Mauser M48, can't get the front band off!

[GigaBuist]

Title pretty much says it all. I got a Mitchell's Mauser from Dunham's on Monday and I've been trying to get it all cleaned up this morning, but I can't get the danged front band off this thing.

I took a rod and hammer to try and get that spring to go down, not budging. I can depress it and get the back band to come free, then slide it all the way forward, and lift the spring so it seems like the front band would come off, but it's not moving, even after whacking the rear band's sling loop with a hammer to try and budge it.

Is it possible that the stock has swollen enough that I might need to sand off some wood to get this thing apart or what?

 

[MilsurpShooter]

Mine was a little stiff when I tried to take it off as well. Just be sure your pushing the retainer down far enough, it goes down till it's flush with the front band, and then it goes a little further down, past being lined up with the hole. How I did it was to have someone press down on it, and then with a screwdriver and a hammer, I tapped all around the front band to break it off. Once I did that and put it back together I've had no problems removing it since.

Good luck

 

[GigaBuist]

I'm a doof... I anchored the thing back into the stock with a screw behind the trigger guard and it popped right off... with the work of a hammer and screw driver.

Order of operations was a bit off.

 

[Jim K]

I had to use a vise with padded jaws. There is no trick, those bands are just VERY tight. I don't think they meant for the soldiers to remove them.

Jim

 

[spacemanspiff]

as long as you can depress the retainer down, its still operating 100%.

it does take some creativity though to figure out how to do it without an extra pair of hands.