bolt sleeve threads into the rear of the bolt body. The coil mainspring slips over the firing pin and is compressed between the bolt sleeve and a shoulder at the front of the firing pin. The rear end of the firing pin extends through the bolt sleeve and is held to the cocking piece by a series of interrupted lugs. The rear part of the firing pin is milled flat on two sides to match a hole through the bolt sleeve. This prevents the firing pin from rotating and coming loose from the cocking piece. A cam on the cocking piece extends through a slot in the bolt sleeve and slides in a groove cut into the receiver tang. The cam catches the rear end of the bolt or sear, depending on whether the action is cocked or uncocked. The rear of the bolt is notched in two places. The front end of the cocking cam can engage either a deep notch, when the bolt is closed so the firing pin tip can reach the primer, or a shallower notch when the bolt handle is raised or the bolt opened. The purpose of the shallow notch is to retain the firing pin tip within the face of the bolt, and to prevent the bolt sleeve from being easily turned out of position when the bolt is opened. The firing pin is cocked on the closing motion of the bolt.
The wing safety has a round stem which fits lengthwise into a hole at the top of the bolt sleeve. It is held in place by the wing overlapping a lip on the bolt sleeve. A notch in the right side of this lip allows the safety to be removed, but not while the striker head is in place. Swung to the far left the safety is disengaged. It is then in the “off ” or “fire” position. Swung upright to the intermediate position, the safety locks the striker back and the bolt can be opened and closed. Swung to the far right to the “on” or “safe” position, the safety locks the striker back and the bolt closed. When the safety is either up or to the right, it draws and holds the cocking piece off the sear—the sear will still be in position ready to engage the cocking piece when the safety is moved to the “fire” position. With the safety upright, this offers a safe way to unload the magazine, chambering and ejecting cartridges with the bolt. No bolt sleeve lock is provided, therefore, the slightest touch against the bolt sleeve or safety, when the bolt is open, could cause it to rotate counter-clockwise and twist out of alignment with the receiver, prohibiting closure of the bolt.
Model 93 Spanish Mauser action open.
Left side view of Model 93 Spanish Mauser action, cocked, with wing safety upright.
Most M93 and M95 Mausers, including the German-made Chilean Mausers, had no provision to divert or vent powder gases harmlessly out of the action in the event a primer or case head ruptured. In such cases, then, these actions will permit gases to enter the bolt through the firing pin hole, rush back along the striker and mainspring and spray them, and some oil picked up along the way, at the shooter’s face. Gases escaping past the unrecessed part of the bolt face will be directed backward, down the left locking lug raceway, toward the shooter’s face despite the bolt stop lug and flared bolt sleeve. Some M93 Spanish Mausers, notably the ones made in Spain by Industrias de Cataluna, have a single gas escape vent hole in the bolt near the rear bottom edge of the left locking lug, matching an oblong hole in the receiver ring. These vented actions are safer, but the one small hole is not likely to vent all the escaping gas from a serious case head rupture, and some may still be directed to the shooter’s face.
The bolt-stop is attached and hinged to the left of the receiver bridge by a pointed screw passing through the bolt-stop and an integral square lug on the receiver. A stud, on the end of the bolt-stop, protrudes through a hole into the locking lug raceway and halts the rearward travel of the bolt when it contacts the locking lug. This stud is slotted for the ejector, housed partially within the bolt-stop, and held in place by the bolt-stop screw. A double-leaf flat spring, mortised into the bolt-stop housing, holds the bolt-stop against the receiver and keeps the ejector pivoted against the bolt body.
The sear is attached to, and pivots on a pin through a stud on the bottom of the receiver. The trigger pivots on a pin in the sear to the rear of center. The top of the trigger, which bears against the receiver, has two humps which provide the double-stage let-off. The sear and trigger are tensioned by a coil spring between the front of the sear and receiver. Just ahead of the trigger spring, a pin pressed into the sear projects through a hole into the receiver. There is a single, narrow groove cut into the bolt body that aligns with the point of the pin only when the bolt is completely closed, otherwise the bolt body prevents the sear being released. There is also a flat spot on the bottom of the bolt which positions over the pin when the bolt handle is raised, and when the bolt is closed until the cocking cam contacts the sear. This allows the trigger to be pulled back, lowering the firing pin as the bolt is closed.
The cartridge guide lips are milled integral with the magazine well opening in the receiver. These guide lips, one at each side of the magazine well, hold the staggered column of cartridges in the magazine until pushed forward from the magazine by the bolt, and they guide the bullet point into the chamber.
Top view of Model 93 Spanish Mauser action.
The magazine box and trigger guard are of one-piece, machined-steel construction, with the open top of the magazine box matching the magazine well in the receiver. The receiver and barrel are held securely in the stock via two heavy guard screws going through the front and rear ends of the magazine/guard. The front guard screw threads into the recoil lug, the rear screw into the end of the tang. Many post-1898 rifles have lock screws to prevent the guard screws from turning. The magazine/guard is securely held in alignment with the receiver by a stud collar toward the front overlapping a matching stud extending from the bottom of the recoil lug.
A longitudinal rib, to the left on the top of the milled steel follower, causes the cartridges to be staggered in the magazine. A W-shaped follower spring, held by undercuts in the bottom of the follower and inside the floorplate, provides the upward pressure to the follower. The detachable magazine floorplate is held in position by lips at both ends engaging recesses cut into the magazine/guard. A spring-loaded plunger, at the rear of the magazine box, acts as the floorplate catch to lock it forward. Depressing this catch with a pointed tool through the hole in the rear of the floorplate allows the plate to move back, and carry the follower and follower spring with it free of the action.
Model 93 or 95?
For all practical purposes the M93 and M95 Mauser actions can be considered the same. In fact, an early Mauser catalog describing them makes no distinction. They are listed under the subheading MAUSER MODEL 93-95 with a single description. There are, however, variations by which one may determine their correct designation, or identify them positively by markings on these actions. If an action is marked “Model 1893” or “Model 1895,” as in the case of the Chilean M95, there is no question about the correct designation.
When first made, the M93 bolt had two slight bolt face projections forming a small flat spot under the bolt, clearly shown elsewhere in this chapter. The tang and the rear of the receiver, as well as the loading ramp, were cut accordingly to allow passage of the bolt. These small projections permitted more of the bolt head surface to contact the cartridge heads when feeding them from the magazine into the chamber. Later on, however, this feature was dropped—it was found to be unnecessary for proper feeding— and the bolt was then made round. Actions having this later type round bolt head, and otherwise unmarked, can be either M93s or M95s. M93 bolts with flat-bottom bolt heads are not interchangeable in receivers made for the round-headed bolts.
Faces of the M95 (left) and M93 (right) Mauser bolts. Note the flat spot on the bottom of the Model 93 bolt.
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