Swing safety for Mauser

[specweldtom]

I just finished installing a side swing safety in a '98 Mauser military bolt shroud. 3 hours in the milling machine and 5 hrs of hand fitting and finishing. I knew it was going to be a pain, but 8 hrs?

The fixture and cutting tools cost $100. It would be cheaper to just buy one of the shrouds from Brownell's. Only plus is I work cheap for myself, and can save cash outlays for any more I want to do.

I do like the result. The safety works great and looks good.

If anyone has done one (or more) of these things, I'd be interested in how long it takes them. I don't think I can get it under 4-5 hrs.

Thanks, Tom

 

[shortgrass]

If you're talkin' about the Wisner 2 position safety, they take me about 3 hours. Where I'm going to cut, I anneal. Just enough to turn it blue. Makes the milling easier by a long ways. I prefer the Dakota 3 position safety as the Wisner just leaves too big a hole and three positions, like the Winchester 70, I find more desirable. There's still some milling required on that one. The little half circle in the bolt for the "lock" to engage into. I use my dividing head for locatiing that. Makes it much easier.That little 1/2 circle can be ground into the bolt with a Dremel tool. But, by using the dividing head, I can precisely locate the right spot so that the bolt handle doesn't move at all when the safety is in the block firing pin/lock bolt position. The Dakota is just a much nicer, professional installation. Takes an hour,,, hour and a half to do a Dakota and feel real good about it. After all, "its a safety", worth taking the time to make sure its right!

 

[specweldtom]

Shortgrass, I was hoping you would jump in, but I already knew that a professional couldn't afford the amount of time it took me to do the installation.

I used the Chapman fixture and safety kit from Brownell's. They have the Chapman and Wisner safeties, both of which are 2 position. I'll look at the Dakota and see if I like it better than the Chapman.

Yeah, when I read that the shroud had to be annealed, I knew I had another problem. Namely, no way I was going to hold the shroud at annealing temperatures long enough to get a true anneal. It would make the wear surfaces on the front of the shroud too soft. I used copper jaws in my big vise as a heat sink for the buttress-threaded spool and face of the shroud. With a small oxy-acetylene welding tip, quickly took the back 2/3rds above the transformation, then let it cool in the vise. Really just a high draw, but it made the back cut better, and left the front wear surfaces hard.

Set my little bench mill at 190 rpm to keep heat down, and used cutting oil. Probably slower than necessary, but easier on the H/S slitting saw and key seat cutter.

I really like firing pin safeties, and have decided to do another one of my Mausers that has the Buehler on it. Curious to see if I can do the 2nd one in 4 hrs. If I like the Dakota, I'll do one of them instead. Downside is it would be another first again.

You're right about doing safeties correctly, even if they're your own.

Thanks for taking the time to reply,

Tom

 

[shortgrass]

Sounds like you're turning the saw too fast. Here's a simple calculation for cutter RPM, 4 x surface feet per minute (in this case we'll use 50, a good round number for med.-high carbon steel) divided by cuttter diameter. example,,,,,, 4 x 50 = 200 200 divided by 2.5" diameter cutter = 80RPM. The Dakota is rather expensive. As we both know, the good stuff is. Doesn't use the Champman jig, either. I own a Chapman jig, too. Haven't used it in years. I'll look and see if I have a pic of that Dakota safety installed on a Mauser bolt.

 

[specweldtom]

I'll change sheaves to go to the lowest speed I have and check it with the mechanical tachometer, but I doubt it'll go below 100 rpm. We'll see. Thanks for the surface speed formula. I need to spend more time in Machinery's Handbook.

An old journeyman told me many years ago; It's what you learn after you know it all that counts.

I'll watch for the pictures.

Thanks again, Tom

 

[shortgrass]

Here's a couple of pics of that Dakota safety. As for the formula, it was given to me 35-36 years ago by a mentor. One of the many that have been "note booked". Been usin' it ever since. Don't know if it's in Machinerys' Handbook, but, I know it works. Machinerys' Handbook will give suggested SPM recommendations for a variety of steels for both high speed and carbide tools. Set-up and machine rigidity are also determining factors for S & F rates, not to be ignored. The Chapman jig reduces speeds & feeds, being made of aluminum and its general design.

 

[specweldtom]

Very nice. I always liked the commercial "flat" shrouds best, but they used trigger safeties, so I stayed with the militaries with Buehlers for the firing pin safety. The shrouds in Brownell's look like the one in your reply. Best of both worlds. good safety and a good-looking shroud.

I suspect that the Dakota safety wouldn't work in a military shroud because of lack of support at the top?

Once again, thanks for the advice, info, and pictures.

Tom

 

[Clark]

I did this one for a probono rifle I built for a soldier's kid.

The Wisner safety [although the Wisners tell me they have sold the company, but the name is the same] takes less fitting, deburring, shaping, and bluing than the Chapman safety, but the tooling that Brownells sells is Chapman tooling. The same tooling works for either.

It was news to Wagner that brownells links to his site
The Difference Between Two Safeties

The trick is to anneal the shroud properly and get the tool speed as slow as possible and squirt coolant on the cut... or you will be going back to Wholesale tool for another saw.

Or another trick is to buy the job already done by Jim Kobe

I forget what I paid him in 2005, but it looks like he wants $105 now.
[email protected]
Price to install M70 safety on a Mauser - 24hourcampfire

That is the only biz I have done with him, but on that sample he is good to work with.

 

[specweldtom]

Great pictures. Thanks for the info and the link. I like the pivot pin on the Wisner much better also. On the Chapman that I installed, I threaded the hole in the top of the shroud, shortened the furnished 6-48 screw enough to clear the top of the cocking piece, engage the threads in the bottom hole, and stop flush with the top of the shroud, then cut a shallow screwdriver slot in the screw, ran it in from the top, and litely staked one end of the slot to prevent unintentional rotation. I tested the safety many times while adjusting the cocking piece face to lift slightly when the safety was engaged then staked the bottom end just to be sure the screw couldn't work down and potentially bind or lock the cocking piece or cause the safety to fail. Best configuration I could come up with at the time. The Wisner could also be done similarly, with the bigger hole in the top, the pin installed from the top, the bottom hole threaded and the pin shoulder bottomed out in it. Probably wouldn't have to stake the top with this setup.Maybe even Loctite the thread?

I'll probably do 2 more of these safeties on my rifles, but I'll buy the Wisners for both of them. If I have any problem with the Chapman, I'll modify it to use a larger diameter pin, threaded at the bottom and install it the same way. Gotta justify the expense of the tooling somehow!

Thanks again for taking the time.

Tom