Mauser 1914 problem

[eocoolj]

Now, I realize this is a pretty obscure handgun which i bet few people here have seen, much less owned, but I'm hoping for a little insight anyway. I am working with a Mauser 1914 pistol in .32 ACP. Its a nifty little pistol, feels solid and tight, and you can feel a sense of craftsmanship in it (they went so far as to engrave the last 4 digits of the serial number on any part large enough to put it on).

The problem is that when you pull the trigger, the striker isn't released. I spent an hour or so playing around with it, stripping it down and getting an idea of how the internals work, but I haven't really made any headway in making it functional. HERE is a picture showing the gun with the slide, barrel, and sideplate removed. Essentially what happens when you pull the trigger is a sear on the trigger pushes up against the brass linkage in the middle, which pulls down the sear against the striker, which is supposed to release the striker, firing off a round. When I pull the trigger, however, the sear on the trigger doesnt actuate the brass linkage enough. The sear on the striker doesnt release. The result is just a clicking sound, which you can repeat over and over again. If I manipulate the brass linkage myself, the striker releases just fine (and flies across the room!)

There are some scratches on the sideplate and internals which make me think that its possible the gun at one point was opened up by someone who didn't know what they were doing, who might have made some modifications. The manual specifically recommends against taking the sideplate off unless absolutely necessary.

Not sure if i have provided enough information to be useful (or used all the right terminology). If there is any other info needed, I'll try to post it. I dont currently have access to the gun though. I am considering buying a new trigger or brass linkage from numrich and giving that a try, though not sure if that would help. Ideas?

[Bob K]

Many moons ago (30-40 years), I owned its baby brother, in .25ACP. For the life of me, I don't recall any internal parts being brass. Perhaps it's a replacement? And worn?

[eocoolj]

Well, the trigger disconnect or "interceptor," which can be seen sitting nest to the gun to the upper left in the picture, is brass and is definitely original to the gun. It has the last 4 digits of the serial number on it, though i have edited the numbers out for posting. Maybe they switched from steel to brass at some point? Not sure why though.

[Fivetoes]

Looks to me like that brass linkage is a bit short for the trigger to catch it. Maybe it was worn and somebody thorght filing a new edge would make it new. Second thought, that just don't look like a good place to use brass.

[Jered]

umm...

Nice piece.

[DwightG]

I've never had the chance to get into one of these but I think I see how it works. Not sure since there are parts not shown so correct me if some of my assumptions are wrong.

Firstly, I don't think that part is brass (if were talking about the yellowish part with the semi-circular bump on the top) That would be a wear part and I've never seen those made of brass, especially on a German gun. Have you done a magnet test or are you basing it on the yellowish color? Steel that's been tempered at a low temperature so that it retains most of it's hardness can often (depending on the tempering temperature) be yellow, more commonly referred to as a "straw" color. Is that the case here? Magnet test it.

When the trigger pushes up on the front (toward the muzzle) of the sear in order to drop the rear of the sear to disengage from the striker, what does it pivot on? I'm guessing that the semi-circular bump on top bears against a feature on the underside of the slide and serves as the fulcrum to pivot against so that as the front (left in the picture) goes up, the back goes down. With the slide off as shown in the photo (and therefore without the presumed slide feature contacting the bump on the sear), if you pull the trigger does the sear pivot up it's full length as it pivots on the sear surface of the striker? As in the front (left) goes up and the right stays in the striker bent with the semi-circular bump also moving up less than the front (because it's closer to the pivot point)? Also, is the sear capable of moving longitudinally a short distance? Fore and aft just enough to engage or disengage from the sear on the trigger?

I'm thinking the sear (long yellow part with a bump) is driven by that hairclip shaped spring to it's right that appears to engage a hole in a bottom appendage of the sear unless that hole is actually in the frame. In any event I would suppose that there is some spring action that pushes the rear of the sear up and aft. When the striker is engaged with the sear, it's stronger spring overcomes this and pushes the sear forward a short distance to where it falls in the path of the "sear" on the trigger. If I'm wrong on this then the rest of my theory is all wet.

Looks to me like, when the slide is in battery and the feature I assume is on the slide is over the bump on the sear, pulling the trigger raises the front of the sear, the sear pivots on the bump, and the rear of the sear moves down out of engagement with striker, releasing it and firing the cartridge. Once the sear is out of engagement with the striker, the sear can move under the influence of the other spring both up at the back (presenting itself to catch the striker as it returns during recoil) and aft thereby coming off the "sear" on the trigger which would allow the front to go back down which would serve as the disconnector. When the striker is all the way rearward when the slide is in full recoil, the sear can pop up in front of the bent and hold it rearward as the slide returns to battery. The front of the sear would then bear against back face of the trigger "sear" (as opposed to on top of it as when the cycle was begun) which looks to be a spring loaded part carried in the trigger that pivots about the pin that can be seen about 3/4 of the way down the trigger. This essentially places the trigger in front of the sear rather than under it. When the trigger is released, the spring loaded trigger sear can drop below the front of the main sear and slip underneath it, ready for the next pull of the trigger. If the slide is not back in battery, the bump on the sear has nothing to bear against so the rear of the sear can't be pivoted out of engagement with the striker until the slide comes back into battery.

Let me know if any of this seems correct (a lot of assumin' goin' on heah). Gotta know how it works for sure before guessing what's wrong.

I love this stuff, if I'm all wet on the above, I get to learn something new. Win-win!

[Combat Controller]

Perhaps wear has caused the trigger to not fully engage the sear. try putting something thin (paper match) in between the trigger hook and the sear, if it engages then bob's your uncle. If not, go thicker. Perhpas you can remove a hair of metal off the back of the trigger stop and it will travel back further and engage the sear.

My guess is either the sear or trigger are worn just a hair and won't engage. Otherwise see if it is in upside down (you never know) or can be adjusted to engage again somehow.

[Combat Controller]

On second look, try the spring that engages the trigger. It may be too far forward and cause the trigger hook to miss the sear on engagement. The spring is the one on top and in front of the trigger.

[eocoolj]

alright, sorry for taking so long to get back to this. School has been busy, and given DwightG's long response, I wanted to have time to craft a decent response.

Firstly, I don't think that part is brass (if were talking about the yellowish part with the semi-circular bump on the top) That would be a wear part and I've never seen those made of brass, especially on a German gun.

I don't have access to the gun right now, however you may be right. I will magnet test it the next time i get the chance.

When the trigger pushes up on the front (toward the muzzle) of the sear in order to drop the rear of the sear to disengage from the striker, what does it pivot on? I'm guessing that the semi-circular bump on top bears against a feature on the underside of the slide and serves as the fulcrum to pivot against so that as the front (left in the picture) goes up, the back goes down. With the slide off as shown in the photo (and therefore without the presumed slide feature contacting the bump on the sear), if you pull the trigger does the sear pivot up it's full length as it pivots on the sear surface of the striker? As in the front (left) goes up and the right stays in the striker bent with the semi-circular bump also moving up less than the front (because it's closer to the pivot point)? Also, is the sear capable of moving longitudinally a short distance? Fore and aft just enough to engage or disengage from the sear on the trigger?

The semi circular bump does not pivot on the underside of the slide. the underside of that circular feature fits into a hole in the frame, as shown in this pic (sorry for the darkness). It does pivot about that point. The sear isnt really capable of moving aside from the way its intended too. The gun is pretty tight, though you can move some parts side to side with the sideplate off, i'm sure this disappears with the plate back on.

Looks to me like, when the slide is in battery and the feature I assume is on the slide is over the bump on the sear, pulling the trigger raises the front of the sear, the sear pivots on the bump, and the rear of the sear moves down out of engagement with striker, releasing it and firing the cartridge. Once the sear is out of engagement with the striker, the sear can move under the influence of the other spring both up at the back (presenting itself to catch the striker as it returns during recoil) and aft thereby coming off the "sear" on the trigger which would allow the front to go back down which would serve as the disconnector. When the striker is all the way rearward when the slide is in full recoil, the sear can pop up in front of the bent and hold it rearward as the slide returns to battery. The front of the sear would then bear against back face of the trigger "sear" (as opposed to on top of it as when the cycle was begun) which looks to be a spring loaded part carried in the trigger that pivots about the pin that can be seen about 3/4 of the way down the trigger. This essentially places the trigger in front of the sear rather than under it. When the trigger is released, the spring loaded trigger sear can drop below the front of the main sear and slip underneath it, ready for the next pull of the trigger. If the slide is not back in battery, the bump on the sear has nothing to bear against so the rear of the sear can't be pivoted out of engagement with the striker until the slide comes back into battery.

Most of this sounds pretty correct. The trigger disconnect is a seperate part though, which can be seen in its place in the picture picture i just added. As i think i mentioned above, if you pivot the gold-colored sear yourself, you can release the striker just fine. The problem i think is that the trigger isnt pivoting enough. A problem with the sear in the trigger? I dont know.

Anyways, thank Dwight for you thorough response, and sorry again for not responding sooner. I am going to respond to everyone else's posts shortly.

[eocoolj]

Perhaps wear has caused the trigger to not fully engage the sear. try putting something thin (paper match) in between the trigger hook and the sear, if it engages then bob's your uncle. If not, go thicker. Perhpas you can remove a hair of metal off the back of the trigger stop and it will travel back further and engage the sear.

My guess is either the sear or trigger are worn just a hair and won't engage. Otherwise see if it is in upside down (you never know) or can be adjusted to engage again somehow.

I did check to make sure all parts were installed properly. I also had the thought to trying to get the trigger sear to have a bit more lift, maybe by putting something inside the trigger against the spring loaded part? I dont know that there is a trigger stop?