Rifle Decocking

conor_90

conor_90

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I have an interarms mini mauser/ vixen clone. I have never fired it. It has an issue I am genuinely flummoxed by.


If I cycle the action, it cocks it as it should.

When I cycle the cocked action, the bolt decocks itself upon closing. Weirdly it only does this sometimes. It seems unlikely to happen during a long string of bolt cycling, and usually happens on the first cycle.

Sometimes when the rifle has been dry fired then cycled it simply doesnt ####. I Open the bolt, or cycle it, and it does not ####.

What could possibly be causing this?

Would you be comfortable firing this gun or cycling it with live ammo? I'm concerned that it will fire when the bolt closes. If you follow my adventures I had a 12 gauge double on me and cut my thumb open when I took the safety off so I'm extremely paranoid now.

I would address this with the guy who sold it to me but I bought it months ago and could only recently afford to scope it, so I could understand if he (reasonably) believed I had caused this.

Anyone want to buy a potentially broken mini mauser lol


Edited for clarity
 
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I have never owned that particular model, but how Mauser bolts generally work - the cocking piece in the bolt is usually caught and held by the sear - when you "pull" the trigger, that drops the sear out of the way and the cocking piece can slam forward - the Mauser firing pin is usually a quarter turn lock into that cocking piece.

When your bolt is open, the cocking piece part that rides on the sear is held in a "rest spot" on the bolt body - when you close the bolt handle, that cocking piece part is now in a wide open area, free to go forward to the end of the firing pin travel. There should be a hardened cam surface between those two places that "cocks" the cocking piece after you fire and as you open the bolt.

The idea is that the trigger sear will catch and hold that cocking piece as the bolt is closed - if that interface has been ground too fine, or there is grunge / gunk in there, or a rough inletting job - then that sear can not always rise to catch that cocking piece - that creates myriad mayhem. The original military trigger was two stage - first stage moved the sear a lot - but was relatively easy pull - then a distinct feel of more pressure required as the second stage pull starts - that is the instant that you want the sear to let go of that cocking piece. So that leads to how the original safety should work - it was meant to lift the cocking piece off the sear - when operating as original, only the safety lever is holding the cocking piece back - the trigger sear has no role to play in the "safety" function. Over the years, various people thought they could "improve" that system and tried - I have not seen many success stories that were as "dependable" as the original military system on a Mauser rifle.
 
In addition, the surface of the cocking piece is hardened. If someone was in there trying to refine the safety's engagement by stoning the face of the cocking piece, it's possible the hardness layer was removed thereby causing marring or deformation. Does the rifle fire upon release of the safety?
 
conor_90 said:
I have an interarms mini mauser/ vixen clone.
Click to expand...

What do you actually own, make and model and chambering?

Don't use live ammo till the issue is sussed out and remedied.

Do a thorough cleaning. Look for altered parts while cleaning.
Make sure the trigger and it's parts move freely.
Make sure the trigger is not binding in the trigger guard or stock.
Screw adjustments in the trigger assembly need to be checked for proper adjustments.
Has the stock been changed?
 
conor_90 said:
You literally just quoted the make and model

The chambering is irrelevant
Click to expand...


A Vixen is an L461 Sako and a Mini Mauser is Interarms, they are not the same and built differently, then you go on and call your rifle a clone. Just trying to get things sorted.

Chambering might or might not indicate a rifle built from an action only rather than a factory complete rifle. Additional work may have been performed to bring the rifle to it's current condition. Had I known it was top secret I would not have asked. Carry on.
 
It is a factory 223, I am just prickly today.for some reason. Mea culpa.


Yes it is a Zastava m85/ Interarms Mark x mini " mauser", incredibly similar to a l461 if not a true clone. I think you knew that all along anyways...

I took it apart and there is nothing I can determine as wrong, it is clean. The trigger is light but not so much so it seems over adjusted.

I'm at a loss now. Not really wanting to pay to send it to a smith either.

Disappointed because i bought this as a range toy and finally have time to.be a range rat for a couple weeks.
 
Could be trigger is seriously out of adjustment and/or loose trigger assembly fasteners. I have a Remington 799 (Zastava mini-mauser barreled action with Remington laminate stock). Extractor issue I retrofitted mine with identical Sako Vixen extractor works fine now.
 
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Well, I took it apart again. I somehow managed to decock the bolt once it was out of the body and now I can neither remove the bolt shroud, nor thread the pin into the bolt body.

Serenity now...
 

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