Israeli Mauser feeding issues

aric84

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I recently picked up an Israeli / German Mauser from another board member and when trying it out last week I discovered that the rifle will not feed reliably at all. The problem seems to be that the shoulder of the 308 rounds are too wide and when they stack in the magazine the rear of the cartridges sit too low and will not load, regardless of the position in the magazine. Also, I can only fit 4 rounds in the magazine.

Is this a common issue with Israeli conversions? What is the best solution, maybe a new follower and magazine spring? I'm hoping for a simple fix otherwise I may just flip the rifle to someone looking for a project as I don't have the time these days and it needs a few parts to make it complete anyway.
 
they probably have the wrong follower installed in there.if I recall the 308 uses a different one.is it missing many parts
 
It needs a new retainer for the front band and maybe a pin as well. It's also missing a couple locking screws on the trigger guard so maybe $30 in parts I'd guess. As far as the follower, it's possible it needs a new one, this rifle is definitely not all original,it has been refinished (but I'm not a Mauser guy so I cannot comment on it too much). I just wanted a shooter rather than a collector.
 
From what I've seen and heard, large ring mauser conversions to 308 require a magazine spacer (to prevent the shorter cartridges from shifting) and sometimes adjustment of the feed rails (to compensate for the lesser taper of 308 vs 8mm). I know the Israelis added a magazine spacer to their 7.62/308 K98s so make sure that's present.

From what you say though, it sounds like a feed rail issue. Looks like a job for a gunsmith. Odd that the Israelis didn't catch this.

I wonder if anyone knows the exact modification details of their conversion.
 
There is no spacer present that I can see and the follower would be too long to fit one in the magazine, probably got switched at some point. I'm not going to be dropping the cash to get the rails milled out, I've got other things to throw my cash at.
 
Does it feed from one side like 1 &3 or 2&4 ? And if you move the bolt very slow does the shell bounce up in front of the extractor ?
If so try to cut a business card for a spacer along side of the follower on the side that doesn't feed . If this doesn't make sense or works PM me and I'll tell you a story about a gun I had
 
It needs a new retainer for the front band and maybe a pin as well. It's also missing a couple locking screws on the trigger guard so maybe $30 in parts I'd guess. As far as the follower, it's possible it needs a new one, this rifle is definitely not all original,it has been refinished (but I'm not a Mauser guy so I cannot comment on it too much). I just wanted a shooter rather than a collector.

Yeah mine was missing those, and only holds 4 rounds in the mag.
 
Tradex, a banner sponsor has trigger guards with spacers installed in the mag wells for shorter cartridges. Around $30 if memory serves.

I have converted several 98 actions to short cases such as the 243Win and 22-250 as well as one recently to 260Rem. They all needed to have the undersides and sides of the feed rails relieved so the cases would sit properly in the well and feed straight ahead so the bullet tip hits the ramp properly to run smoothly into the chamber. I don't usually add a spacer as it isn't always necessary and for the fellows that like to load their 308Win chambered rifles with heavy bullets they can utilize the extra length to seat their bullets further out.

The 8x57 case is only a bit longer, 6mm and the taper is very close. If you decide to do the alterations on your own, be very careful and use a stone rather than a file or Dremel grinder. Things can get screwed up pretty quickly if you're to aggressive.

One other issue with Israeli 98s is that some of the rifles they obtained were originally chambered in 30-06 length actions. The rifle that David Scott shows was Czech made and most likely chambered originally for the 8x57. They don't take very much fiddling to get them to feed the shorter rounds and as in the pics, most of them come with the spacers already installed. Not all of them mind you. I have one that still has the original follower and mag well and there have never been any feed issues with it other than with 150 grn round nose bullets.
 
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Thanks for all the great responses guys. I will take a closer look at it later today and snap some photos of just what is going on. A quick look suggests that the feed rails are okay as the cartridges sit perfectly if I wiggle the follower up and down to seat them. The main problem appears to be the rear of the case is not being pressed up against the rails because the follower is not raising properly. This causes the cartridges to stack at the shoulder and flop around.

Probably will be clearer with the pics later.
 
No pictures yet but I did manage to do some fiddling. I swapped out the follower and spring from my wife's M48bo and the rifle fed a lot better, about 90%. Curiously when trying cycling .308 dummy rounds through her M48 it cycled perfectly. I'm going to have to compare the sizes of the magazine boxes and see if the Israeli one is slightly narrower.

Will update when I find out more.
 
As bearhunter mentioned yours has the spacer. I've owned and shot Israeli's with and without the spacers and never had an issue with feeding. I suspect you have a feed rail or follower issue. I think bearhunter's advice is worth looking into for sure.
 
Make sure that the magazine spring is inserted into the retaining groove properly in the follower .. or try reversing the spring ....
 
Wanted to update on my feeding issue.

It definitely appears to be mostly a follower spring issue. I switched out the spring with one from and M48 and from and M96 and the feeding improved dramatically. I tweaked the existing spring a bit more and feeding from the mag is reliable in the sense that the bolt is catching the case heads reliably now but occasionally I get the last round on the left side skip out of the rails and ahead of the extractor. I am thinking a a new spring with more tension will fix the issue. My mag does not have the spacer and does not really seem to need one now.

Thanks for the help and pointing me to the parts I need at Tradeex, I'll have to place an order although it may be for much more than just a spring... Too many goodies.

Then again, still toying with selling it too since I just don't really shoot it. Hate being torn!
 
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I had one and sold it to a friend who wanted it for its historical significance. Other than that frankly I was under-whelmed and, IIRC, it was and is the only rifle I have ever sold without regret. They were the first 'serial built' parts guns as far as I can tell. IMO...in the case of my rifle...someone fxxked up a very nice BRNO Mfr M98
 
Decided to sell it on the EE. I want to keep if for the irony of it and as a shooter in a common caliber but I'm just not interested in mauser 98's I guess and I am trying to (painfully) pare down the collection to those gun I actually use rather than just look at. I know the feeling you are talking about though, I recently sold a martini and had absolutely no feelings about it at all.
 
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