Название | Bolt Action Rifles |
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Автор произведения | Wayne Zwoll |
Жанр | Изобразительное искусство, фотография |
Серия | |
Издательство | Изобразительное искусство, фотография |
Год выпуска | 0 |
isbn | 9781440224065 |
The rear of the bolt body behind the bolt handle (about .60” ) is made larger (.78”) than the main body of the bolt (.70”). This provides extra metal for the firing and safety mechanism. The bolt is bored from the rear to accept the firing pin and mainspring, and has buttress threads to hold the bolt sleeve. The rear half of the firing pin is flat on two sides and extends through a matching hole in the bolt sleeve. The rear of the firing pin and cocking piece are machined with three evenly-spaced interrupted lugs to afford a solid and precise quarter-turn fastening between these parts. The coil mainspring is compressed between the bolt sleeve and the flange on the firing pin, and is retained by the cocking piece.
Most M98-type actions made after 1901 were made with a safety firing pin. These firing pins have two lugs forward of the mainspring flange matching similar depressions forged inside the bolt. The purpose of this feature is to block the fall of the firing pin should it break before the bolt is fully locked. For example, if the firing pin broke while closing the bolt on feeding a live cartridge into the chamber, it could not strike the primer because the firing pin safety lugs would strike the shoulders within the bolt and block its fall.
The cocking piece cam fits into the rear of the bolt sleeve. The cam extends down into the tang groove and forward into a deep notch cut into the thick rear end of the bolt. This notch is inclined to one side so that on raising the bolt handle the cocking piece and the firing pin are forced back about .350”.enough so the sear drops in front of the cocking piece sear surface. Then, on the final closing motion, the bolt moves forward while the sear holds the cocking piece back, cocking the action fully. Although the M98 action is normally referred to as a “cock-on-opening” action, about one-third of the cocking motion is accomplished as the bolt is closed.
Left side view of the M98 Mauser action.
A “short” M98 military action having an overall length of 8.50” and a magazine opening of 3.225 ” (action shown fitted with a new bolt handle).
The bolt-sleeve lock fits into a hole in the left side of the bolt sleeve. It is given forward tension by a coil spring and is positioned by a small stud on the body of the lock within a groove in the bolt sleeve. As the bolt is turned to unlock it, the safety notch cut in the rear of the bolt is rotated in line with the bolt-sleeve lock, allowing them to engage. This securely locks the bolt sleeve and prevents it from turning on the bolt until it is locked again, when the bolt is closed and the bolt-sleeve lock is pushed back into the bolt sleeve by the rear edge of the bridge.
The wing safety is positioned in a hole, lengthwise, in the top of the bolt sleeve. The wing part of the safety is notched and fits over a collar on the bolt sleeve, which prevents the safety from falling out. This collar is notched on its far right side to permit the safety to be removed from the bolt sleeve, but only when the cocking piece is removed first. With the action assembled, and the safety swung to the right, the mainspring tension on the cocking piece holds the safety in place. The stem of the safety extends forward through the front of the bolt sleeve to intersect the rear of the bolt body. The end of this stem is notched and engages in the notch in the bolt only when the safety is swung to the far right or “safe” position. In this position both the striker (firing pin and cocking piece) and the bolt are locked.
Swung to the left or “off ” position, the safety is disengaged. Swung upright, in its intermediate position, only the striker is locked back, allowing the bolt to be operated to safely unload the magazine by running the cartridges through the chamber. When the safety is swung from the left to the upright position or beyond, it engages behind the cocking piece and draws it back clear of the sear. When it is released, the sear will be in position in front of the cocking piece, holding it cocked.
The bolt has two large oblong vents through which powder gases can escape in the event of a pierced primer or ruptured case head. These two holes are located in the front part of the bolt, one on either side of the extractor collar and near the small part of the firing pin. When the action is closed these vents align with the left locking lug raceway, thus directing any escaping gases backward. Much of the escaping gases would exit at the thumb slot. If any gases pass into the bridge raceway the bolt would block much of it, while the wide, bolt sleeve flange effectively deflects the remainder away from the shooter’s face. This flange is as wide as the rear part of the receiver.
The bolt-stop, positioned at the left rear of the receiver, is held in place by, and pivots on, a pointed screw which passes through the bolt-stop and a slotted square stud integral with the receiver. A projection on the bolt-stop projects through a hole in the receiver bridge, placing it in the path of the left locking lug. This halts the rearward motion of the bolt when it is drawn back. The flat ejector is held inside the bolt-stop and pivots on the bolt-stop screw. The ejector protrudes through a slot in the receiver. A two-leaf spring, mortised into the bolt-stop provides tension to the bolt-stop to hold it against the receiver, and to keep the ejector riding against the bolt so it will be in position to eject the cartridge or case.
The sear is hinged via a pin and a stud under the rear of the receiver. A coil spring, recessed at the front of the sear, tensions the sear and trigger. The trigger is hinged to the sear by a pin. The top of the trigger is made with two humps to provide the two-stage trigger pull.
The trigger guard and the magazine box are machined from a single piece of steel. Although the trigger guard is combined with the magazine box, it is usually called the trigger guard—or simply the guard. The guard bow is quite heavy and the same width as the guard tang above it. The magazine box, open at the bottom, is closed by a milled detachable floorplate. The floorplate is held in place by lips at either end fitting grooves cut into the guard and retained by a spring-loaded plunger at the rear of the magazine box, and engaging in a hole in the stud on the rear of the plate. Depressing the plunger through the hole in the rear of the floorplate allows it to be moved to the rear and released.
The magazine follower is made with a rib on its upper left side, forcing the cartridges to form a staggered column in the magazine. The rear end of the follower rib is square. When the magazine is empty and the bolt is opened, the follower rises into the path of the bolt and prevents it from being closed. This informs the shooter that the magazine is empty The ends of the W-shaped flat magazine spring fit shallow mortises cut into the bottom of the follower and inside the floorplate.
Heavy guard screws pass through holes at each end of the trigger guard and thread into the recoil lug and tang of the receiver. A large stud on the front end of the guard, through which the guard screw passes, is recessed to fit over a smaller stud on the bottom of the recoil lug. This stud aligns the receiver and the trigger guard magazine box. A sleeve in the rear guard screw hole of the stock correctly spaces the rear of the guard and receiver.
Top view of the M98 action.
Most M98 military actions use two small screws to lock the guard screws. The heads of the guard screws are notched, and the lock screws are positioned just in front of them to prevent their turning. The lock screws are also notched. If they are turned so the notch aligns with the guard screws, the latter can be turned out without removing the lock screws.
Operation
The action is opened by grasping the bolt handle, rotating it upward 90 degrees and pulling back as far as it will go. The striker is partially cocked when the bolt handle is raised. If the cartridges are in a charger clip, insert either end of the clip into the charger guideway of the receiver bridge and, with the fingers under the action and thumb on the topmost cartridge, shove the cartridges down into the magazine. Cartridges can be singly loaded into an empty or partially empty magazine, by laying the cartridge in the open action and pressing it into the