SLAM FIRE Swedish Mauser, Timney Trigger

Squaregrouper · Jan 30, 2020

Last week I bought a sporterized Swede M96 with a Timney trigger and disassembled it to finish the (bare) stock and re-blue the barrelled action. It functioned fine, with a crisp trigger pull, before I started working on it.
I just re-assembled the rifle and installed the bolt. It now slam fires and I can't work the safety at all. The trigger housing was rinsed when I rinsed off the bluing, but I quickly sprayed Repel (water displace spray) after getting it wet. I did not adjust the trigger, bolt or sear during the whole process.

Anything I should check before the rifle is gunsmith bound? I am not "Dremel gunsmithing" around with a trigger that slam fires unless it is a simple check that needs to be done.

Squaregrouper · Jan 30, 2020

Come to think of it, I may have the trigger housing and barrelled receiver not as tight against each other due a little more "meat" on the stock.
Just spitballing on this...

GunBum · Jan 30, 2020

Try the bolt with the action out of the stock.

Doco Overboard · Jan 30, 2020

M96 has lugs at the bottom of receiver that mate with the sear or in your case Timney trigger pinned to them. Have a look at the lugs to make sure the pin is the right diameter and the lugs are ok. Check to make sure the cocking piece has not been ground too shallow or the trigger sear has not been relieved as well.( not enough sear engagement or trigger tension)
Could also be the trigger is maladjusted with no slack in the over travel, pull lightened too much or internal sear incorrectly adjusted.
Check also to make sure the trigger has not been accidentally bent or crud has not found it's way into the mechanism.
More than likely the trigger mechanism is just grossly mis adjusted by attempting to adjust pull weight while introducing too much lash into the internal sear while removing over-travel at the same time. The lock screws for trigger adjustments should be sealed with paint if they have not been adjusted and the screws/lock nuts appearance unmolested.

Squaregrouper · Jan 30, 2020

squaregrouper said:
Come to think of it, I may have the trigger housing and barrelled receiver not as tight against each other due a little more "meat" on the stock.
Just spitballing on this...

This was actually the problem. I put the receiver/floor plate into a vice (w/leather) and got two more turns out of the screws. I should have thought of this first, as I had to tap the floor plate with a rubber mallet before I could get the front screw to engage the threads.

Thanks for the advice.

Doco Overboard · Jan 30, 2020

squaregrouper said:
This was actually the problem. I put the receiver/floor plate into a vice (w/leather) and got two more turns out of the screws. I should have thought of this first, as I had to tap the floor plate with a rubber mallet before I could get the front screw to engage the threads.

Thanks for the advice.

I would look it over real well and make sure the bottom metal is not touching the bottom of the trigger housing.
In other words the bottom metal should not have anything to do with the trigger functioning correctly by pushing upwards increasing the sear cocking piece ledge engagement.
Just to be on the safe side and be sure, you never know what the prior owner has done to get it to work.
The trigger and assembled bolt group should function without the bottom metal installed.

Squaregrouper · Jan 31, 2020

Doco Overboard said:
I would look it over real well and make sure the bottom metal is not touching the bottom of the trigger housing.
In other words the bottom metal should not have anything to do with the trigger functioning correctly by pushing upwards increasing the sear cocking piece ledge engagement.
Just to be on the safe side and be sure, you never know what the prior owner has done to get it to work.
The trigger and assembled bolt group should function without the bottom metal installed.

Special thanks to Doco Overboard for having me go over the trigger with a fine tooth comb. There was something wrong...
At the back of the trigger housing, there was a tiny wood shim between the trigger housing and receiver. I loosened the screw keeping the housing taught against the receiver, popped out the shim and tightened the screw again. There was now a good tight lockup and no matter how I tinkered, tapped or pushed, I couldn't force the firing pin to fall w/o squeezing the trigger..
However, I had a new problem... I couldn't open the bolt anymore. I loosened the set screw a half turn and the bolt opened like butter. I kept it in this configuration and went to town with a rubber mallet on a cocked bolt- not budging

My next step was to add red Loctite to the screw and snugged it back in; just shy of being fully torqued into place. Tomorrow, I will confirm the Red Loctite set up and will perform "Hammer time" again to ensure everything functions as it should before re-assembling the stock.
As of right now, I'm >90% sure the previous owner was having similar issues and found the tiny shim and heavily torqued screw worked for him. I took it apart, did some Bubbasmithing and must have jostled his Bubbasmithing loose.
Tomorrow, if I don't feel 100% confident there is no way it will accidentally discharge, I will be taking it to a pro.

ETA- This was sporterized and Timney added 35-40yrs ago. It sat in a safe since the early 1980's
ETA #2- Thinking that getting everything wet when I rinsed off the bluing swelled the tiny shim just enough to not have a solid lock up with the sear.

GuitarmanNick · Feb 1, 2020

You might try replacing any wood shims with brass. They can be made from brass sheeting available from Hobby Lobby or other craft stores. It is a tedious task to get the correct thickness sometimes, but once they are right, you won't have to worry about them getting wet and swelling.

Moorvogi · Feb 26, 2020

you smell that?? i smell a dueling tree competition! Mauser vs mauser?! Mine is original/stock though... soo maybe not haha irons on that little ass dueling tree is hard.

Squaregrouper · Mar 6, 2020

Moorvogi said:
you smell that?? i smell a dueling tree competition! Mauser vs mauser?! Mine is original/stock though... soo maybe not haha irons on that little ass dueling tree is hard.

Oh, I can smell what The Moorvogi is cooking.

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