Does anyone know of any online sources for Mauser 98 technical information? I would like to know how to disassemble the bolt. How I could adjust the trigger? Or am I reduced to buying a book? If so, what book is best?

Unload the rifle.

Close the bolt and put the safety in the vertical position.

Take the bolt out of the rifle.

On the front of the bolt shroud is a small, spring-loaded plunger. Depress it and unscrew the entire assembly from the bolt body.

This is as far as most people go for cleaning both the body and the striker assembly. If you know what you're doing, the tension on the firing pin can be eased and further disassembly attempted, but this can become tricky and a bit dangerous to the eyes if the spring isn't completely controlled.

The trigger can be replaced by a competent gunsmith, using a commercial trigger such as a Timney or a Canjar, but if an adjustable trigger is desired, the price isn't small. A very careful person can use 600-grit Watersand (dry) to polish the sear-engagement surface, but it's absolutely critical that none of the angles of that part be changed. Once polished, this surface can be loaded with a little blob of Tetra gun grease. The spring tension, etc. has not been changed, but the sense of felt pressure on the trigger is a lot less.

See if your public library can get you some books on Mauser rifles and the 'smithing of them.

A gunsmith from Alabama(and his name escapes me now) wrote a book on hobby gunsmithing that was loaded with info on things the average person could do to the Mauser & etc. He is now deceased and I'm sure the book is out of print but if you could find a copy of this or a similar book it would be a big help. Lots of pictures and tips, etc. Another good source of info is called "Gunsmithing Kinks" and it was offered by Brownell's; Don't know if it is still in print or not.
If you work carefully, you can D&T the bottom of the trigger guard in a '98 and install a block that can be adjusted to take the first stage (slack) out of the two-stage military trigger and then work on the trigger pull. Pay heed to the advice above by smoothing the action, working SLOWLY and don't change the angle of adjustment on the sear. Also, if you attempt to change the safety from the military wing type to one that allows a scope to be mounted, be sure and have someone show you how to install it so as to make sure the safety lifts the striker off the sear when applied, otherwise you encounter a situation wherein if the trigger is pulled with the rifle on "Safe" and then the safety is released, the rifle will fire. Most dangerous but not really uncommon to find this condition.
"Shoot straight, shoot safe and shoot a lot!"
Best regards,

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'Trapper'

You can get Jerry Kuhnhausen's book on Mausers from www.brownells.com It will not be wasted money.

Don

I think Trapper is referring to 'Hobby Gunsmithing' by Ralph Walker. It was published by Digest Books Inc in 1972 and is an excellent reference.

The Mauser Bolt Actions,
a shop manual, BY-
Jerry Kuhnhausen.

This is a great reference book!

Have fun!!

If you would like I can email you a pict,(JPEG) of the M98 Bolt Disassembly.

And when you have done it some times, you will be able to follow the sargent�s command: Boys! You should be able to dismount and mount the bolt in the deepest darkness of the night!

frits

I'd bet there are a lot of gunsmiths that would give you a short 15 minute course in Mauser disasembly and it's so simple you would never forget how.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com

Tombo, I got my copy of Ralph Walker's book; Hobby Gunsmithing from Amazon.com, as it is out of print. It is filled with good info on the mauser as well as other useful projects.
Good luck and good shooting

Looking for used books - try the Amer Booksellers Exchange www.abebooks.com .

One can quite literally find ANYTHING!!! if you are willing to look and sometimes wait a bit (for the rarer stuff). Prices aren't always palatable but usually someone comes through with what you want for a reasonable (or a steal! of a) price. They have a great search engine that allows sorting by different attributes ie. price, first ed, etc. Lots of traffic on this site so stop by often or set search filter email notifications to "catch" the best deals on a specific title.

Jeff P