South American contract Mausers were some of the finest rifles ever built either military or sporting. I don't think you will find a factory defect in one.
 
I'd be more concerned about the cracks you don't see.
Just about any automotive machine shop can magnaflux the bolt, to find the cracks.

I wouldn't shoot it either way.
 
I am not fussed that a little piece is missing. But I would be concerned about why it is missing. could be a manufacturing defect or some stressful event later. Whatever the cause, the damage you see might be the minor part of it.

Take these signs as a hint from God that you should stop and investigate.
 
I totally agree with Ganderite. That's not in a critical spot. Certainly have a very close look at the rest of it. Might be an indication of abuse by a previous owner.
 
Lots of bolts will fit. Just get a new bolt and keep the old one so you can say the rifle is "all-matching". Personally I would clean up the jagged parts and have the bolt mag-particled. Then you would have a better idea.
 
Thanks everyone.

The current owner does not know what happened as he bought it this way. I'll pass on this one since the history surrounding the damage is unknown. Better safe than sorry.

Silverplate
 
The metal at the break looks crystallised and it should not.

I would remove the bolt from the rifle, strip it down and take it to a place that works on aircraft engines or such, ask about the hardness.

There used to be old-fashioned shops with real Machinists who could take one look at it, touch it to a grinder for half a second, tell you the composition and hardness and what should be done, but these places seem to have been supplanted by people with computers and CAD programs and not much feeling for STEEL.

Read the chapter in "Hatcher's Notebook" on "Receiver Steels and Heat Treatment". It's in the 2nd and 3rd Editions, but I don't believe it is in the 1st. Mandatory read.

Get it checked out, whatever.

Ganderite is about 200% right on this.





That said, at the last gun-show that my Mom attended, I did pick up a 1906 Moisin-Nagant with the right lug cracked right through and hanging onto the bolt-head by a thin bit of iron. Evidently it had been broken and the rifle continued in Service. Head showed evidence of having been fired..... a lot..... since the break. Rifle was greasy and filthy and the light was terrible, of course. I wasn't going to buy the thing, really, (short of cash, as usual) but Mom insisted and actually paid for the ugly thing: $40 cash, no tax, marked down end-of-show special from $60. The damage was discovered only after the ugly old thing (Finned 1906 Tula, counterbored but with a lovely bore) got home. I didn't want to trash the rifle or part it out because Mom fell very ill shortly afterwards. As it turned out, the rifle was her final lifetime gift to me.

Being rather much of a wimp myself, I replaced the bolt-head with a brand-new NOS one with Tula markings. Headspacing was within limits, so I tried it out and.... and the old girl shoots beautifully! Ugly old thing.... and it hammers them in at 100 yards at just over an inch.

Sometimes, I swear, we have Someone looking over our shoulder......
 
Guess I'd worry about the crystalline structure of the bolt. If that part was brittle enough to break, what's to say the bolt lugs ain't the same.

Grizz
 
I had a Persian 98 that had both tabs broken off, wouldn't feed right,,,easy job for a gunsmith to fit a new bolt to that action,,
 
I bought a Turkish Mauser with the exact same bolt damage. My gunsmith (friend) insisted I NEVER fire it. Myself being a know -it- all amateur I pointed out it has a large safety lug on the bottom of the bolt. His reply " Look you cheapskate, nobody is shooting at you ,your life isn`t being threatened, you can shoot your other rifles - GET THE DAMMED THING FIXED OR I`LL SHOOT YOU MYSELF" Good idea-end of story
 
It looks like it was dropped on a hard surface. On GB and other Forums, pictures with damage like this on a Mauser bolt shows up and that's what the experts say - dropped.
 
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