C96 Mauser Broomhandle Jam

HAIRY

When firing my Broomhandle, the bolt is jammed by the hammer after extracting the spent round. What could be some of the issues causing this? I'm using reloaded ammo. Please advise.

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Don't assume malice for what stupidity can explain.

p3skyking

Hairy,
This condition is usually caused by a weak mainspring. If you will manually pull the hammer back, the bolt should go forward. You will notice a slight protrusion (inverted ridge) on the bottom of the bolt that slows the forward motion of the bolt by riding over the top of the hammer. The mainspring has to have enough "ommph" to force the hammer down slightly.

Hope this does it.

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Rocklobster

The mainspring has two responsibilities: 1) To slap the hammer forward with enough force to fire the primer. 2) To slow down the rearward motion of the bolt( along with the bolt recoil spring) and keep it from slamming into the bolt stop with excessive force.

Hairy, how about some more details: What caliber? How does the gun perform with factory loads? Are your reloads as "hot" as factory ammo? Do the spent cases extract and eject properly?

How does the bolt behave when you pull it back and release it manually? (naturally, you'll have to depress the mag follower to see how its forward motion works).

What happens exactly? Does the bolt slam back, then travel forward a little, then stop? Does the bolt come back just far enough to extract the spent case, then stop?

If it's the former, I'd think you have some buildup or a burr or something on the bolt, causing it to bind. If it's the latter, I'd think the culprit is weak ammo, or the same as above.

p3skyking

I wrote mainspring but actually meant recoil spring. The long one inside the bolt. That is the one you need to replace. Just substitute recoil for main in my above. In this weapon, to me the recoil is the mainspring. The hammer spring is the hammer spring.

HAIRY

From the descriptions, I believe it is the recoil spring that is weak and should be replaced. I'll contact Wolff and get some--as I have 2 Brooms. Thanks for your advice.

There is always one more imbecile than you counted on.
Don't assume malice for what stupidity can explain.