Bolt Action Rifles. Wayne Zwoll

the rear left bottom edge of the cover, extends forward into the tube to complete the telescopic hinge, allowing the cover to open and close and slide backward and forward as the bolt is operated.

      When the breech cover is in place, and the action closed, it effectively encloses the main part of the action, protecting it against the entrance of foreign material. The cover in no way interferes with the normal operation of the safety, and when the action is open it does not obstruct loading the magazine in any way. On opening the action, however, the cover rises on the bolt handle stem and this makes it necessary for the shooter to grasp only the ball of the bolt when the action is operated.

      The breech cover is readily removed by first releasing the bar latch under the bolt handle stem, swinging open the cover and drawing it to the rear to separate it from the clip. The clip can then be removed by pressing the underside of the clip to the left, until it separates from the forend.

      Apparently the breech covers were not widely used since they are scarce today. Perhaps they were not developed and made early enough to be used before WWI ended, or maybe the cover wasn’t entirely successful.

      M98 breech cover in place on the rifle, showing the bolt handle and breech cover raised with action open.

Mauser Model 98 FdH

      Original M98 Mauser rifle.

      THROUGH STUDY OF other rifle actions and his own development work, Paul Mauser gained considerable insight into precisely what features were necessary and desirable in a military rifle. He knew that each of his succeeding designs was better than the preceding one, so he probably felt that the Model 96 action was still short of perfection. It’s interesting that there was a lapse of two years between the introduction of the M96 Swedish Mauser and the advent of the M98, while most other successful Mauser designs were only a year apart.

      There was indeed a great advance from the basic M71 blackpowder action to the next important change, the smokeless powder cartridge M88 action. The latter introduced dual-opposed forward locking lugs and the one-piece bolt drilled from the rear. The next major and important design changes were in the M92 action, which introduced the non-rotating extractor, and in the M93 with its flush staggered-column, nondetachable box magazine. All of this design activity by Mauser on his bolt-action system culminated in the design and the perfection of the inside collar in the receiver ring, the third, or safety lug on the bolt, and the improved firing mechanism of the M98.

      This achievement was crowned when Germany, his native country, adopted the Model 98 Mauser rifle. Although Mauser continued to invent other arms, some of which were outstanding, it is the M98 action for which he is best known. Paul Mauser died in May, 1914, just at the start of WWI, a conflict that would see his M98 pitted against a variety of inferior rifles.

      The Action

      The one-piece receiver is machined from a steel forging. The recoil lug, an integral part of the receiver, is located about 1.43” behind the front edge of the receiver. It is about 1.1 ” wide and .25” in depth, ample in area to secure the action in a reasonably hard, wood stock if properly bedded and tightened in place. Behind the recoil lug the bottom of the Mauser receiver is flat, including the tang.

      The receiver ring is threaded inside to accept the barrel shank. The threads are of common V-type, but with a 55-degree angle rather than the standard American 60-degree angle. The barrel breech is flat, with the chamber edge slightly rounded. Inside the receiver ring there is a collar against which the breech end of the barrel abuts. This collar extends entirely around the inside of the receiver ring except for an extractor cut. It forms a ring that closely surrounds the bolt head when the bolt is closed. The rear of this collar, beveled toward the chamber, forms a wide funnel which sometimes helps to guide the cartridges into the chamber.

      This collar strengthens the receiver ring and, except for the extractor cut, provides a good seal around the bolt head. Normally, the barrel shank is made to butt tightly against this collar so that the shoulder of the barrel need not nor should contact the front edge of the receiver.

      The magazine well of the M98 action is milled from the bottom of the receiver, between the bridge and ring, leaving lips at either side of the upper edge to hold the cartridges in place. The front of the well is milled to form a shallow “U” ramp to guide the cartridges into the chamber. The right side of the receiver opening is cut very low, leaving little more than the side rail of the magazine well. The left side of the receiver opening has a wall extending about two-thirds of the way up the receiver ring which is milled for the left locking lug raceway. However, the rear of this left wall, close to the bridge, is cut as low as the right side to form a thumb recess to aid loading the magazine from a charger clip. The only really weak point in the action results from this notch— more on this later.

      The top front of the bridge is slotted for the charger clip. The top of the bridge behind the charger clip slot is milled thinner to remove excess metal. The rear of the receiver ends in a tang, grooved to accept the cocking piece cam.

      The bolt is a solid steel machined forging, with an integral bolt handle. Dual-opposed Model 98 locking lugs are on the front end. The right (bottom) lug is solid. The left (top) is slotted to allow the ejector to pass through. The bridge and the left receiver wall are milled inside to pass the bolt and lugs. The receiver ring is milled inside to form supporting shoulders for the locking lugs to engage when the bolt is closed. These lugs hold the bolt securely against the barrel breech.

      A recess in the bolt face leaves a shallow rim about two-thirds of the way around the bolt head, partially supporting the cartridge head. The left side of this rim (opposite the extractor), through which the ejector slot passes, is made higher and undercut so the extractor pressure will securely hold the cartridge, or the fired case, while the bolt is being opened. This prevents the case from dropping down and supports it until the ejector flips it out.

      The long spring-steel extractor is attached to the bolt by a collar which fits a groove cut into the bolt body. A lip under the extractor, behind the extractor hook, engages a narrow groove in the bolt head in front of the locking lugs, preventing longitudinal movement of the extractor on the bolt. The front of the extractor lip, and the groove into which it fits, is slightly undercut to prevent the extractor hook from moving outward or from slipping over a cartridge rim when force is required to extract a tight cartridge or case from the chamber.

      The M98 bolt has a third or safety lug located at the rear of the bolt slightly forward of the bolt handle, and in line with the right locking lug. A recess is milled in the receiver below the bridge in which the lug moves when the bolt is closed. The recess is milled with enough tolerance so the lug will not contact the receiver— it is not intended to help hold the bolt in the locked position but acts only as a safety lug in the event the front locking lugs or receiver ring should fail. The bolt, at top, has a center guide rib about 2.2 ” long and .235” wide. When the bolt is closed, this rib rotates under the rear part of the extractor. The underside of the bridge is grooved to allow passage of the rib.

      Standard M98 military action.

      The top forward corner of the square base of the bolt handle is slightly beveled, the rear surface of the receiver bridge inclined to the rear. On opening, the bolt is cammed rearward by the bolt handle base which moves along this inclined surface. This movement provides the initial extraction camming power. This inclined surface also aids in starting rotation of the bolt when it is closed. In addition, inclines on the approaches of the locking shoulders in the locking lug recess in the receiver ring, along with a slightly beveled corner on each locking lug, provide the power to force the bolt forward the last -inch as the bolt is rotated 90 degrees to lock it. The bolt handle shank usually