Thread: Feed Issues mauser

Ive got a Husky 1640 6.5x55 which occasionally does not pick up a round.
I presumed in the past it was from me short stroking the bolt,but having sat it on the bench and had a good look thats not the case. The rear of the case on occasion is tilted down slightly which enables the bolt to slide forward missing the rim.
All loads are FLS so its not the rounds.
Huskys have a mauser 98 type bolt with full claw controlled feed and extraction.
Any ideas?

Time for a new mag spring

Check your magazine spring isn't installed around the wrong way. This typically makes the rear stick up to far and the nose to dive and jam though so I doubt this also quite likely it's not even possible for your rifle to do so.
Check your follower isn't getting snagged in the mag box, burrs, nicks, rough patches.
Check your rounds aren't slightly too long for the internal mag box and getting caught up. Whether or not they are full length sized won't really matter but too long and getting fetched up will lock things up.

After that doesn't fix it (because I'm guessing it's not one of these). It's likely your mag spring has gotten weak, this does happen. Find a replacement, doesn't have to be rifle specific, anything of a similar action size can often be modified to suit quite easily but best to get as close as possible/ direct swap if you can.
Sometimes you can get away with giving them a stretch but this is generally a short term measure as you have to stretch it past it's elastic capabilities and it'll either bend back in short order or get work hardened and snap.

Controlled round feed is excellent when it works. Can be a right pain when it doesn't.

Nope rifle is past it sorry to say.
Send it to me and I will dispose of it for you

I can supply new spring.

Thanks,
I might have to take you up on the new spring then as Ive checked everything else. Is it a regular 98 mauser spring or specific to the Husqvarna rifles?not that Im actually sure they are any different,and could probably be modified if they are.
My Son has a Husqvarna too so I might try swapping springs first and confirming that fixes it.
Oh, and Id have to live to 150 to be in any danger of wearing the thing out!

Sounds like a mag spring issue.
Good idea of yours to compare with a spring from another rifle.

Is the feeding issue just the one side, and which number in the mag? This info can help identify how much influence the configuration of the feed rails vs mag spring vs extractor is having? Mauser type CRF can be very tricky to troubleshoot, a dark art….

ive had a pressed steel follower bind on the mag rails on either the last or second last round on the 8X57. A mate had a very similar action model with a pressed steel one as well and it was shaped differently on the folded edges. I made mine the same and it worked well but by that time I already had an alloy follower in it. Not your issue though.

Unless your spring is ridiculously weak, it's probably not the spring, its about angles and surfaces.
. Have a look inside the mag well and run your finger up the forward face of it and see if there is a bit of a lip where the mag box ends. You might either have to do some filing at that part or put a shim into the mag box to smooth over the gap depending on what you find.

(Obvious first check - check your cartridges are not too long, or see if you shorten the OAL whether the feed issue goes away)

Yep check the length of your loads, the new Mauser M18 in 308 has a magazine length that is a fraction short meaning the Nosler Ballistic tips I like to use cannot be seated at SAAMI spec of 2.81"

I can't remember off the top of my head what I am seating them to though.

Solved.
It was not the spring.
My sons Husky does exactly the same thing. It tended to be the third round where occasionally the rear of the case did not pop up to catch the bolt. OAL was not an issue because at this point the projectile did not touch anything.
The top of the magazine box at the rear had a sharp 90 degree edge,and the back of the case appeared to be catching just slightly on this. (Cigar for BillyDixon!) I judiciously took just the edge off and polished the top half and now you simply cannot make a case stick if you try. There was also a burr in the ejector slot which had some brassing on it so I removed and polished that too.I guess it had never been particularly noticable in the field as its seldom I would fire a third shot and possibly recoil would pop the round into place anyhow.
Either way good to know its more reliable now as a mauser should be.
Cheers.

Very good to hear it’s sorted. A fickle mistress but a beautiful thing when it’s working right. The tolerances can be so fine around the extractor that the best riflesmiths tune it to a specific brand of brass…

Originally Posted by 2ndSouthCanterbury

Solved.
It was not the spring.
My sons Husky does exactly the same thing. It tended to be the third round where occasionally the rear of the case did not pop up to catch the bolt. OAL was not an issue because at this point the projectile did not touch anything.
The top of the magazine box at the rear had a sharp 90 degree edge,and the back of the case appeared to be catching just slightly on this. (Cigar for BillyDixon!) I judiciously took just the edge off and polished the top half and now you simply cannot make a case stick if you try. There was also a burr in the ejector slot which had some brassing on it so I removed and polished that too.I guess it had never been particularly noticable in the field as its seldom I would fire a third shot and possibly recoil would pop the round into place anyhow.
Either way good to know its more reliable now as a mauser should be.
Cheers.

Good work. The hard bit is diagnosing feeding issues. I had to do the exact same thing on same model rifle earlier this year.

Was reading on an African hunting forum there is a guy over in Africa somewhere that is the guru on Mausers.
Will play with them so they will feed perfectly upside down.
Some of the big cartridge mausers even need to be matched to the projectile as in soft point v solid. Even different manufacturers can be tricky.
Mauser made (I think), at least a dozen different mag box's and followers to suit different cartridges. There is even a science with the extractor.
What people may not realize is that not all mausers weren't created equal.
There was a shit ton of them sold by several suppliers in Africa that didn't really tune them to work properly.
Controlled feed wasn't always controlled