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How to Disassemble a German Mauser Rifle

Developed by Paul Mauser in the 19th century, the Mauser Rifle was the German infantry's first repeating rifle. There were approximately one million I.G.Mod.71/84 Mausers manufactured in Germany, and some of the guns were even used during World War I. Although there are several different models of Mauser rifles, you can still implement general techniques that apply to most of the models in order to disassemble the gun.

Things You'll Need

Screwdriver
Small clamp

Instructions

- 1
  Lay the rifle down so that the muzzle is facing to the left. Open the bolt. You will see a small screw pinned to the top of the bolt. Do not unscrew it completely or you will break it and not be able to get it back into the gun. Unscrew it just a little bit so that you can pull the receiver body out as you pull the bolt out.
- 2
  Turn the rifle over onto its other side. Press the magazine release down and remove the magazine cover. You will be able to see under now to the front and rear receiver screws. Remove both of these screws and take out the trigger guard and the magazine well.
- 3
  Pull the cleaning rod out from the front of the rifle.
- 4
  Put a small clamp on the barrel band spring. You need to do this so that you can free up your hands. Using the screwdriver, slightly tap the back of the front barrel band so that it slides forward from the muzzle. You can then pull the barrel band and the barrel band spring away from the rifle.
- 5
  Tap on the rear barrel sleeve like you did on the front barrel sleeve so that you can slide it forward and off of the rifle stock. This will now free up the receiver and the barrel, which you can pull away from the rifle stock.
- 6
  Unscrew or un-spring (depending on the model of the Mauser) the screw or spring that holds the hand guard in place. Both are located in front of the rear sight, and need to be dislodged in order to remove the hand guard. Once you unscrew or un-spring whatever is holding it in place, lift the upper hand guard away from the gun (from the rear to the front).
- 7
  Lift the sight tangent so that it is pointed straight up.
- 8
  Turn the hand guard so that is perpendicular to the sight tangent, then lift it up and away from the sight tangent. Now you have completely disassembled the Mauser rifle.

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