K98 Empty Bolt Hold-Open

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Roamin_Wade

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I’ve got a k98 that has a 1940 mfg. date. It truly is an extremely substantial rifle but I’m not a fan of the bolt catch that keeps you from closing the bolt on an empty rifle. I’ve handled a few Winchester Model 70’s and I don’t recall that lip protuberance coming up from the control round feeding floor plate. Do folks that take an old Mauser action and custom build a rifle from It have that altered so it don’t require a finger into the action to defeat that designed mechanism? Does anyone know if German soldiers liked that mechanism or not? It seems like it would take about two minutes on a bench grinder to take that feature out of the rifle.
 

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I have a better thread title for you.

How to destroy the value of a rifle with a dremel in 5 easy minutes.
It appears there is not much value to that rifle in terms of historical value, K98s did not have stainless/polished/chromed bolts. That appears to be a Mitchell’s Mauser and would only be valued as a shooter. Smarter people on K98s who know more can probably verify this for the OP.
 
I’ve got a k98 that has a 1940 mfg. date. It truly is an extremely substantial rifle but I’m not a fan of the bolt catch that keeps you from closing the bolt on an empty rifle. I’ve handled a few Winchester Model 70’s and I don’t recall that lip protuberance coming up from the control round feeding floor plate. Do folks that take an old Mauser action and custom build a rifle from It have that altered so it don’t require a finger into the action to defeat that designed mechanism? Does anyone know if German soldiers liked that mechanism or not? It seems like it would take about two minutes on a bench grinder to take that feature out of the rifle.

Not all Mausers came with a bolt hold open follower. It made sense in a military rifle as men under fire, in combat, can ignore signs that their rifles are not going bang.

A Course of Instruction on Ordnance and Gunnery for Cadets of the United States Military Academy (1867) Brevet Colonel JG Benton, p 341,:

"...of 27,574 muskets picket up on the battlefield of Gettysburg and turned into the Washington Arsenal, at least 24,000 were loaded. About half of this number contained two charges each, about a fourth contained from three to ten charges each and the balance one charge. The largest number of cartridges found in any one piece was twenty three. In some cases the paper of the cartridges was unbroken and in others the powder was uppermost."

On the extreme end, someone shoved 23 rounds down the barrel of their musket and it took them a while before they figured out their rifle was not going bang! I am quite certain this was noticed by the powers that be after battles and a large number of military rifles have bolt hold open followers, but not all Mausers do. You can look on line, go to a gun show, and find a replacement follower easily. I think that is better than grinding down the old one, but, it does cost more.

here are five for sale:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mauser-98-...857069?hash=item26369a92ed:g:HOAAAOSwVYNdmkuu

My PTR91 does not have a bolt hold open device, which I think is interesting for a post WW2 battle rifle design.

 
It appears there is not much value to that rifle in terms of historical value, K98s did not have stainless/polished/chromed bolts. That appears to be a Mitchell’s Mauser and would only be valued as a shooter. Smarter people on K98s who know more can probably verify this for the OP.

I did not even expand the photo.
 
If it worries you that much, buy a spare follower from Numrich or Sarco or your favorite parts source, and angle it. That way you are not ruining the collectability of the rifle, and can swap it out at will. Not that there's any real collectability with a Mitchell' Mauser anyway.....
This ... especially that last.
 
Those bolt hold open followers proablly saved many lives, there second nature for anyone who have used a rifle with that type follower. Normal loading and shooting of the rifle you will hardly ever notice it, most only complain when they do living room shooting.
 
FWIW, the Chilean and Spanish Mauser followers can also be interchanged between the m93 Spanish and the m95 Chilean. The m93 locks up when the magazine is empty and the Chilean has the angled follower and allows the bolt forward on an empty magazine.

M95follower.jpg

A lot of these followers have also been altered over the years, some better and some worse, to allow the bolt to go forward on an empty chamber. The Swede 94 and 96 do not have the angled followers as issued and hold the bolt back with an empty magazine.
 
I have a better thread title for you.

How to destroy the value of a rifle with a dremel in 5 easy minutes.

Yeah. And having that hold-open feature was so a soldier, dealing with adrenaline, would know to reload usually via stripper clip rather than cycling an empty rifle.

If somebody just can't stand it, it wouldn't be a big deal to use a VZ-24 follower, which is beveled, but retain the K98's original follower. That way, the original can be put back in event of sale.
 
I have a better thread title for you.

How to destroy the value of a rifle with a dremel in 5 easy minutes.

I’m not thinking of doing that. I would consider doing that to an old action that I would make a custom rifle out of.
 
It appears there is not much value to that rifle in terms of historical value, K98s did not have stainless/polished/chromed bolts. That appears to be a Mitchell’s Mauser and would only be valued as a shooter. Smarter people on K98s who know more can probably verify this for the OP.


It is a Mitchell’s Mauser. Russian capture. Couple of small parts aren’t serial number matching. 1940, NAZI Proof marked. It’s a great shooter. I’m thinking about putting a long eye relief scope on rear sight.
 
I'd say do whatever you want to make your rifle shoot how you want. It's your rifle. There were 15 million of the things produced, of which about 14 million are in the possession of people who ignorantly think they're "collectible" simply because they own 43. That's like saying your socks are collectible because you own so many :D
 
I'd say do whatever you want to make your rifle shoot how you want. It's your rifle. There were 15 million of the things produced, of which about 14 million are in the possession of people who ignorantly think they're "collectible" simply because they own 43. That's like saying your socks are collectible because you own so many :D

I’m not going to modify it. It is simply something about the rifle I don’t prefer.
 
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