Mauser K98 Stuck Case

[oldwindways]

I took my Mauser down to the range this afternoon to try and shoot it for the first time since I bought and detail stripped it, and ran into a problem with the Yugo surplus ammo I was shooting. After the first shot I could not open the bolt. It would rotate a few degrees, but then came up against a hard stop. Some googling convinced me that it was likely a jammed case, so when I got home I alternately tried tapping a cleaning rod down the barrel and hitting the bolt handle with a mallet, but what eventually worked was spraying a bunch of solvent down the barrel and letting it soak for an hour. At last I was able to hammer open the bolt, and was rewarded with the sight of a case still stuck in the chamber. A few more pounds with the ramrod and mallet finally freed it.

While I would love to think that it was just a bad round, I am worried that pitting in the chamber could make this a reoccurring problem. The fired case has an almost speckled appearance now which I presume is from expanding to conform to the irregular surface of the chamber. I've tried to capture that in these photos (click for full size):

Fired Case

Unfired Round

Side-by-Side

Any thoughts on how I should proceed? Should I just keep trying to shoot it? Is there something I can do to improve or "fix" the chamber (if that is indeed where the issue lies), or is this the type of thing that needs to be looked at by a gunsmith? I'm a huge mil-surp fan, but this has me feeling like I am in over my head.

 

[NewGunGuy]

Well since your LIFE is involved, do what you want, but I sure as hell wouldn't fire it anymore until I had it checked out.

Charles.

 

[Finalygotabeltfed]

The imprints on the case indicate that your chamber is shit and needs to be cleaned and polished for starters. If the chamber and bore look like a sewer pipe, get the gun to someone who can clean it up.

Yugo ammo is also well known for long necks and has been the source of trouble in many 1919 conversion barrels and others unless the throat is reamed out to accomodate this particular ammo. Evidently your Mauser chamber throat needs to be done also.

If you have the capability, try pulling a few bullets, trim the brass length about 10 thousandths, reload the powder and reseat the bullets and see if that clears up your problem. Otherwise, sell the ammo you have and get some Romanian 8mm or other type.

I've got some of the Yugo 8mm and it works ok in my Mausers so far.

 

[Sir_Macadoo]

Yea that case looks like the walls of the chamber are pitted to hell. So when the bullet fires and the brass expands into all the pitting or conforms to all the gunk in the chamber the case is getting stuck.

 

[oldwindways]

The imprints on the case indicate that your chamber is shit and needs to be cleaned and polished for starters. If the chamber and bore look like a sewer pipe, get the gun to someone who can clean it up.

I thought that might be the case. Any recommendations for a decent smith (I'm assuming this is something I would need a smith for) in my area? Of course conveniently local is great, but quality work is better.

 

[NinerMaine]

I have some questions:

1. Have you observed the chamber with a flash light? Can you see pitting or other damage to the chamber? If so, how deep does the pitting look?

2. What make of K98 is it? Is it an RC, post war build or a very collectable and valuable all matching German war time production?

IF the pitting is shallow you can have a gunsmith resize the chamber. The Brits had most of the chambers in the early made No. 1's resized during WWI do help make a little room for the mud of the trenches. But only a gunsmith will be able to tell you how much you can resize the chamber by and still have the gun safe to fire. And you will need a machinist/gunsmith, not just your everyday gunsmith. Brass from a larger than normal chamber will not reload many times if you are a reloader.

The cost of resizing the chamber will most likely not be worth the value of the gun. If it is an RC or a post WWII gun, then it might be cheaper to just go out and buy a new gun. If it is a collectable and valuable WWII gun, then it may be worth it. But a collectable gun might also be worth more with a pitted original chamber than with one that has been resized. I do not know enough about k98's to answer that question.

 

[oldwindways]

I believe that there is some pitting the chamber from what I could see, but I could not really judge its depth.

I think it's a RC (has an X under the serial number on the receiver), but it is definitely a "mix-master" with most parts coming from different manufacturers (I believe the barrel is a 42 byf) or at least having different serial numbers. I got it primarily because I wanted a cool piece of history I could shoot, but with its mixed parts, initial condition (light rust in the barrel, although that cleared up with some solvent and running the brush through a dozen times or so), and at the price I got it, I don't really have any delusions about it being a valuable collectors item. That said, I would love to be able to shoot it.

 

[Sir_Macadoo]

try a bore brush that is a bit too large for the chamber (nylon first, then brass , then maybe steel - go easy with this) chucked into a dril and try to soften it up a bit. You could also try bore paste to get the gunk out. You could also try polishing the chamber with some scotch brite and an abrasive polish like fitz. A dremel with a cylindrical felt polishing head would work - I have done this with decent results on old rifles. I wouldnt do this on anything match grade or highly collectible. But if all you want is to shoot it, you can give the above a try.

 

[NinerMaine]

It is an RC with the X on it. If you bought this from an FFL, I would take the case and the gun back and explain you were sold a gun you are not able to shoot and would like to exchange it for another RC if there is another one there. Otherwise ask for your money back. If it is an honest gun store owner, they might be happy to keep a happy customer. If you bought it from a private sale, you could try that as well. I know if I sold a gun like this to someone, I would be giving them their money back.

If that fails, I would make phone calls to some local gunsmiths and explain the problem. Find out how much it will cost to have the chamber polished/resized or what ever else they can do to fix it. If that is not worth the money, then hang it on the wall and look for another one.

I am not a gunsmith, but after 20 years of buying old guns, I have become very good at fixing them and getting them to work. When you like old guns with history, you are bound to end up with a percentage of them that have something wrong with them. It is just part of collecting them. In fact, I now search gun stores for old guns that have something wrong with them as they are cheap and I enjoy fixing them up. But a heavily pitted chamber is not something I would attempt to fix.

I believe that there is some pitting the chamber from what I could see, but I could not really judge its depth.

I think it's a RC (has an X under the serial number on the receiver), but it is definitely a "mix-master" with most parts coming from different manufacturers (I believe the barrel is a 42 byf) or at least having different serial numbers. I got it primarily because I wanted a cool piece of history I could shoot, but with its mixed parts, initial condition (light rust in the barrel, although that cleared up with some solvent and running the brush through a dozen times or so), and at the price I got it, I don't really have any delusions about it being a valuable collectors item. That said, I would love to be able to shoot it.

 

[Sir_Macadoo]

I am not a gunsmith, but after 20 years of buying old guns, I have become very good and fixing them and getting them to work. When you like old guns with history, you are bound to end up with a percentage of them that have something wrong with them. It is just part of collecting them.

Sage words. I dont have Niner's length of experience, but I like to tinker with the old guns - most times they are pretty fixable. In general, when looking for older guns - the bore/chamber has to be good - that is the important part. Wood can be refinished, small parts replaced, even the bolt - but if the bore is shot out and the chamber ruined, most of the time that puts the cost to fix beyond the value of the gun - go find another one.

 

[USMA-82]

+1

 

[oldwindways]

I ended up calling Collectors in Stoneham for a gunsmith recommendation and they pointed me towards Noah's Motors in Saugus. Dropped it off with him this afternoon, and he seemed optimistic that with some soaking and polishing he could get that cleared right up. Apparently it looks like more an issue of rust accumulation than pitting, so he thinks that the chamber is actually tighter than it should be right now and that the polishing should not result in a dangerously oversize chamber. The gentleman was friendly and straight forward with me and sent me off feeling optimistic about the situation. Hopefully that doesn't change when he calls me with an update

 

[50 BMG]

I thought that might be the case. Any recommendations for a decent smith (I'm assuming this is something I would need a smith for) in my area? Of course conveniently local is great, but quality work is better.

If the barrel is junk and the chamber see my post for virgin in the white Yugo barrels. $49.99 . Your gunsmith can swap it out in no time.Since its not a collectors piece with a new barrel you will get far better results.

Some of the Yugo ammo has very thick cases to begin with. its true for 7.62x54R as well.

I had a similar experience and had the barrel replaced, as I said earlier Copes distributing has them. They are original military !!!!

 

[NinerMaine]

Sounds like it might be an easy fix with a good scrubbing and polishing. I hope that is the case. Good luck and let us know the outcome.

I ended up calling Collectors in Stoneham for a gunsmith recommendation and they pointed me towards Noah's Motors in Saugus. Dropped it off with him this afternoon, and he seemed optimistic that with some soaking and polishing he could get that cleared right up. Apparently it looks like more an issue of rust accumulation than pitting, so he thinks that the chamber is actually tighter than it should be right now and that the polishing should not result in a dangerously oversize chamber. The gentleman was friendly and straight forward with me and sent me off feeling optimistic about the situation. Hopefully that doesn't change when he calls me with an update

 

[Mattitude]

So, any update? Hopefully the chamber cleared up after a good soaking. I've had my fair share of R/C K98's and some of them appeared to have barrels & chambers that looked like 10 miles of bad road, but after plugging the barrel and an overnight soak most came out looking like new.

Have you checked the headspace? There is a chance of a "short" or long chamber because of the mismatched bolt assembly. A set of gauges is something that should be in any milsurp collector's tool box.