I've been tinkering with a few mausers (both commercial and military). Most of them have a heavy trigger or at least heavier & creepier than I like.

Bought a half dozen Bold triggers and installed the first on last night on a JC Higgins (FN) 30/06. It would fire when taking the safety off. Per the instructions i filed on the cocking piece ledge a little and tried it again. This time problem was intermittent rather than constant. Filed a little more and, so far, unable to get it to duplicate problem.

I banged it around, yanked on trigger, took safety on and off multiple times and can't get it to fail.

Obviously, if we follow standard gun safety rules, the safety is just for peace of mind but how many times does a safety need to work before we start to trust it?

I cycled it about a 100 times last night with no failures but I can tell you that is not enough for me to trust it yet.

Thoughts?

It would probably be a lot less stressful on you to simply carry the gun with the bolt open. In some camps, 100 successful test cycles might be considered overkill.

Either what Westpac said or go back to the original "flag" safety on the M98 Mauser and don't worry about it.

quote:

Guns, Politics, Gunsmithing & Reloading Hop To Forums Gunsmithing When is safety safe?

not an answer to your question, but in reference to some of the responses, I always carry the rifle with a round chambered and the handle up- some foolish, and luckily without consequences, behavior prior to my eighteenth birthday convinced me this is the way for **me** to go.

Knowing how the safety is designed on a wing safety I trust them when they don't drop the cocking piece.
Thing is you need to keep filing on that cocking piece till the safety cams the cocking piece of the sear about .020". There should be a little clearance between the sear and cocking piece when the safety is on. That will insure that the sear is fully reset.
BAnging the butt of the rifle is done to see if your over ride trigger is set up with enough engagement and if your trigger pull is to light.

It still has the Mauser flag safety. I could tell when I pulled the trigger with the safety engaged if it was going to "fire" when safety was toggled off. The cocking piece would move when trigger was pulled with safety on. Once I filed it enough the trigger wasn't contacting cocking piece when on "safe" and cocking piece didn't move when trigger was pulled. Since then I can't make the safety fail. I just can't visually confirm that the trigger and safety aren't touching while safety is engaged. I can pretty much feel it and logically know it to be the case since pulling trigger no longer makes cocking piece move but I'd like to be able to measure something or otherwise confirm.

My opinion is that after market triggers should not be used with the original flag safety at least not with out some work to the cam.

See the original mauser trigger was designed with a proper angle on the sear so that the spring pressure would reset it and the angle on the sear would allow it to ride back into it's fully seated position. The cam on the flag safety didn't move the cocking piece much at all as it didn't have to. the trigger had a strong enough spring to reset itself.

Now you install a Bold, Canjar, Timney etc. over ride trigger that doesn't have a supper strong spring the rest the sear so the cocking piece needs to be clear of the sear when the safety is on so it the trigger is inadvertently pulled there is nothing blocking the sear to reset.
Now what I've done in the past is hone the cam on the flag to give it more of an angle this forces the cocking piece back off the sear. But you will not be able to get the .020". You will only get about .010" at bet because the cam is so thin.

Now once that is done. you can use a depth mic to measure from the cocking piece to the bolt shroud. Do this with the safety off then on. You should see about .010" increase when the safety is on. You could also clamp this in a vise and use a dial indicator on the cocking piece to measure movement.
This will get you the confirmation you want.

This is also how I make sure a three position safety is working correctly.

quote:

Originally posted by Nicholosi:
I've been tinkering with a few mausers (both commercial and military). Most of them have a heavy trigger or at least heavier & creepier than I like.

Bought a half dozen Bold triggers and installed the first on last night on a JC Higgins (FN) 30/06. It would fire when taking the safety off. Per the instructions i filed on the cocking piece ledge a little and tried it again. This time problem was intermittent rather than constant. Filed a little more and, so far, unable to get it to duplicate problem.

I banged it around, yanked on trigger, took safety on and off multiple times and can't get it to fail.

Obviously, if we follow standard gun safety rules, the safety is just for peace of mind but how many times does a safety need to work before we start to trust it?

I cycled it about a 100 times last night with no failures but I can tell you that is not enough for me to trust it yet.

Thoughts?

The answer is that you never trust a safety-period. Always carry the firearm to and from the hunting area w/o a round in the chamber.

Bobster,
I agree 100%. I'm in Texas so mostly hunt from a stand over bait. No round in the chamber outside the stand for me.


Kcstot,
Makes perfect sense. Not sure why I didn't think of measuring cocking piece to bolt shroud. Thanks.

I think based on your advice I'll put a wing safety on. I prefer that style anyway. I have access to a full machine shop but only have a chinese mini mill and lathe at the house. Am I biting off more than I can chew?


Thanks,

These are foolproof, or at least almost. You can never tell when Murphy's law kicks in.

A "Safety" is a mechanical device. Any mechanical device can fail.

Being safety conscious with a safety oriented attitude is by far more reliable.

The Mauser flag safety seems very safe until you have a firing pin break off at the front of the cocking piece.

quote:

Originally posted by Nicholosi:
Bobster,
I agree 100%. I'm in Texas so mostly hunt from a stand over bait. No round in the chamber outside the stand for me.


Kcstot,
Makes perfect sense. Not sure why I didn't think of measuring cocking piece to bolt shroud. Thanks.

I think based on your advice I'll put a wing safety on. I prefer that style anyway. I have access to a full machine shop but only have a chinese mini mill and lathe at the house. Am I biting off more than I can chew?


Thanks,

You need to make three cuts. One you will need to find center on the bolt to cut the groove for the bolt lock pin. You'll need an edge finder to do it correctly. The other two are on the firing pin and the cocking piece. PTG has the instructions online for there three position safety and it just so happens to be the same instruction sheet the dakota uses.

Found the PTG instructions. I'm no machinist by any stretch of the imagination but that looks like something i can handle. I'm not afraid to kill a part or two in the learning process. You should have seen all the AR castings I butchered before I got that process figured out.



Thanks,

Have you assembled the rifle out of the stock?

You should be able to see the junction of the trigger and cocking piece,with a strong light.