Mauser won't fire surplus ammo

[Mosin Bubba]

I have a 1943 Turk Mauser that refuses to fire surplus ammo. I had bought some the other day, and couldn't get it to ignite, even if I tried firing the same round two or three times. I borrowed a friend's Mauser, took it out today, and it fired ten rounds of the same ammo just fine. I figured that my firing pin spring must be bad, so to check it, I took down the bolts and replaced my spring with his. I only got one bullet to fire out of ten.

I doubt the problem is the ammo, and apparently it isn't the spring either. What could be keeping my Mauser from firing? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[rcmodel]

1. Excess headspace.

2. Or firing pin protrusion.

The first allows the round to set too deep in the chamber for the firing pin to reach it.

The second just doesn't have enough firing pin sticking through the bolt face to reliably ignite it.

3. Take the firing pin out of the bolt again and look for burs or shiny impact spots on the twin tabs in front at the rear of the thinner FP projection that prevent the FP from reaching the primer of the bolt is not fully locked shut.

It may be a replacement firing pin, and it may be hitting the inside of the bolt stops before it reaches the primers.

rc

 

[LAGS]

The Mauser firing pin can be reset a few thousands by reworking the front stop collar if protrusion is the real problem.
But what i mostly found on MilSurps is a collection of old grease caught in the stop collar cam mating surfaces inside the bolt body.
This is why as part of the gun Safety check, the headspace, the firing pin protrusion, a chamber casting, and proper slugging of the bore be done Before attempting to fire an old gun.
Do you know the proper way to Fully Disassemble your bolt and the firing pin assembly ?
The firing pin protrusion needs to be .065" when the firing pin is all the way forward and pressure is applied to the back of the cocking piece.

 

[Elkins45]

All good advice above. If it's just debris/hardened lube inside the bolt body then a good soaking in your favorite petroleum solvent and a vigorous internal brushing might fix things right up.

 

[Liberty1776]

just curious - will it fire factory ammo?

 

[plmitch]

just curious - will it fire factory ammo?

That was my question also.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

I had a box of 8mm that I bought with the rifle at a gun show. It was rolled up in butcher paper and labeled with a Sharpie, and I don't know if it was commercial ammo or reloads or what. It seemed better than surplus. The rifle handled most of that, but three rounds failed to fire out of twenty.

Also, I will go and check the firing pin protrusions tomorrow.

 

[plmitch]

I don't know if it was commercial ammo or reloads or what. .

What was the head stamp on the ammo? Just my opinion but you might want to be cautious about what ammo you try out. Possible reloads from an unknown source, unknown surplus? Too much of a gamble for my tastes. Good luck.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

I have no idea what the headstamp on those bullets were, and I don't have the brass. You're right - probably not a good idea to be shooting that stuff.

 

[morcey2]

I had one rifle that wouldn't fire 1950's Yugo surplus consistently. Everything else was in spec so I replaced the firing pin spring with a 22# spring and it cleared everything up. Some yugo surplus is known to have deep seated and hard primers.

Also, most of the surplus that is available now is Iranian and is only useful if you throw it at the target by hand. More failure-to-fires than not, very dirty, and lots of split and separated cases on the ones that fire.

Before you start modifying anything (but still check FP protrusion), buy a box of commercial ammo and see how it does. Fed/Win/Rem are loaded light. PPU that is imported is also, but S&B and Hornady have full power loads.

My money is on gunk in the bolt. Packed with turkaline. Kinda like a Turkey-flavored cosmoline. Turkey the country, not the bird. It tastes nothing like the bird.

Matt

ETA: Is the receiver marked K.Kale or Ankara?

 

[Mosin Bubba]

The receiver is stamped K. Kale. I checked the firing pin protrusions: my pin is at 0.054" and my buddy's is at 0.060".

It seems that 8mm is kinda hard to come by. I went looking for some factory ammo this summer after I used up that sketchy gun show ammo, but there was not a box to be found, and some Ecuadorian surplus was the only stuff I could find in town. I don't know if that was caused by the ammo shortage, or if it's just kind of an oddball caliber nowadays. I'll drop by Cabela's and see what they have.

 

[LAGS]

@ KF7LCE
The firing pin protrusion on the Mauser should be Between .060" and .065 " if the Headspace is correct.
Ones with .060" or less may have problems firing mil surp ammo.
Especially if the headspace is near the max.
Is the Bolt completly clean inside ?
Have you checked the Actual Headspace ?

Also, if the protrusion is greater than .075" , you will start to puncture primers if the headspace is correct.

Can we get pictures of your firing pin removed fron the bolt and bolt sleeve ?
The firing pin stop Collar or cam might be able to be redressed and correct the issue.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

The bolt and pin are pretty greasy, but I don't think it's anything some brake cleaner couldn't fix.

Here are some pictures. I think this is what you were asking for? If you need a better picture or a clearer angle, just let me know

 

[LAGS]

@ KF7LCE
What you need to do now is after the bolt and firing pin are cleaned, then insert the firing pin in the bolt without the spring and see if it will increase the protrusion when pushed all the way forward.
If it does, then the stop collar on the firing pin is not the issue.
But if it doesn't then look for burrs or areas on the firing pin stop canm that can be Buffed down a tiny bit to let it move forward in the bolt to get the needed protrusion.
Now re-assemble the bolt and check the firing pin protrusion, and see if cleaning helped increase the protrusion.
If it is the same .054" as before, then you might be able to get the firing pin to move forward a TINY bit by facing off the front of the Cocking Piece.
You only need .004' so it isn't much

 

[rcmodel]

Your photo's aren't clear enough to be sure.

But it appears there are shiny wear spots on the edges of the firing pin safety blocks foreword of the mainspring flange that can only enter matching recesses inside the bolt body when it is fully locked shut.

It appears to me they are impacting the inside of the bolt recesses enough to wear the shiny spots on the corners of them.

That will stop or slow down the FP before it can go all the way forward through the bolt face to hit the primer.

rc

 

[LAGS]

The Protrusion of the firing pin tip should be about .090" when the firing pin is inside the bolt body without any of the other parts like the spring , cocking piece or bolt sleeve.
And like rcmodel said, work freely all the way into the bolt.

Many Mauser firing pins get damaged by persons disassembling the firing pin assembly by pushing down on the TIP of the firing pin when compressing the spring.
You need to make sure you use a Block of wood with a hole drilled in it to go all the way up to the stop collar on the firing pin.
That is what the hole is in the buttstock of many models of Mauser's is for, Firing pin disassembly.