1914 Erfurt wont chamber a round

G

Ganno595

Member
Hey all, been trying to figure this out for a while. I have a 1914 Kar 98 that won't chamber a round. The receiver and barrel match. It does have a straight handle bolt which I understand to be incorrect. A few other serials do not match also. This isn't a museum piece or anything but I would like it to at least function if possible. If I slug the barrel the resulting slug will fall right into an empty 7.92 case. Is it possible this is a 7mm? Trying to load an empty case results in witness marks on the first couple of MM of the neck where it's hitting. I don't have a bore scope but it doesn't appear to be a broken case neck but can't rule that out. No stamps on receiver or barrel indicating caliber.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
A lot more info will be needed . What size is the slug to start and what are the land and groove sizes after slugging ? Is your empty case a fired case ? Where does the bolt stop when it will not chamber ? What ammo are you trying to chamber ? Still sounds like something in the chamber neck .
 
Thank you for the reply...had to resize my pictures.

It is not a fired round. I just pulled the slug out of the case. . I've tried surplus ammo and also Remington 8mm SP rounds. I'm sorry I don't have dial calipers to measure. See pictures of bolt. That's with a round tring to chamber. Its a hard stop. Also it was loaded from magazine/put behind the extractor before trying to chamber.
 

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Apropos of nothing, I wouldn't use Turkish surplus with that gun. Or, well, any gun. That stuff is pretty hot and it hasn't improved with age.

As for your actual question, I doubt it's 7mm if the barrel is serialed to the receiver. Can you get pics? Does the bolt close on an empty chamber? Do you know what the bolt is off of? Any pics of markings on that?
 
Bolt does close on an empty chamber with no issues at all.

Thank you for the info on ammo..I won't be firing it.
 

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I guess I'll have to get a bore scope. I've looked with lights t both ends of the barrel. If it's in there it has created a totally seamless (to my eyes) transition into the barrel
 
Brooksy said:
I'm guessing there are remnants of a shell in the chamber that has suffered head case separation.
Click to expand...
If it closes on an empty case, I doubt there is an obstruction in the chamber. I generally avoid the Turk ammo as well (everything you hear about it is true, but its safe to fire in bolt guns) but Id suggest another brand of ammo. OP, did you say this was a replacement bolt? You REALLY need to get a headspace gauge in there. Just because its a replacement bolt and in 8MM does not guarantee it will headspace to the gun.
 
It will NOT close on an empty case it WILL close on an empty chamber. I attached a picture above of how far a round will sit into the chamber. You can see it doesn't look right (to me) and the witness marks on the empty case.

I'll order a headspace gauge.

My thoughts are if it was a broken case neck I should be able to see the seem between brass and barrel or slide a 90 degree pick in there and feel it. Neither of which I can do. But I've never been faced with this either. I have an extractor but with no lip to grab it doesn't work real well. Lol
 
Reading is important . The bolt will not close on a case . That has nothing to do the headspace . At this point a headspace gauge on a military rifle will be a waste of money . The case that you tried to chamber is showing that it is hitting something in the chamber neck .
 
My MG42 would occasionally have the neck blow off a case and plaster itself in the chamber. You couldn’t see it. The ruptured case extractor was made for this. It was common enough that they made a tool especially for this failure.
Should this turn out to be your issue. Sounds that way. The tool goes through the detached case neck and expands to grab it by the front rim, the bolt then extracts the tool and broken shell.
 
Ganno595 said:
I guess I'll have to get a bore scope. I've looked with lights t both ends of the barrel. If it's in there it has created a totally seamless (to my eyes) transition into the barrel
Click to expand...

You would be surprised how little chamber you really see looking into the barrel.

The bolt handle is bugging me. Can anyone ID what that is off? Not german, by the looks of it. Are you sure that's the bolt for a standard length 98 action?
 
I haven't been looking in the barrel. Been looking in the chamber/action with the bolt out.

I know nothing about this gun other than it was inherited from my step dad who got it from someone else. So history unknown. This is first adventure into older arms.
 
Ganno595 said:
I haven't been looking in the barrel. Been looking in the chamber/action with the bolt out.

I know nothing about this gun other than it was inherited from my step dad who got it from someone else. So history unknown. This is first adventure into older arms.
Click to expand...

My statement stands. I've never, ever been able to get a good look in at a chamber without reaching for the bore scope. Pretty much all you can tell looking down the barrel is if there are obstructions and a very, very rough idea of what kind of shape the rifling is in.
 
Ganno595 said:
Bolt does close on an empty case with no issues at all.

Thank you for the info on ammo..I won't be firing it.
Click to expand...
For sake of troubleshooting, lets get some clarification here. You've stated that the bolt will close on an empty case, and later said it will not. If its closing on an empty case, Im still suspecting headspace issues by a non matching bolt. If a complete cartridge is hanging up 80% of the way into the chamber, I agree with the assessment of a bore obstruction. Keep us posted. (A ruptured case should be easy to spot, see if you can zoom in on some bore pics for us)
 
Yes I'm an idiot and misworded the original reply. :) (I edited original reply for the second time to reflet that..lol). It WILL close on an empty CHAMBER.
I've been using an empty case to try and diagnose things. It WILL NOT close on an empty CASE.

The empty case hits something (as seen in pictures)

This is the best picture I can get with phone down the chamber. It refuses to focus further down
 

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Ganno595 said:
Yes I'm an idiot and misworded the original reply. :) (I edited original reply for the second time to reflet that..lol). It WILL close on an empty CHAMBER.
I've been using an empty case to try and diagnose things. It WILL NOT close on an empty CASE.

The empty case hits something (as seen in pictures)

This is the best picture I can get with phone down the chamber. It refuses to focus further down
Click to expand...
I see rust at 3:00. That small amount alone could be causing problems. There are ton of methods to remove that, Id start with a simple brass brush and get progressively more aggressive until its gone. Are your cases showing any scratches? Blacken a case with a sharpie and insert it a few times, look for rubbing/scraping.
 
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