Whitworth 30-06 stuck bolt

vagrantonwalkabout

vagrantonwalkabout

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Complete gunsmithing noob here.
I have a Whitworth 30-06 I fired once and now the bolt will only move about 5° and won't slide back to allow me to remove the empty brass. Has the old style 3 position flag safety, that also won't move at all. The one round that was fired was a factory 180gr, the shot felt normal and hit the target exactly where I was aiming. I think maybe it's the safety jamming ? Don't want to waste money on taking it to a gunsmith. Any ideas on how to get the bolt / safety to move?
 
You have a basic Mauser action rifle that cocks on opening. How much force have you used to try to open the bolt?

So long as the safety lever is in the position it was when you fired the rifle, you should be able to open the bolt. Don't baby it, give it a good yank up and back and see what happens.

If the safety is either all the way down to the right (Fire) or straight up (safe but bolt can be moved) and not down all the way on the left side (Safe with bolt locked) the bolt should be able to be moved.
 
m39a2 said:
You have a basic Mauser action rifle that cocks on opening. How much force have you used to try to open the bolt?

So long as the safety lever is in the position it was when you fired the rifle, you should be able to open the bolt. Don't baby it, give it a good yank up and back and see what happens.

If the safety is either all the way down to the right (Fire) or straight up (safe but bolt can be moved) and not down all the way on the left side (Safe with bolt locked) the bolt should be able to be moved.
Click to expand...

Thank you
 
m39a2 wrote "If the safety is either all the way down to the right (Fire) or straight up (safe but bolt can be moved) and not down all the way on the left side (Safe with bolt locked) the bolt should be able to be moved."

He's on the right path but he's got it backwards.

If the safety is all the way down on the "LEFT" the bolt will not lift.

If the safety is all the way down on the "RIGHT" or in the "UP" position the bolt will lift.

At least, this is how my Mauser 98s work when they have the milspec safety you indicate your firearm has.

Those old Whitworth receivers were surplus military, cleaned up, scrubbed of all stampings, well refinished, and assembled into rifles utilizing as many milsurp parts as possible to keep the price of manufacture down.

They were chambered in most of the "popular" cartridges of the period and mostly aimed at the American, Australian, and African markets.

Don't be surprised if that rifle shoots very well.

Whitworth had a lot of good people working for them when those rifles were put together. I've never seen one that hasn't shot well, when fed ammunition it likes and the operator is capable.

I just finished converting one of their rifles, built on a commercial Husqvarna 98 action, and chambered for the 7x57.

I put it into a Hogue over-molded stock, with an aluminum bedding block, recut the chamber for the 280Rem, and added a Timney trigger.

I will be taking it to the range next week and hopefully, it shoots as well as it did before I recut the chamber.

Those Whitworth rifles were real gems for the price they were offered for back in the day. Time hasn't made them any worse unless they've been ridden hard and put away wet.

When they show up today, they usually fetch appx $500 even in excellent condition, in after-market stocks.

When they're in the condition you describe, they often shoot just as well as ever but aren't "pretty."

I love it when I find one like that, it takes a bit of TLC to get it presentable again, but I wouldn't pay more than a couple of hundred for one in such condition.

Still, if you're using it on the boat or in very rough conditions it will serve your needs.
 
If it's an ex-military action, there should be a little notch at the end of the cocking piece. Take the rim of a cartridge and use that notch to recock the action, and see if that helps.
 
9.3mauser said:
If it's an ex-military action, there should be a little notch at the end of the cocking piece. Take the rim of a cartridge and use that notch to recock the action, and see if that helps.
Click to expand...

Not all of them and the Whitworth rifles were all modified by milling the rear bridge and other bits.

If it's one of the early commercial Husky actions with the thumb cut out, the cocking piece will not have the little cut out.
 
vagrantonwalkabout said:
... I fired once and now the bolt will only move about 5°...
Click to expand...

Did you dry fire the rifle prior to using ammo?...were there any issues when you did?

This might be a situation where the chamber is rusty/cruddy and the fired case is physically stuck in the chamber. Being stuck would not allow the bolt to rotate enough for primary extraction to occur.

Just running a patch through the chamber would not be enough to remove any rust or crud.
 
As I understand the way that the Mausers worked - that external extractor claw does not rotate with the bolt - so, that can not be preventing your bolt handle from lifting - most Mausers had "flat" - 90 degree - seats for the bolt lugs in the receiver - so you would lift the bolt handle circa 50 or 60 degrees before you get to primary extraction - versus the various Enfield designs that had "helical breeching" - the bolt lugs within the receiver were slightly sloped - so ANY upward movement of the bolt handle had the bolt face to the case head to be "loosened" - is going to be tight on a Mauser or it's progeny - and primary extraction can only work if the bolt lugs are lined up to allow that bolt to move rearward within the receiver - so, if you can only lift your Mauser bolt handle a few degrees, maybe is worth to look for something else that has "jammed" that bolt - you did not get far enough, yet, for chamber condition, etc. to play a role, I think? Will not be your instance, but on earlier pattern 1893 Mausers, there was a slot within the bolt body - bolt had to be closed all the way for the front end of the sear to rise up into that slot to allow the sear to release the cocking piece - so might be something loose or caught up within the mechanism - maybe around that third locking lug at the rear?

As far as "left" and "right" in Post #8, will depend if you have muzzle forward or butt forward from you - makes difference which side is "left" or "right" to you. I had read there were some versions of 98 Mausers made opposite of normal - is usual from shooting position to use your thumb to lay that safety to shooter's left, to fire - but some were made that the safety lever needed to go "right", from shooter's perspective.
 
Last edited:
bearhunter said:
m39a2 wrote "If the safety is either all the way down to the right (Fire) or straight up (safe but bolt can be moved) and not down all the way on the left side (Safe with bolt locked) the bolt should be able to be moved."

He's on the right path but he's got it backwards.

If the safety is all the way down on the "LEFT" the bolt will not lift.

If the safety is all the way down on the "RIGHT" or in the "UP" position the bolt will lift.

At least, this is how my Mauser 98s work when they have the milspec safety you indicate your firearm has.

Those old Whitworth receivers were surplus military, cleaned up, scrubbed of all stampings, well refinished, and assembled into rifles utilizing as many milsurp parts as possible to keep the price of manufacture down.

They were chambered in most of the "popular" cartridges of the period and mostly aimed at the American, Australian, and African markets.

Don't be surprised if that rifle shoots very well.

Whitworth had a lot of good people working for them when those rifles were put together. I've never seen one that hasn't shot well, when fed ammunition it likes and the operator is capable.

I just finished converting one of their rifles, built on a commercial Husqvarna 98 action, and chambered for the 7x57.

I put it into a Hogue over-molded stock, with an aluminum bedding block, recut the chamber for the 280Rem, and added a Timney trigger.

I will be taking it to the range next week and hopefully, it shoots as well as it did before I recut the chamber.

Those Whitworth rifles were real gems for the price they were offered for back in the day. Time hasn't made them any worse unless they've been ridden hard and put away wet.

When they show up today, they usually fetch appx $500 even in excellent condition, in after-market stocks.

When they're in the condition you describe, they often shoot just as well as ever but aren't "pretty."

I love it when I find one like that, it takes a bit of TLC to get it presentable again, but I wouldn't pay more than a couple of hundred for one in such condition.

Still, if you're using it on the boat or in very rough conditions it will serve your needs.
Click to expand...

Thank you. The one shot I took already was scary accurate considering how I suck at iron sights. I live coastal BC so very easy to scratch rifles walking through the bushes, also nearly a guarantee to get rust specks on any rifle that leaves the house. It's why I dislike pretty rifles.
 
Maybe the problem is not the bolt but rather the case stuck in the chamber because of rust on the chamber walls causing the case to stick and you not being able to lift the bolt handle.
I would take a brass rod or a steel rod wrapped with electrical tape down the bore and give the stuck case a good whack while some one else lifting the bolt handle.
 
^^^

That trick can loosen a stuck case and allow the bolt to open.

In my experience with neglected and abused rifles, the most common causes of a bolt not wanting to rotate to open were stuck cases (rough, scabby, pitted chamber) or bolt sleeve rusted to bolt body. An over-pressure load can also cause the problem, but not likely with a factory round.
 
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