Why is a bolt mismatch so common?

C

Carl Hauser

Active member
Finally bought my first K98 from a shop out of Texas.
In about a year of looking at K98’s I notice a fairly constant (and common) refrain of “matching serials with mismatched bolt that matches itself” when shopping. Real common.

1) Anyone have a theory as to why this is? Part of the initial capture/seizure process of “de-militarization” to make the gun unusable?

2) Should headspace always be checked on any K98 you get your hands on?
 
It is the part easiest to remove from a rifle since it is supposed to be removeable from factory, therefore if mismatching most commonly it includes the bolt as well. Same as why mismatching German pistols are most often magazine mismatching as well.
 
1) yes part of surrender process, rifles placed in piles by surrendering troops, bolts then placed in another pile from rifle piles, by victorious troops without care

2) YES, but- as a practical matter, the design of the model 98 & tolerances under which it was manufactured make it less a matter of concern than it perhaps might be. I have 5 M98 type rifles manufactured in at least 3 different counties across roughly 50 years, and 7 bolts that headspace correctly in any of those 5 rifles.
That being said, if you are going to hold an old firearm up against your face & fire it, you may want to check first. I know I do. “Usually” where a problem arises is when the face of the bolt has been milled to remove evidence of primer corrosion. Cutting .020” from that surface might easily tip the bolt body past the tolerance limit & result in headspace problems. One can often see the evidence if looking closely under bright lighting. 2 of my rifles are 1909 Argentines, made in 1910 by DWM near Berlin. One of those has a Circle Z bolt (my newest) that headspaces w/in tolerance, pretty amazing. On old bolts, I’d prefer ‘some’ primer pitting to a freshly milled face every time.

If you know what to look for, one can read evidence of excessive headspace in the brass, often before the head splits off the case. I usually test fire in a remote set up the 1st time anyway.

As always, the experiences of others may be different from my own.....
 
In the case of my family heirloom a block dou42 98k, I know exactly how the bolt became mismatched. My uncle (now 96 years old) was a member of the US 66th infantry division, and was present at the surrender of the French port of St Nazaire. He says that surrendering German troops were instructed to place their rifles in one pile, and the removed bolts in another. My uncle picked a rifle to box up send home to my great grandfather, and then chose a bolt for it without bothering to match the serial number. The bolt has a later serial number, but is otherwise correct for a rifle of dou manufacture. We've passed the rifle down from generation to generation, four in all.
 
GunKraut said:
https://www.k98kforum.com/showthread.php?271-mismatch-bolt-theories
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I remember that thread. All plausible explanations, and probably all happened to some degree somewhere. I'm of the belief that probably a majority are due to being imported separately for shipping reasons. The importer removed theory has been confirmed by one poster who reportedly worked for a large scale importer back in the 1960's and denied by another who also worked for one around the same time. Take your pick! I have owned a lot of non-K98k imported rifles that were bolt mismatched.
Another theory that I don't think was covered could be possible that the rifles were surrendered intact and at some point in time later when they were in storage that bolts were removed and stored separate as a means to make them temporarily unserviceable for roving scroungers? I'm guessing there were so many surrender piles everywhere that not all could be guarded thoroughly.
 
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With all the photos of rifles being gathered into piles I have yet to see one where the bolts had been removed! Still looking for photos of piles of bolts? Story about bolts being removed when GI's boarded transport ships to return home doesn't fly either as that would have meant GI's were free to just take them home by the thousands without approval (capture papers) which was not the case either. Duffle cuts rifles if they made it aboard ships un detected would not have any reason to have bolts pulled. Surplus imports mixed up from the late 40's thru 50's sound like a creditable story Bottom line is there may never be a verified answer to this question.
 
k98dave said:
With all the photos of rifles being gathered into piles I have yet to see one where the bolts had been removed! Still looking for photos of piles of bolts? Story about bolts being removed when GI's boarded transport ships to return home doesn't fly either as that would have meant GI's were free to just take them home by the thousands without approval (capture papers) which was not the case either. Duffle cuts rifles if they made it aboard ships un detected would not have any reason to have bolts pulled. Surplus imports mixed up from the late 40's thru 50's sound like a creditable story Bottom line is there may never be a verified answer to this question.
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I agree. No evidence of rifles being surrendered under that condition. Rifles are always piled up with bolts still in. There is more evidence for rifles with stock mismatches being done so because rifles that were surrendered had their stocks busted. I think they are just mismatched because thats the easiest part to remove from the rifle, as said above. Easily done by a importer or in the span of the past 80 years when something breaks on the old bolt, some find it easier to just replace the whole thing.

John.
 
k98dave said:
With all the photos of rifles being gathered into piles I have yet to see one where the bolts had been removed! Still looking for photos of piles of bolts? Story about bolts being removed when GI's boarded transport ships to return home doesn't fly either as that would have meant GI's were free to just take them home by the thousands without approval (capture papers) which was not the case either. Duffle cuts rifles if they made it aboard ships un detected would not have any reason to have bolts pulled. Surplus imports mixed up from the late 40's thru 50's sound like a creditable story Bottom line is there may never be a verified answer to this question.
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Agree! I wonder if anybody has done a survey of DOCUMENTED bringbacks to see what percentage have matching bolts? One would also think if the bolts got mixed during any cleaning process by German soldiers that bolt matching rifles would almost not exist if the process was that widespread. I agree that it's impossible to prove in almost any case how, or when a bolt got mismatched in the last 70+ years and shouldn't affect the rifle value beyond that fact. A decent bolt mismatch can stand on it's own for what it is regardless of the possibilities on how it happened.
 
I have a duffle cut WZ98a with a mismatched (and mismatched to itself) 98k bolt. I have a feeling probably done postwar. Could be mixed up years later by the vet if he had a couple rifles or the kids finding them and swapping parts due to lack of knowledge or care.
 
Why mis-matched bolts??

bnz41john said:
I agree. No evidence of rifles being surrendered under that condition. Rifles are always piled up with bolts still in. There is more evidence for rifles with stock mismatches being done so because rifles that were surrendered had their stocks busted. I think they are just mismatched because thats the easiest part to remove from the rifle, as said above. Easily done by a importer or in the span of the past 80 years when something breaks on the old bolt, some find it easier to just replace the whole thing.

John.
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I'm old enough to have been lucky to talk to several WWII Vets who fought in Germany. One, who I was good friends with told me that when fighting the Germans in small towns ect, when the Germans
were getting ready to surrender you could see the rifle bolts being thrown out of foxholes and other hiding areas. They were always taught to never surrender a serviceable weapon. He also said that the
those troops with MP-40's would always empty the magazine up into the air before surrendering. Heavy machineguns had the bolts removed and thrown as far as possible. Also spoke a lot with Bill Rogers
from Springfield Sporters. He said that when Interarms shipped crates of Kar98k's from Europe they shipped them 10 to a crate, 5 rifles on the bottom rack and 5 on the top rack. The bolts were removed
from all 10 and placed on the bottom of the crate. On arrival into the US, the rifles were taken out and a bolt was inserted, not always with the orig matching numbered bolt to the rifle. Hope this clears up
some of the "mystery" of why 98k rifles have mis-matched bolts.
Tks,
Bob32268
 
Very informative and valuable posts here concerning M/M bolts. Lucky to have my father's bringback he captured before the surrender in May. Matching example he found in a building in a town the Germans had retreated from. Said there were a few other small arms also that were abandon by the Germans. Sounds like a treasure trove these days.
 
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