Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing How much is too much when polishing a mauser cocking cam?

Rifle in question is recently built on an unused early 1950's commercial FN action. The internet is full of cautions of "Don't go through the thin surface hardening or your'll ruin the bolt." Realistically, how much is too much? Would working by hand with oiled 600 grit paper be too much? Working the surfaces against each other with 800 grit compound? Seems you would really need to go to town on it before you "ruin" it?

The good news is, that if you go too far, it's easy to reharden the cocking cam. What I see all too often is people fugging up the helix and ending up making it harder to cock instead of easier.

Why the polishing? It won't make it function any better. I understand that tweakers must tweak. Be strong this time.

How does someone mess that up?

Because it opens like a farm gate. Even my turkish mauser opens smoothe and easy.

Rather than risk ruining it, I would get a different bolt body. I realize you would not do that on a matching number gun. You could try a some very fine valve lapping compound , lather it up, and work it 5 maybe ten cycles tops and call it good. That shouldnt remove the hardened surface. If you have already gone too far you will have to reharden.

Another big mistake is trying to get the locking lugs evened up. That is another easy way to ruin one as it is very difficult to reharden the lug seats. Strip the bolt, lather the lugs with very fine valve lapping compound, slip the bolt in, put a cleaning rod down the bore, put pressure on the cleaning rod against the wall and work the bolt 4-5 times and call it good.

All too easily.