Mauser safety stuck in firing position

[Gomonroe1]

Just took possession of Yugo 24/47 with safety stuck in "fire"position. I have read numerous previous strings related to this topic and realize this is somewhat common. I would like to breakdown bolt myself prior to having local gunsmith inspect but having trouble removing. I'm looking for feedback on two things: Is there a simple way to remove bolt when the safety is in the fire position? (my understanding is safety needs to be in upright position to slide bolt out.). Is there any issue firing rifle in current condition other than obvious issue of not having a safety? Would hate to cause further damage to bolt and/or have misfire etc. I only plan to fire on range so not too worried about functioning safety. Should I be?
Note: I plan to have gunsmith inspect prior to firing either way

[TnTnTn]

Well if the rifle has been fired, or dry fired, the safety can't be engaged until the striker is cocked by opening the bolt. First open and close or just lift and close the bolt and see if the safety will engage then. If it won't engage after cocking, then the sear, cocking piece, or bevels on the cocking piece are out of spec. Simple fix for a smith that knows his away around Mausers.

The bolt is removed by pulling to the rear and swinging the bolt stop wing out away from the receiver at the left rear. The wing has to be lifted to the vertical position or pushed all the way to the left or fire position in order to cycle the bolt. And if the bolt is cocked and closed and the safety is full on(wing all the way to the right) the bolt will be locked down and can't be opened. Mauser 101

[Gomonroe1]

Thanks for reply. Rifle is cocked with the safety stuck in "fire" position which is all the way left. Can't move to vertical position which appears to be necessary to remove bolt. I'm assuming there is a way to free up bolt in response to this issue but not sure how.

[PetahW]

Originally Posted by Gomonroe1

Rifle is cocked with the safety stuck in "fire" position which is all the way left.

The bolt should be able to be withdrawn rearward from the receiver in that condition.

Once the bolt's "out" the sear can be hooked on a sharp/square metal edge while the bolt body's pulled forward/away from the cocking piece/sear enough to get it clear of the bolt shroud to manipulate or at least see what may be wrong.



.

[TnTnTn]

If the safety wing is all the way to the left and the rifle is in the 'fired' and uncocked position the safety wing can't be placed in the vertical position until the rifle is cocked. If you lift the bolt handle and pull the bolt to the rear it should come right out when you swing out the bolt stop. PM sent.

[smarquez]

Is this rifle loaded? Did you try pulling the trigger as you try to lift the bolt?You could remove the action from the stock then use a punch to knock the pin holding the trigger out. This should release the firing pin and shroud. Then you should be able to lift and remove the bolt.

[44 AMP]

Yugo 24/47 with safety stuck in "fire"position.

Define "stuck". Some Mauser safeties are quite stiff.

The gun cannot be put on safe unless cocked. The bolt can be removed from the gun (either with the safety off, or on, in the strait up position). Just pull it back as you open the bolt stop.

The BOLT cannot be disassembled unless it is cocked AND the safety is on, in the center UP position. With the bolt out of the rifle, cocked with the wing up, the cocking piece assy can be easily unscrewed. You have to depress the button on the front of the cocking piece shroud at first, as you unscrew it.

The cocking piece assy (cocking piece, shroud, safety, firing pin, spring, etc) can be taken apart further, but it takes a little effort and involves compressing the striker spring for disassembly and re assembly.

First thing I'd do is use some good penetrating oil on the safety and let it sit a while. Mauser's safety actualy cams the striker back a tiny bit, and if full of crud, or the cam angle is less than perfect it can be very stiff to work, leaving the impression it is stuck.

IF YOU CANNOT WORK THE BOLT AND VERIFY its UNLOADED, do nothing but keep the muzzle in as safe a direction as possible and take it to a gunsmith, TELLING THEM it MIGHT BE LOADED!.

[Gomonroe1]

Thanks to everyone who has offered input. I now know that "stuck" could mean stiff. A healthy dose of oil and a little elbow grease has allowed me to move safety switch to verticle position. Hoping a little more time and oil will allow switch to move to safety position. Not convinced problem is resolved but hopefully. Good news is I can now remove bolt to breakdown and inspect.

[44 AMP]

My experience with Mausers (I've owned a couple dozen over the last 40 years) is that the safety wing should move fairly easily from "off" to "safe" (wing straight up), and moves fairly easily from straight up back to off.

I've seen slung rifles with the safety wing straight up, get it bumped/brushed off safe. One fellow didn't even know that there was a "safe and locked" (wing all the way to the right) position.

Moving the wing from off (wing left) to safe (wing up) to safe and locked (wing right) position cams the cocking piece back slightly, and then drops it into a recess in the safety. The cocking piece has to ride up over a hump on the safety lever, and settles into a notch. The "hump" for the safe and locked position takes more effort to get over than the one between off and safe (straight up). This is what locks the wing in the far right position.

If your wing is hard to move between off and safe, its going to be a bear to move from safe to safe and locked. And if you get it there, its going to be nearly impossible to get it back to safe!

You need to get some good reference material and take apart the striker group, clean it completely, check for damage (burrs, etc) reassemble and test.

To take down the striker group, you need to support the firing pin (that's what the metal disc with the hole in it on the buttstock is for), push down on the shroud, compressing the firing pin spring, until the cocking piece clears the bolt shroud. Keeping the pressure on the spring, rotate the cocking piece 90 degrees, and it can be removed from the firing pin. SLOWLY ease off the pressure, and it all comes apart. Get the wing in the right place, and you can remove it from the shroud. Reassemble in reverse order.

Good Luck!

[dean1818]

My 24/47 is a bear to move off fire to straight up and back

[HankC1]

It is common for Mausers to have flag safety hard to move out of "Fire" position due to interference with cocking piece. An easy fix is to file the top edge of the cocking piece with a little chamfer to help lead in the safety and cam the cocking piece. Done that with couple Mausers that I own.

[FrankenMauser]

The other members have addressed the issue pretty well. It did take a while to clear up the difference between 'safe' and 'safe and locked', though.


I wanted to add, that I have a spare 24/47 bolt (complete) with a good safety. If you can't fix the problem with your bolt, send me a PM and we can discuss a price. The striker/shroud assembly should drop right in your bolt body, and require only a safety check to verify that everything is working properly. But, if that didn't work for some reason, all you would have to do is have a gunsmith check the headspace with this (complete) bolt in the rifle, to verify that it's safe to fire.

[+1k ammo]

I am new to mausers
finally shot mine last week. Awesome.

to the op though
my wing is smooth so definitely something wrong. I didnt even know about positions save for this forum!

Btw
my new ati stock just came in. Ill post pic. And yes the Lgs said the old was damaged and had to be replaced.

Also can u get 8mm ammo at Cabellas or Bass Pro?

[Gomonroe1]

Thanks to all that have provided input Very helpful. I had no clue that verticle is "safe" position and all the way right Is "safe and locked." I'm able to move between "fire" and "safe" with a little effort. Will breakdown bolt next couple of days to look for reason im unable to move full right (locked.)

Still curious how important "safe and locked" function is. Rifle will be used exclusively on range in a controlled environment. I will let gunsmith inspect prior to firing yet might not fix if optional. Thoughts?

[James K]

On that rifle, the safety position to make a loaded rifle safe is all the way to the right. The position for loading and firing is all the way to the left. The bolt can be removed from the receiver in either the left or the center position; the center position is used when the bolt is to be disassembled after removal.

Jim

[jimbob86]

Remove the bolt and disassemble. Clean all the dried cosmoline out of it- laquer thinner works great ..... soak it and scrub it out.

[44 AMP]

Still curious how important "safe and locked" function is. Rifle will be used exclusively on range in a controlled environment.

On a range, in a controlled environment, the safety really doesn't matter much. But in the field, its a different story.

On a Mauser with no "crud" in it, and one that is "broken in" (not new-ish condition) the wing safety is fairly easy to put on safe (raise to straight up), and very easy to move from safe to fire. A rifle slung, with the safety straight up is very likely to have the safety wing bumped and go off safe! I've seen it, more than once.

The safe and locked position (wing all the way to the right) "locks" the safety in place along with locking the bolt closed. It normally requires a little bit of effort to move the wing into the safe and locked position, and sometimes more than just a bit to move the wing out of the safe and locked position.

This is so nothing will accidently disengage the safety (combat conditions).

Not ideal for a hunting rifle, but tolerable in the era before everything wore a scope. The US 1903 Springfield rifle (and I think the Krag as well) use the Mauser wing type safety. Winchester took the idea of the 3 position safety, and did a much friendlier execution of it on their Model 70s, shortening the arc of the swing, and rotating it to be parallel with the barrel, rather then perpendicular to it.

[James K]

Just FWIW, the Winchester Model 54 and the first Model 70's had a Springfield type safety. Then Winchester started to get complaints from folks who wanted to put on one of them-thar new-fangled sights with glass in them, so they changed the safety.

Jim

[Downeaster]

I realize this is an old thread, but hoping I can get some insight. I have an FN Model 1924 .243. Have looked at probably 30 different videos, and have yet to see a safety like mine. I believe mine is what is considered a Modified, to work with a scope. When my safety is in the ON position, the "wing" is at 1 o'clock. When my safety is off the "wing" is at 4 o'clock. If I open and close the bolt, I can easily engage the safety. The problem is when the safety is ON, at 1 o'clock, I cannot open the bolt. So I cannot figure out what I need to do in order to disassemble the the bolt and remove the firing pin, and spring.
Any help out there?

[Downeaster]

Took a lot of searching to figure it out, but I finally did. Mine is an M98 bolt with a Beuhler Low Profile safety. Found a video on disassembly. https://youtu.be/35D9Af1jV3E

[44 AMP]

What you have is what used to be known as a "scope safety", an aftermarket safety usually, though I do not know if your FN came with one, or was changed later.

many thousands were sold (and I believe still are) by Numrich Arms, and there were a few other makers as well. It was a drop in replacement for the military safety, and works exactly as you describe. You CAN, if you wish, have it modified so it does not lock the bolt shut, but, of course, you'll have to get it apart, first.

Here's how you get the bolt apart, it is easiest with three hands, but you can do it with two...

First, you will need a firm, square edge, like the edge of a workbench. Remove the bolt (uncocked, safety off).

Put the edge of the sear against the edge of the bench, (DO take care not to damage the sear face!!!) so you can push the bolt body down, against the firing pin spring tension, until the cocking piece clears the bolt body, and you can rotate it into the cocked position. (this is the three hands part, you have to keep the sear from slipped off the edge of the bench, and pull the bolt body down at the same time, then rotate it until it lines up with the cock notch.) Actually easier to do than describe.

THEN, once you have the bolt cocked, put the safety ON. Then depress the little button on the front face of the bolt shroud, and unscrew the entire assembly from the bolt body.

To take apart the firing pin assembly, you will need a different thing to push against. GI Mauser stocks have a metal disc with a hole in it for this. You need to find something that will take the firing pin tip, but push against the shoulder of the firing pin (so as not to damage the firing pin tip)

When you have this set up, push the bolt shroud down/forward FURTHER compressing the firing pin spring. KEEP THE TENSION ON the spring, when you have compressed it enough, the cocking piece clears the bolt shroud, and then can be rotated 1/4 turn to disengage it from the firing pin. Then EASE OFF the pressure and everything will just come apart.

Reassemble in reverse order, leaving the bolt cocked so it can be reinstalled in the action. It's actually pretty easy to see how it goes together, once you have it apart the first time.

Alternately, you can (pad & protect) the sear, clamp it in a vice and do it that way. Anyway you do it, you will have to overcome the firing pin spring to cock the bolt, before you can take it apart easily, and overcome the spring again to strip the firing pin assembly. An average adult can do it, though it does take a bit of strength in your hands.

Hope this helps.

[Downeaster]

Thanks for the step by step. This is the last piece I need to disassemble yet.