Mauser 98 bolt welding

[TroyF]

Where is a place to get my 98 mauser bolt welded, I can't afford what some places want. I'm looking for a obendorff style bolt, the straight round type. I see Talley has bolt stubs for about $10 the necg is like $30.

 

[CBH Australia]

Have you tried a metal fabrication or engineering workshop?

Some place that has qualified welders.

It might be a bit of a specialist thing because of alloyed metals and not wanting to put excess heat into it.

Smoke bolts are silver soldered but you might be able to have it TIG welded.

Either way they are going to need an hour or more to prepare, clean and weld it, then if you want it looking perfect they might need to sand and polish it with a Dremel.

You might be best to find a gunsmith who does these and has a bit more specialised knowledge.

 

[TroyF]

Have you tried a metal fabrication or engineering workshop?

Some place that has qualified welders.

It might be a bit of a specialist thing because of alloyed metals and not wanting to put excess heat into it.

Smoke bolts are silver soldered but you might be able to have it TIG welded.

Either way they are going to need an hour or more to prepare, clean and weld it, then if you want it looking perfect they might need to sand and polish it with a Dremel.

You might be best to find a gunsmith who does these and has a bit more specialised knowledge.

That's what I may have to do to save some money, I believe my friend has a bolt holding jig. I'll do all the cuts and get it were I want and see if a shop can weld it up for me. I am looking the best way to make the cut, I have a idea what needs to be done.

 

[CBH Australia]

The handle itself could be cut with an angle grinder. The 1mm thickness Thin blades would be good.
The handle piece may not be too hard so a fine tooth blade on a hacksaw is the other option if you don't have a grinder.

 

[TroyF]

The handle itself could be cut with an angle grinder. The 1mm thickness Thin blades would be good.
The handle piece may not be too hard so a fine tooth blade on a hacksaw is the other option if you don't have a grinder.

I'll probably use my dremel to cut the knob off,

 

[CBH Australia]

Can you post a pic of what you have and one of what you are hoping to have,
Cheers Chris.

 

[TroyF]

I would like something similar to the straight round one on a pre wwii rifle I have. Sorry for the crap pictures.

 

[GuttormG]

TIG-welding, a heatsink and paste, proper fit-up in a jig.

 

[GuttormG]

 

[GuttormG]

Both the jig and sink can easily be made with pretty basic tool.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Have you tried a metal fabrication or engineering workshop?

Some place that has qualified welders.

It might be a bit of a specialist thing because of alloyed metals and not wanting to put excess heat into it.

Smoke bolts are silver soldered but you might be able to have it TIG welded.

Either way they are going to need an hour or more to prepare, clean and weld it, then if you want it looking perfect they might need to sand and polish it with a Dremel.

You might be best to find a gunsmith who does these and has a bit more specialised knowledge.

@CBH Australia
Chris to do the job properly you also need a heat sink to put in the disassembled bolt to keep it from affecting the bolt.
I have also seen it done with 2 people buy using a tap or bottles of water.
The water is poured into the disassembled bolt and allowed to run thru while the other person does the welding.
The bolt must not be allowed to over heat or it will salter the temper with bad results to the user.
Bob

 

[CBH Australia]

Bob,
I dabble in a bit of welding do this is very interesting.
Just looked at this video

Now to Google a Heat sink

 

[CBH Australia]

I've never done this but I have an opinion
I googled heatsink. It appears a bolt heat sink is probably a aluminium rod, threaded to fit in neatly.
Aluminium sucks up a lot of heat and does not flow like steel will.

A copper, brass or aluminium rod will suck on some heat, taking it away from the locking lugs. I take it these are heat treated and you should not mess up the temper.

I've read of people using wet rag and a large vice to absorb some of the heat. The trick is to remove it from there and cool it quickly. A fan or aircon would be good. Ideally you don't pour cold water on a hot weld. It can cause fine cracks that you won't see.

You could make a jig in various ways, Remember that the first weld might pull the alignment if it's not as solid or held tight.

TIG welding might be the best way to weld it quickly concentrating the heat into the immediate area. It should weld, fuse and hold quite well if done by a competent welder. Other types of welding will work it's just TIG will concentrate the heat so as it does not spread so quickly through the mass of the bolt body.

You can cool the body in water once you take of the initial heat, just don't drink it immediately.

Following what Bob said you could perhaps mount it with the bolt body suspended on a coffee cup or pipe of cool, cold water. Then still go follow the steps trying to get the heat out. You could wet it so long as you clean, dry and oil it.

Good luck with it, it's do-able. But be careful a replacement bolt might cost what the rifle is worth.

 

[TroyF]

I've never done this but I have an opinion
I googled heatsink. It appears a bolt heat sink is probably a aluminium rod, threaded to fit in neatly.
Aluminium sucks up a lot of heat and does not flow like steel will.

A copper, brass or aluminium rod will suck on some heat, taking it away from the locking lugs. I take it these are heat treated and you should not mess up the temper.

I've read of people using wet rag and a large vice to absorb some of the heat. The trick is to remove it from there and cool it quickly. A fan or aircon would be good. Ideally you don't pour cold water on a hot weld. It can cause fine cracks that you won't see.

You could make a jig in various ways, Remember that the first weld might pull the alignment if it's not as solid or held tight.

TIG welding might be the best way to weld it quickly concentrating the heat into the immediate area. It should weld, fuse and hold quite well if done by a competent welder. Other types of welding will work it's just TIG will concentrate the heat so as it does not spread so quickly through the mass of the bolt body.

You can cool the body in water once you take of the initial heat, just don't drink it immediately.

Following what Bob said you could perhaps mount it with the bolt body suspended on a coffee cup or pipe of cool, cold water. Then still go follow the steps trying to get the heat out. You could wet it so long as you clean, dry and oil it.

Good luck with it, it's do-able. But be careful a replacement bolt might cost what the rifle is worth.

I'll make a heat sink, and see about some paste, I am really thinking of buying a cheap tig welder for my projects. Tho one that will do aluminum as well my be to much for me.
There's 5-6 welding shops local I need to check out and see about some prices. I figured if I get everything ready to weld maybe they will only charge me for half a hour.

 

[JimP]

Before I started welding on the actual bolt for the rifle that I want to keep I think that I would see if I could find a spare bolt and practice on it beforehand. With the original bolt you may only get one chance to get it right.

 

[CBH Australia]

Good idea @Jim P

You could always try with scrap of similar sizes.

@TroyF I read that drywall plaster does well at removing the heat.

I have an AC/DC Tig and do aluminium. There is a lot on YouTube showing setup and technique etc, but it helps if you have welding experience as TIG is a little more difficult but you can certainly learn it.

Send me a pm if you have more questions,

 

[TroyF]

Good idea @Jim P

You could always try with scrap of similar sizes.

@TroyF I read that drywall plaster does well at removing the heat.

I have an AC/DC Tig and do aluminium. There is a lot on YouTube showing setup and technique etc, but it helps if you have welding experience as TIG is a little more difficult but you can certainly learn it.

Send me a pm if you have more questions,

I can get by on welding did a bit in school and work or my own. I just never had a tig, I can Torch weld so tig should not be much of a problem. I'd like to get a 3-1 machine but money is so tight anymore. If I get a fit it will be ac/dc I know as soon as I get it I would need to weld aluminum lol.

I have some 7.7 jap bolts I could practice on, there old projects that have been on the back burner for years.

 

[rdog]

I have seen some excellent bolt handle done jobs with MIG a little at a time like welding car sheet metal you will need a heat sink & paste & a jig to hold it in alignment i have one to do shortly will be using a talley handle bend it to shape & poilsh after welding it may be best to leave the handle bright as it may not blue well where its been welded.

 

[GuttormG]

A copper, brass or aluminium rod will suck on some heat, taking it away from the locking lugs. I take it these are heat treated and you should not mess up the temper.

The lugs are not the problem, the area you need to controll is the one in below picture. If this gets to hot and loses it hardnes your boltlift will be sticky.
Off course, ifthe lugs looses temper the bolt is scrap-but the rest of the bolt is scrap long before that happens.

For a one-off job, wet papertowels have been used with sucsess for heat controll. Also, the better tid before you weld the less heat you need. If you need to build-up material by welding fit is not good enough.

 

[TroyF]

The lugs are not the problem, the area you need to controll is the one in below picture. If this gets to hot and loses it hardnes your boltlift will be sticky.
Off course, ifthe lugs looses temper the bolt is scrap-but the rest of the bolt is scrap long before that happens.

View attachment 432566

For a one-off job, wet papertowels have been used with sucsess for heat controll. Also, the better tid before you weld the less heat you need. If you need to build-up material by welding fit is not good enough.

A bunch of old gunsmithing books normally ones pre 1960s say use the set rags, and to pour water over the rag as welding or heating to forge. Your right the bolt lugs aren't the main concern when the bolt beats up, it's the cam.