C96 bolt repair
 

The bolt on a C96 is broken. Not broken by me, it came to me in this state. Looks it has been broken many years and it's not mentioned in the description nor shown in seller's pictures. Partially because it came relatively cheap, I did not insist on returning it, so it became mine.... My spouse saw this, asked "Alvin, he's off-hook, who's on-hook? Tell me". ...."Well... as long as I am playing this, no matter how careful I am, I am part of eco-system, and this is almost avoidable. You should understand." (Kind of self-cheating. There are other issues besides the bolt, lost probably $400. Definitely not a pleasant experience).

To have this repaired needs not only skills, but also proper equipment. I don't have skill nor equipment, will send to a professional today.

Here is the "before picture":

Alvin,
to bad on the bolt. Hope you get it fixed well.

Now please show us the rest of the broomhandle and the other problems for education.

I have an original German bolt if your repair does not work; won't be matching of course.

Sometimes we all get "taken" hopefully just a little!

Just remember: "some days you eat the bear, some days the bear eats you".

Please give me your niece's phone number, I believe I need to talk to her before she goes out with the garbage. :D

As far as the bolt goes, I believe you can make an almost invisible repair by TIG welding it and machine or file it to the correct shape. The welding will be a bit iffy though, the bolt face will inevitably lose temper partially or entirely, depending on how hot it gets. The guy I use for welding jobs does an excellent job on small repairs, he has the skills to put on a bead that's less than 1mm around, and the patience to weld larger areas in increments so the surrounding area won't get too hot.

I still wouldn't shoot the gun after such a repair, unless the bolt was heated during the welding, the correct alloy was used and the bolt heat treated after the repair. This would be a job for somebody with extensive experience in such repairs, so I would probably make it a cosmetic repair and call it a day.

The gun is a plain prewar, nothing fancy. After I fix this bolt issue, cosmetically, it's OK. But it has mismatching bolt lock, so its value is dramatically lowered. The firing pin spring was also a replaced. People usually buying this for shooting, but with this bolt,,, it's not shootable,,,, Lesson learned: On high condition guns, be careful on blue. On low condition guns, be careful on parts.

Looks like a $400 Mauser to me! :D

I think you did OK!

The problem is ... if I sell it as is, say, it's $400. That cannot cover my cost :( I prefer to repair the bolt. Install a replacement bolt is probably cheaper, but it will become externally mismatched, even worse. But repair this bolt will cost me extra.

Why did you not send it back? Or at least negotiate a lower price. If this is the way the seller does business you should let other people know to be aware...........

Well,, initially, I'd like to send it back, but seller is a .... how to put that ... a "low life" guy. For this amount, not worth to hire a lawyer to handle this. So I gave up that path.

Yeah, I would be on the horn with the seller immediately if I found damage like that.

I wouldn't be too hard on the seller though, at least not before you have discussed it with him. Many people never take their guns apart, and this is something that's difficult to see unless you take the bolt out. Also, the gun will probably function just fine without that chip, so it could very well have been sold in good faith. However, if he puts up a fight you can be pretty sure that he knew about it.

Anyway, it''s too late to talk that now.

Will visit a gunsmith, to see what they can do on this...

I would guess that most folks on this forum, me included, have been "on the hook" in the past. We all hope that it doesn't happen again, but it certainly could!! Good luck with your repair.

Alvin,
My advice, which is free, is : Don't spend anymore money on it.

You should not in good conscience offer it for sale as a shooter; sell it as is if it is not special.
Someone would buy it for a shooter, like someone with a spare bolt.;)

It is already mismatched, so another mismatched part will not hurt it in my book, visible or not.
Mismatched is just that and the value damage already done.

Is it somebody we know?

Somebody in Pennsylvania??? :D

No. Not a PA seller.

My mistake was I overlooked some details. I knew this variation with my eyes closed. How could I ... only paid attention to finish, that's a big mistake. Will hang this gun on the wall, so I can remember this mistake whenever I see it.

Julia will have a nice conehammer for sale soon. Will go there to take a look. According to their past sale history, it probably will go high. If not, getting that one home will be desirable. God knows, will see.

"Relatively cheap." Good deals rarely are.

Seriously, you are sniveling about a situation rather than correcting it.

A "low life" and you dealt with him thinking you were getting over on a good deal.

Would he come beat you up if you wanted to return it?

More like instant Karma than anything else.

I would never have put this in the street.

Yeah. Great point... seller's important. With 3-day, my risk is virtually zero. But seller blocked that path, that's the root of the problem. He told me that he did not handle this type of gun so he didn't know... That's actually not a reason, no one knows these initially, but I told you, then you know, right? Still no, "that's my policy".

Very small percentage though. Most people are good guys.

Sell the box of parts to Don for $400 + whatever you lost, chalk it up to experience. :thumbup:

Have not decided what to do yet. Sent to gunsmith yesterday. But he's off, only a few sales there. Will get a quote next week to decide what to do.

I bet if you put a For Sale ad in this forum you could recoup your loss. Since it's a C96 it's C&R eligible and you could ship it direct.

I would imagine there are several members here who would be interested. :rolleyes: