ejector is held inside the bolt-stop and pivots on the bolt-stop screw. The ejector protrudes through a slot in the receiver. A two-leaf spring, mortised into the bolt-stop provides tension to the bolt-stop to hold it against the receiver, and to keep the ejector riding against the bolt so it will be in position to eject the cartridge or case.
The sear is hinged via a pin and a stud under the rear of the receiver. A coil spring, recessed at the front of the sear, tensions the sear and trigger. The trigger is hinged to the sear by a pin. The top of the trigger is made with two humps to provide the two-stage trigger pull.
The trigger guard and the magazine box are machined from a single piece of steel. Although the trigger guard is combined with the magazine box, it is usually called the trigger guard—or simply the guard. The guard bow is quite heavy and the same width as the guard tang above it. The magazine box, open at the bottom, is closed by a milled detachable floorplate. The floorplate is held in place by lips at either end fitting grooves cut into the guard and retained by a spring-loaded plunger at the rear of the magazine box, and engaging in a hole in the stud on the rear of the plate. Depressing the plunger through the hole in the rear of the floorplate allows it to be moved to the rear and released.
The magazine follower is made with a rib on its upper left side, forcing the cartridges to form a staggered column in the magazine. The rear end of the follower rib is square. When the magazine is empty and the bolt is opened, the follower rises into the path of the bolt and prevents it from being closed. This informs the shooter that the magazine is empty The ends of the W-shaped flat magazine spring fit shallow mortises cut into the bottom of the follower and inside the floorplate.
Heavy guard screws pass through holes at each end of the trigger guard and thread into the recoil lug and tang of the receiver. A large stud on the front end of the guard, through which the guard screw passes, is recessed to fit over a smaller stud on the bottom of the recoil lug. This stud aligns the receiver and the trigger guard magazine box. A sleeve in the rear guard screw hole of the stock correctly spaces the rear of the guard and receiver.
Top view of the M98 action.
Most M98 military actions use two small screws to lock the guard screws. The heads of the guard screws are notched, and the lock screws are positioned just in front of them to prevent their turning. The lock screws are also notched. If they are turned so the notch aligns with the guard screws, the latter can be turned out without removing the lock screws.
Operation
The action is opened by grasping the bolt handle, rotating it upward 90 degrees and pulling back as far as it will go. The striker is partially cocked when the bolt handle is raised. If the cartridges are in a charger clip, insert either end of the clip into the charger guideway of the receiver bridge and, with the fingers under the action and thumb on the topmost cartridge, shove the cartridges down into the magazine. Cartridges can be singly loaded into an empty or partially empty magazine, by laying the cartridge in the open action and pressing it into the magazine with the tip of the thumb. To close the action, grasp the bolt handle and push the bolt forward. As the bolt moves forward it pushes the top cartridge in the magazine into the chamber. The cartridge head slides under the extractor hook on the final forward movement of the bolt.
An underside view of the M98 Mauser bolt shows the dual-opposed locking lugs (A), extractor (B), extractor collar (C), dual oblong vent holes (D), and safety lug (E). This 98a carbine bolt has a bent down handle with the under- side of the grasping ball flattened and checkered.
During the final forward movement of the bolt, and on rotating the bolt clockwise to the locked position, the sear engages the cocking piece to hold it back as the locking lugs pull the bolt fully forward to lock and seat the cartridge in the chamber. The rifle can now be fired by pulling the trigger, releasing the firing pin under mainspring tension, or the action can be made “safe” by swinging the safety to the right. Cartridges can be extracted and ejected safely by swinging the safety to its intermediate or upright position and opening and closing the bolt.
The firing pin can be lowered without snapping it by merely swinging the safety to the left, or fire position, raising the bolt handle, and then holding the trigger back as the bolt is rotated down to its locked position. This should only be done with an empty chamber.
Takedown and Assembly
Check the chamber and magazine to be certain the rifle is unloaded. Close the bolt and place the safety in the upright position. Now raise the bolt handle, swing the bolt-stop to the left, and draw the bolt from the receiver.
To disassemble the bolt, proceed as follows: Depress the bolt sleeve lock plunger, then unscrew the bolt sleeve and firing mechanism from the bolt; place the firing pin tip on a hard surface and, firmly grasping the bolt sleeve, press the bolt sleeve down; turn the cocking piece one-quarter turn in either direction, and lift it off the firing pin. Firing pin and mainspring can now be separated. Swing the safety to the right and pull it out of the bolt sleeve. Depress the bolt sleeve lock plunger and rotate it counterclockwise until it is released; pull it and the spring from the bolt sleeve. Remove the extractor by lifting the front (hook end) away from the bolt so that it can be turned to the bottom of the bolt; the extractor can now be removed by pushing it forward. Reassemble in reverse order.
To remove the bolt-stop, turn the bolt-stop screw out, and lift it from the receiver. Pull the ejector forward out of the bolt-stop. Place the bolt-stop in a vise and, using a drift punch, drive the spring forward until its end slips down. Now insert a small screwdriver between the end of the spring and bolt sleeve, and pry the spring forward. In reassembling the spring into the bolt-stop, the end of the spring must be raised over the edge of the bolt-stop when it is being driven into place.
To remove the barrel and action from the military stock, first remove the upper and lower barrel bands from the forend, then remove the two guard screws from the bottom of the trigger guard. The barrel, action, and magazine can now be lifted out of the stock.
Remove the floorplate by depressing the floorplate plunger with a pointed tool (or pointed bullet tip) put through the hole in the rear of the plate, then slide the plate to the rear. The magazine follower and its spring will come out with the plate. The three parts can be separated by sliding the plate and follower off the ends of the spring. Remove the floorplate plunger by driving out the crosspin from the rear of the magazine box. Remove the trigger and sear by driving out the trigger and sear pins. Reassemble in reverse order.
Model 98 Mauser action open.
Large and Small Ring Actions
Model 98 actions with a receiver ring about 1.410” in diameter are commonly called “large ring” Mausers. Most M98 sporting and military rifles made up to the end of WWII are based on this large ring action. Most of the commercial M98-type actions made after WWII, like the FN, are also of the large ring type.
The “small ring” Mauser actions have a receiver ring diameter of about 1.300”. A lot of the early M98 carbines, like the 98a, were based on the small ring action. The most notable later carbine using this action was the lightweight Czech Model 3¾0.
The difference between the large and small ring actions is readily discernible by sight or touch, and there is no need to use a caliber to identify them. On the small ring action the left side of the receiver is straight, including part of the bridge, the wall and ring. However, on the large ring action this
