A friend of mine, proud owner of a Mauser 66 (model with crosswise sliding safety), recently experienced a misfire. The primer was intact and the rifle shot without problems another cartridge, as well as the one previously rejected.
Hypothesis:
-dirt, accumulated in the firing pin van, braking the normal run of the firing pin
-firing pin sliding on the sear, “resting” on the primer without enough momentum to fire.

A common friend adviced against disassembling the bolt, saying that it is too easy to loose tiny irreplaceable components, not for sale anymore

In any case, the disassembly procedure is not clear to me:
-the English handbook suggests to rotate counterclockwise the “bolt sleeve” (maybe it is the cocking piece)
-German and French handbooks both suggest to rotate toward right the bolt .

Any suggestion from the collegues?

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A friend of mine, proud owner of a Mauser 66 (model with crosswise sliding safety), recently experienced a misfire. The primer was intact and the rifle shot without problems another cartridge, as well as the one previously rejected

Could be a cartridge problem not the rifle.

Why do you say it was the cartridge?
The fact that the primer was untouched means that either
- the firing pin didn't move
- the firing pin slid on the sear and reached the primer witthout marking it.

Gonna guess a dirty bolt. Try hosing it down throughly with brake cleaner. Let dry and lube lightly with something like Kroil.

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Why do you say it was the cartridge?The fact that the primer was untouched means that either

The head space on that particular cartridge could be bad.

I seen cartridges with shoulders pushed back and they drop into the chamber far enough that the firing pin does not make contact.

Over the years I have seen defective factory cartridges let alone all the bad hand loads.

I don't think you said if this was a factory round or a hand loaded one

It is just one more thing to rule out

You haven't said what cartridge the Rfle is chamber in.

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Originally posted by wasbeeman:
Gonna guess a dirty bolt. Try hosing it down throughly with brake cleaner. Let dry and lube lightly with something like Kroil.

FYI Kroil is a great penetrater and residue remover but a poor LUBE. roger

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Originally posted by bartsche:

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
Gonna guess a dirty bolt. Try hosing it down throughly with brake cleaner. Let dry and lube lightly with something like Kroil.

FYI Kroil is a great penetrater and residue remover but a poor LUBE. roger

Since it is a mix of kerosene and oil, it has to have some lube value. I am not proposing to use it as a long term protective oil but a drop here and there certainly leaves a light skim of oil.

Many thanks to all of you for the answers.
Just for information:
- caliber: .270 Win
- ammo: GECO factory cartridge with TM 130 grs

Other qualified colleagues suggested to ask a serious gunsmith as some small component could lost or damaged during disassembly.

I'll keep you informed.
Thanks again and Merry Xmas

The chances of headspace on the strong mod. 66 probably isn't the answer, a weak spring might be, krud (that's German for Crud) could be..But were all just guess and by gosh..YOur friend has a problem, take to a gunsmith if cleaning it doesn't work..maybe have the gunsmith clean it for him.

So? Any news on this interesting topic?

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Originally posted by ofbiro:
A friend of mine, proud owner of a Mauser 66 (model with crosswise sliding safety), recently experienced a misfire. The primer was intact and the rifle shot without problems another cartridge, as well as the one previously rejected.

Hello ofbiro,

I have 2 Mauser 66 rifles with various large and small caliber barrels. The problem was likely some debris in the bolt. DON'T TAKE APART THE BOLT Its not necessary.

Have your friend give the bolt a good cleaning with break cleaner. Repeatedly work the safety button back-and-forth and flood the fluid through each crevice of the bolt parts several times. Then shake out the excess, and set it aside to dry.

Finally flood the bolt with "RemOil" (w/ Teflon) and shake out the excess.

He should be good to go from then on.

Sure sounds like a dirty bolt. Flush with whatever you got, WD40, Kroil, whatever. let it wet and soak for 5 minutes, then re-flush and blow out with compressed air. No more than one or two drops of oil to re-lube.

For all of those that recommended using Brake cleaner, be sure to keep it away from the finish on a wood stocked rifle. Some finishes are stripped off quite nicely with very little brake cleaner.

Just one misfire? a problem not, shoot it some more and see if you can repeat the misfire, a million and one things can cause a misfire..Gun care is always good advise however.

You made no mention of caliber..On a magnum case that headspaces on the belt can cause such a problem I that the belts sometimes are out of size and allow the case to move forward but you should have a shallow primer mark in that case. The same can be said with sizing on the shoulder if you full length resize and the chamber allows forward movement of the case,,

likely a dirty bolt, and that speaks poorly for the design of any gun, specs are too tight and don't allow for dirt like a 98 Mauser does..so clean it as some above post suggest..but keep in mind it could be just a bad or fouled primer also..

Be sure you have a problem first of all try and make fail again..