Bolt Action Rifles. Wayne Zwoll

bolt head is not recessed for the cartridge rim. The one-piece extractor spring is fitted into the left side of the bolt head, its rear end held in place by the bolt body.

      The one-piece firing pin, and the coil mainspring which surrounds it, fits inside the bolt through the front end. The mainspring is compressed between the step-down in the rear of the bolt and the collar on the front of the firing pin. The firing pin extends through the rear of the bolt, through the heavy cocking piece, and all are held in place by the firing pin nut which threads on the rear end of the firing pin. A deep notch in the rear end of the bolt, and a matching projection on the front of the cocking piece, cause the cocking piece to be pushed back when the bolt handle is raised to cock the action. A heavy rib on top of the cocking piece extends forward into the slot in the receiver bridge, which prevents the cocking piece from turning when the bolt handle is raised or lowered. The safety is fitted into a hole drilled lengthwise into the rib on the cocking piece, and is held in place by a cross pin. When the action is cocked and closed, the safety, when swung to the right, cams the cocking piece back slightly off of the sear and locks it there, at the same time locking the bolt so it cannot be opened.

      On opening the bolt, the front end of the bolt rib, contacting an inclined surface on the rear of the receiver ring, forces the bolt back to provide the initial extraction power. Conversely, the rear end of the rib, its locking surface, and the top corner of the right receiver bridge wall are similarly rounded or angled so that, on closing the bolt and lowering the bolt handle, the bolt is forced forward to seat the cartridge in the chamber. A heavy washer, held on the bolt rib with a screw, acts as the bolt-stop when the bolt is opened—then the washer contacts the semicircular cuts in the top edges of the receiver bridge walls.

      The sear is attached to a long spring member by a pin, the spring being attached to the solid bottom of the receiver with a screw. The trigger, also attached to the end of this spring, pivots on a pin. The sear projects upwards through a hole in the receiver, contacting the bottom of the cocking piece when the action is operated. The trigger has three small humps where it contacts the receiver. On pulling the trigger back, the first hump causes the sear to be pulled down almost all the way off of the cocking piece, but after the second hump touches the receiver only an additional short pull on the trigger moves the sear free of the cocking piece to fire the rifle. This is the standard military double stage trigger let-off. The third hump on the trigger is provided to move the sear all the way down, when the trigger is pulled back all the way, so the bolt can be withdrawn from the receiver, but only after the bolt-stop screw and washer are loosened.

      The M71 has a one-piece walnut buttstock and forend. A long narrow plate is inletted into the bottom of the stock under the action. Two sturdy screws—one through the receiver tang and stock threads into this plate, the other, through the front end of this plate and stock, threads into the receiver—hold the action in the stock. These two screws, the rear end of the receiver tang and an upright projection on the front end of the trigger guard plate all tend to prevent setback of the action in the stock from the recoil of firing the rifle. The trigger guard bow is screwed to the plate to protect the trigger. Barrel bands around the barrel and forend hold the forend against the barrel.

      The M71 has a simple yet reliable action, well made and convenient to operate.

      Takedown and Assembly

      To remove the bolt, raise the bolt handle and pull the bolt back as far as it will go. Turn out the bolt-stop washer screw and remove the washer. While pulling back on the trigger, pull the bolt assembly from the receiver.

      Left side of the M71/84 Mauser action, opened.

      To disassemble the bolt, first turn the cocking piece one-quarter turn counterclockwise so that the cocking piece is forward. Pull the bolt head from the bolt, then pull the extractor from the bolt head. Rest the firing pin tip on a hard surface and press down on the cocking piece so the firing pin nut can be unscrewed from the firing pin. The firing pin and mainspring can then be pulled from the bolt and the parts separated. Drive out the safety pin to remove the safety. Reassemble in reverse order.

      To remove the barrel and action from the stock, first unscrew the ramrod and pull it from the forend, then remove the barrel bands. Turn out the tang screw and the front trigger guard plate screw, then lift the barrel and action from the stock. The trigger assembly can then be removed by turning out the trigger/sear spring screw. Reassemble in reverse order. The barrel is threaded tightly into the receiver (right-hand threads) and is not easily removed.

      M 71/84 Mauser Rifles

      Wilhelm Mauser died in 1882, but even before this Paul Mauser was working alone on further development of the M71 action. By this time most military nations began to see the wisdom of adopting a repeating rifle for their armed forces. Paul Mauser began working on a repeating mechanism for the M71 in the late 1870s, and it was pretty well perfected by 1881, when he demonstrated it before German officials. The conversion, on which he obtained a patent, was effected by installing a magazine tube in the forend under the barrel and providing a carrier in the bottom of the receiver to lift the cartridge from the magazine to the receiver opening. The demonstration was successful and Mauser soon obtained contracts to make these repeating rifles—designated the M71/84. The M71/84 rifles were not converted M71s, but were entirely a new manufacture.

      The M71/84 Mauser rifle has a 30.5 ” barrel, is 51” overall and weighs about 10.2 pounds. It is chambered for the 11mm Mauser cartridge, and the tubular magazine has a capacity of nine rounds. It was the official German shoulder arm from 1884 to 1888, at which time Germany adopted the Model 88 Commission rifle chambered for the 8mm cartridge. Although a great many of the M71/84s were made during these four years, probably not enough were made to entirely replace the M71 rifles then in use in Germany.

      The M71/84 Action

      To say that the M71/84 Mauser action is a M71 with a cartridge carrier added is an oversimplification. Adding a carrier and making the action a repeater required considerable changing of the receiver, plus adding parts such as the carrier, cartridge stop, ejector, cutoff and some means to cause the carrier to tip up and down when the bolt is operated. Adding these parts also necessitated changing other parts such as the trigger mechanism. I will enumerate and briefly describe all of these changes.

      1. Receiver: The receiver of the M71/84 is similar in profile to the M71 receiver but, instead of being round with a solid bottom, it is made with a heavy rectangular box underneath it, which is in turn milled and machined to accept the various parts of the repeating mechanism, leaving an opening in the boltway through which the cartridges may pass. The rear part of this box acts as a recoil-lug surface transmitting the recoil to the stock.

      2. Carrier: The heavy cartridge carrier (often called the “lifter”) with its U-shaped trough is fitted into the box below the receiver; it is held in place by, and pivots on, a heavy pin through the rear of the box. A large-headed lock screw holds this pin in place. The carrier is tipped up and down by a cam fitted into recesses cut into the left side of the carrier and receiver-box wall. This cam pivots on a stud which is part of the magazine cutoff lever, which in turn pivots on a stud set into a hole on the left, outside of the receiver.

      The cutoff is held in place and is provided two-position tension by a spring screwed to the receiver. A checkered thumb-piece on top of the cutoff lever projects above the stock line and allows the cutoff to be moved. When the cutoff is tipped back the cam is raised so its upper, rounded end projects into the ejector raceway. When moved or tipped forward, the cutoff lowers the carrier cam within the carrier box so it is out of contact with the ejector.

      The M71/84 Mauser action.

      3. Ejector: To actuate the carrier, that is, to tip it up and down, an ejector rib is incorporated with the bolt assembly. It is as long as the entire bolt and is attached to it by a spring clamp on its front end, engaging a groove in the bolt head. There is a small lug under the ejector which fits into a hole in the bolt head and another lug on the cocking piece which fits in a groove in the rear part