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I recently acquired a Mauser K98 and the safety was stuck in the fire position. This appears to be a common problem with rebuilt/refurbished rifles. From my research online, the usual fix for this problem appears to involving 'shaving' a portion of the safety with a Dremel tool so that it can engage with the cocking piece (example video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hiv4wX1K4V4). However, no matter how much (or how little) I shaved the safety, the problem still persisted. Consequently, I ordered another safety and, voila, the problem was solved (well, the safety takes some effort to engage, but at least it works!).
I compared the two safeties afterwards to see what the issue was, and why this shaving fix did not help. In the attached diagram (also linked here at Imgur: https://imgur.com/a/pFe03pC), the left-hand quadrant shows my original safety, the right-hand quadrant shows the 'new' safety, and the bottom quadrant shows what the shaving fix does. In my case, the extra .25mm thickness prevented the sloping surface of the rotating safety lever/flag from edging in/under the spring-loaded cylinder of the bolt. Shaving the safety more would not help because the angle would become too dull.
I compared the two safeties afterwards to see what the issue was, and why this shaving fix did not help. In the attached diagram (also linked here at Imgur: https://imgur.com/a/pFe03pC), the left-hand quadrant shows my original safety, the right-hand quadrant shows the 'new' safety, and the bottom quadrant shows what the shaving fix does. In my case, the extra .25mm thickness prevented the sloping surface of the rotating safety lever/flag from edging in/under the spring-loaded cylinder of the bolt. Shaving the safety more would not help because the angle would become too dull.
