IndyArms 10,186 Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 I have a rifle, I was shooting yesterday at our turkey shoot... It is a bolt action with a "98 Mauser" trigger action. Normally it is a cock on open bolt... and was working perfectly... fired several rounds through it, no problems... and have NEVER had any problems with probably close to 300 rounds through the rifle... until... After the last shot... The sliding piece that is spring loaded, and actuates the firing pin, was all the way to the rear and spun sideways on the rear of the bolt. When I moved it back to the slot it rides in, it snapped into place. NOW, it doesnt seem to have enough ass to strike the primer hard enough, and it also acts like its cocking on closing... not opening... WTF?!?!? Any suggestions??? Did I turn it the wrong way?? is it all fubar inside?? Anyone ever encounter anything like this??? It still acts like it wants to work, but I can turn the rear by hand, and I never could before... almost like the spring is weaker... maybe the spring broke? I was just hoping for input before I go trying to take the bolt apart... if I dont have to, I wouldnt want to... Thanks in advance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VanKiller 322 Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 Got a pic ? If it's the type with interupted threads it may have jumped out one set of threads and you just need to add more tension. (Screw it back in), if you're lucky. Otherwise .....tear it down........ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigcec1 72 Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 If you have a pic but like van said it may have jumped threads I've had a bolt unscrew 360 one time while shooting and moving around and the firing pin was not close enough to strike I have to many mousers hehe Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IndyArms 10,186 Posted October 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 Well, I didnt want to talk about the make and model, as it would be all kinds of shitstorm if I did... and to be honest, until NOW... this rifle has performed rather excellently... which would be a very contradictory opinion of the "general consensus" of the interweb armchair commandos... Lets just leave it at the fact it is a bolt action .50 BMG. The bolt body appears to be COMPLETELY fine... HOWEVER... Is it possible to "overcompress" the spring, so that it doesnt have quite as much ass as it did before? If I can play out the scenario properly... here's the deal... Fired the LAST round... Primer strike was deep and the primer erupted out the back, ( which I didnt realize until looking at the spent casings THIS AFTERNOON) I am guessing that caused a pressure spike to blow the firing pin back, the cocking mechanism locked in a sideways position. ( although it LOOKS like this is how you would lock the spring back for bolt tear down... ) I spun the cocking mechanism back into the groove, it snapped into place forcefully... and loaded a second round... pulled trigger... CLICK! VERY light firing pin strike on the primer... no "BOOMAGE"... When the other shell fucked up, could it have overcompressed the spring so that its no good anymore? And if thats not an unheard of occurrence... I need to just buy another spring, and replace??? I have fired multiple hundreds of rounds through this rifle... and NEVER had any issues... If I need to post pics... I can do that... although I am not sure it will matter... as I said... everything *LOOKS* proper... and the spring still seems to be "holy fuck" strong... maybe its just not "OH MY GOD holy fuck" strong?!?!? Tom, It looks like I can adjust the spring tension... as there's a threaded section on the firing pin shaft itself... I guess maybe I SHOULD post pics, so that those more enlightened on this can educate me properly!! Thanks for the help so far... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bigcec1 72 Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 Does the tip of the firing pin look damaged I would take the bolt apart and inspect you may have broken something internaly in the bolt if you peirced the primer I know I have a few times Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IndyArms 10,186 Posted October 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 Does the tip of the firing pin look damaged I would take the bolt apart and inspect you may have broken something internaly in the bolt if you peirced the primer I know I have a few times Well... here are some pics of the bolt... as I said, it looks to be CORRECT... I think the spring is just overcompressed and not doing its job... note the threads on the part through the part the trigger releases... it LOOKS like it can be adjusted... maybe thats what I have to do... so... GURUS... do I adjust? or get a new spring? I dunno if these images will help... but thats all I got... LOL like I said.. everything LOOKS good... but it dont WORK properly... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IndyArms 10,186 Posted October 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 I want to add... when the bolt is assembled, and manually placed in the "de-cocked" position the firing pin protrudes through the hole in the end as far as it can. The firing pin has the stop on it, you can see when it is disassembled... I do not think it is a "depth" issue as much as a "not hard enough pressure" thing... Is it worth adjusting? or do I just need to replace the spring and not fuck around with it?!?!? ( although replacing the spring will take quite a bit of fucking around with... and I probably should take it to a local gunsmith if I have to go that route... ) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IndyArms 10,186 Posted October 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 Well... I have 4 more replacement springs ordered... I was told by the manufacturer that should a ruptured primer occur, it is possible for it to kink the spring from the vented gasses passing into the bolt body. There are vent holes to vent these gasses up and out of the receiver... almost like a safety system built in... at the cost of a screwed up firing pin spring. I figure if it happened once, it can happen again, and I want to have a few spares, just in case... Now to figure out how to get the damn thing REPLACED... I suppose a local gunsmith will be in order... otherwise I would have to cob-job some form of spring compressor to relieve tension on the spring while I swap it out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
G O B 3,516 Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Looks like a FUBARed spring. It also looks like it comes out kinda like a Mauser - a block of wood to push the pin in against, and a STRONG steady hand. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
IndyArms 10,186 Posted November 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2009 It is indeed a fubar spring... so the manufacturer tells me. I got new springs... ( a couple spares, just in case) and took the club and parts to a local gunsmith, who will return it from Club status to firearm. I gotta tell ya... the NEW springs look a lot beefier than the original...Thicker gauge, and tighter coils... same overall length. I presume what I have experienced has happened before, so they upgraded the spring a little... maybe I wont ever have to worry again... but its always nice to have spares... Now just gotta wait for it to get fixed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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