Mauser 98 35 Whelen Feeding

I have a Military Mauser 98 that I have built into a 35 Whelen. When I bought the gun it had already been a 30-06 sporter. I don’t know what the action is other than a military 98, the only markings on it are “Mod 98” on the left side of the receiver.

If you push hard if will feed the 35 Whelen shell, but it is much harder than it should be. Before I start messing with the rails I thought I would ask you guys. Is it typical to have to adjust the feed rails to make a 98 feed the 35 Whelen? Or is it odd and should I look for another issue?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

quote:

If you push hard if will feed the 35 Whelen shell, but it is much harder than it should be

Don't understand what you mean by push hard. If my action handled the 06 it handled the whelen.

This type of thing is hard to describe so I added some pictures to hopefully help. It was a 30-06 but I never shot it as a 30-06. I pulled the barrel when I got it so I have no idea how it fed before.

If I push hard on the bolt it will feed, if I cycle it really fast it feeds fine and you can hardly feel any resistance. But if you are shooting from a bench or trying to load it slowly it gets to a point and is tough to push past that point.

Here are some pictures (sorry for the out of focus ones).

Everything is fine here



This is where it starts to bind




If I push hard from here it will chamber but it has resistance.

Any input would be appreciated.

First thing I would do is check the extractor to insure enough clearance. Also check the shape at the bottom. I'm sure no expert but it sure looks like the head should be up under the extractor quicker than it is.

As I have posted before on this same question check the toe of the extractor. It should not be a hooked shape so it won't hurt to stone a good chamfer at the heel. My mauser opened up for 404 feed terribly when I got it, scratched cases and needed a good shove to get a round out of the magazine and into the chamber. I carefully observed the feeding of a round from the magazine and could see that the extractor groove of the case was not able to slide smoothly up the extractor claw. A good stoning and the rounds slip up onto the bolt face early in the feed and chamber smoothly with no scratching or marking. What looked like a feed rail issue was something much simpler.

Your photos seem to show the cartridge coming up to the bolt face quite late in the feed, check that extractor toe before looking elsewhere.

Look your brass over really good. If the brass is scratched 1/3 - 1/2 way up from the base you might check the breach of the barrel to see if there is a sharp edge around the chamber.

quote:

Originally posted by ramrod340:
First thing I would do is check the extractor to insure enough clearance. Also check the shape at the bottom. I'm sure no expert but it sure looks like the head should be up under the extractor quicker than it is.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by mad_jack02:
Look your brass over really good. If the brass is scratched 1/3 - 1/2 way up from the base you might check the breach of the barrel to see if there is a sharp edge around the chamber.

+1. Same problem I ran into after rebarreling. I pulled the barrel and lightly chamfered the edge and now it feeds slick as a whistle.

quote:

Originally posted by ramrod340:
First thing I would do is check the extractor to insure enough clearance. Also check the shape at the bottom. I'm sure no expert but it sure looks like the head should be up under the extractor quicker than it is.

You just got in just before me ramrod340 but obviously we have experienced the same issue with Mauser extractors

Thanks Guys, some reshaping of the extractor and it feeds like a champ now!

quote:

Thanks Guys, some reshaping of the extractor and it feeds like a champ now!

GREAT