M48 feed issue

B

Bulmer69

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
187   0   0
Location
Kelowna, BC
I'm having a feed issue with an M48 Yugo Mauser I picked up. load up 4 rounds and all works fine. When you load up the 5th round into the magazine it won't feed properly. Gets stuck part way into the chamber on a sharp angle. I've read about people having issues feeding from the right side or the left but this feeds from both sides just fine unless you add a 5th round, which of course is the first round stripped off the magazine. Checked the follower and spring and looks fine, (at least to my eye, my first Mauser variant).
Any ideas what might be causing it?

Cheers

Joe
 
OK, so I had some time to play around with this tonight. Here's what I did:

1. Removed the trigger guard/magwell assembly and thoroughly cleaned the area it bolts into. there was still some cosmoline in the corners, so cleaned every last scrap of it out.

2. took a small file to the edges around the magwell. there were a couple of tiny rough bits so I just gave them a slight touch with the file, just enough to remove any burrs.

3. re installed the magwell without the locking screws. If I use the locking screws I have to back the main screws off so that they are no longer tight. May have caused some alignment issues with the magwell? I'll find some very fine washers/shims later so I can re use the lock screws and have the main screws tight.

4. Give it some brute force when closing the bolt! no slowly sliding the bolt home. Move it quick and firm seems to work best.


Not sure which of these steps helped but range day on Sunday so will see if this fixed it for sure. It is picking up that 1st round now though so should be ok.


Cheers

Joe
 
No. It was pushing forward and the round would get stuck on a sharp angle without sliding up under the extractor. It seems better now but I don't have snap caps and have only partly cycled the bolt to see if it picks up the round properly. I don't want to fully chamber a live round in the house. Tomorrow at the range I'll be able to run the bolt properly and check. Only happens on the first round though.
 
Bulmer69 said:
No. It was pushing forward and the round would get stuck on a sharp angle without sliding up under the extractor. It seems better now but I don't have snap caps and have only partly cycled the bolt to see if it picks up the round properly. I don't want to fully chamber a live round in the house. Tomorrow at the range I'll be able to run the bolt properly and check. Only happens on the first round though.
Click to expand...

Good idea, Snap caps are your friend for new firearms. After finding a fault in a SKS I own with a pair of snap caps I made it my personal policy and bought 6 snap caps in 8mm (8x57), 7.62x39, x54R, 308, 223 and 9mm. It was a bit expensive for dummy rounds but never will I have to chamber live rounds, they look different than any loaded dummy rounds you can make and it allow the filling of a full or nearly full magazine for many firearms. I still would like to get some 30/30 and 303 snap caps but have not yet. I ordered directly from Lyman in the US (Azoom) and got a bulk price which was a couple bucks off each pair. I like how it helps break in an action before loading live rounds, I can idiot proof my handling of a new firearm and test it out every way from Sunday to cause a problem to ensure I understand all the features and safety procedures I need to take with a firearm.


Can you provide some pictures of the problem? have you loaded other similar rifles? assuming yes given how you broke it down etc... I'd have to see the issue to help more,


Snap caps have helped me find
- SKS which would on 3 occasions but maybe 1/10 times when opening the magazine with the safety off the firing pin dropped for some reason which would potentially discharge a round, still keeping that one for safety
- learned the function of the safety on a Mauser action, if closing the bolt while holding the trigger with the safety off relieved pressure on the firing pin spring but does not discharge the round making the gun safe..... if however you do the same bolt close with the safety on then if the safety is turned off the firearm is still live and will fire if the trigger is pulled...… This may sound obvious to some but know one was there to teach me how to handle or break these arms down so I had to learn these things myself.

Both lessons were easily worth the cost of those snap caps to me and likely have avoided potential negligent discharges by myself.
 
Last edited:
Been playing around some more with this. I replaced the mag follower and spring with a k98 one which helped. I seem to have an issue with the feed from the left side now. It's sometimes pushing the round ahead of the extractor rather than riding up under it. I have a k98 extractor which I tried. Seems better but it fits very tight. Much harder to cycle the bolt. Think I'll put the old extractor back on and try smoothing the underside of the rails. If I cycle it slowly the round sometimes jumps a little ahead, which could mean it snagging on the feed rails.
Anyway wanted to post an update. I like this rifle and want to get it cycling smoothly and feeding consistently. Thanks for the tip 9.3mauser. Simple to remove the firing pin while working on this issue.
Cheers

Joe
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom