Mauser questions

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BigV

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Location
Oshawa, ONT
I inherited a Mauser rifle from my uncle. Had big plans to take a deer with it this year sort of as a tribute to my uncle. I took it in to the shop and they told me I cant fire it. I dont remember the numbers exactly but the bolt and serial number are about 700 numbers apart.
He told me that it may be ok to fire but I would need to have the headspace measured. If the headspace is too big then the only fix would be to find the right bolt for it, which would be like a needle in a haystack.
Is that right or can things be adjusted to make the bolt I have fit? I want it to be safe, so I dont mind doing things the right way, but seems to me there are so many of these guns around that the numbers cant possible match on all of them.
Heres a couple pics if it helps
100_0182.jpg


100_0183.jpg
 
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That is a Swedish Model 94.

Take it to a gunsmith who knows what he is talking about.
 
MD said:
That is a Swedish Model 94.

Take it to a gunsmith who knows what he is talking about.
Click to expand...
Do you mean find a gunsmith that deals with Model 94's or that I was given the wrong info and don't need to look for a bolt?
 
BigV said:
Do you mean find a gunsmith that deals with Model 94's or that I was given the wrong info and don't need to look for a bolt?
Click to expand...

You require the services of an actual *gunsmith, not a "shop" ...

*gunsmith = someone qualified in gunsmithing, not just licensed as a "gunsmith".
 
You need to go to a competent smith with the bolt and rifle. Tell us what part of the country your in and you'll get some recommendations from board members.

Your bolt may be intentionally mismatched and function within specifications for feeding and headspace. It was not uncommon for sporterized militaries to have their bolt replaced for a host of reasons.

You should try your bolt for fit and function on an EMPTY chamber. Post a picture of the bolt here to see if it's correct for the rifle. Looks like a Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55...probably a very good deer gun.
 
I'm in Oshawa just outside Toronto. I will try and get some pics of the bolt. There is no forcing the bolt it fits in really nice. The guy told me that even if its a few 1/100th of a inch it could blow back a bit and maybe just pop the primer out of the shell but it may be worse. And he wouldnt know untill he measured the headspace.
I don't know much about gunsmithing but I know I can read people well, and I got the impression that this guy was BS'ing me a bit.
 
BigV, Lots of "sporterized " military rifles are around. If the bolt number matches or not, it is a real good idea to get things checked out by a gunsmith. Excess headspace is one of the more common flaws , but it is not the only one! Don't get me wrong, the greatest proportion of these rifles are perfectly safe, but the only way that you know is to have a trained, qualified tradesman check it out.

A good analogy is the brakes on a used vehicle; you don't want to find that they're shot when you are all loaded up and zoomin down the 401! Nor do you want ol' Bob who fixes lawnmowers in his basement overhauling them for you!
 
That is a great little rifle! Hold on to it it will kill deer and moose until you pass it on to your nephew. And he can pass it on to his nephew. That rifle still has a half life of probabley 1000 years! Get it hunting


If you are having truble finding a real gunsmith (as opposed to some rem700 shop snob) do yourself a favor and contact someone like Dennis Sorenson (Guntech above) and ask if they can check the headspace for you. It will be worth taking it out of the stock and shipping it. The extra 30-35 dollars you spend on shiping will be well worth it. Just make sure you send along an address label so it is easy for them to ship it back and ship in a box that can be reused.

Worse case scenario you can have the barrel set back to fix excess headspace.
 
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