Working the Colt Sauer Bolt-Action Rifle

With only about 15,000 produced, the Colt Sauer rifle (Sauer Model 90) manufactured by J. P. Sauer & Sohn and imported from Germany under the Colt name from 1974 to 1985, rarely comes into the shop. But when one does, it’s a real treat. The fine finish, the supersmooth action, and the unique nonrotating rear-bolt-locking design speak to the superb quality of this firearm. In the (literally translated) words of Sauer-Waffen: "Only the few products of our time reach the status of a classical author.

Singular function, unmistakable design, and the nimbus of imperishableness are the attributes which distinguish such milestones of our work. The Series-90 have themselves over years their weapon history secured. And who held it once in hands Top of page: The finely crafted Sauer Rifle is a work to behold. Despite the complicated appearance, with a few simple tips and cautions, it’s relatively easy to dismantle. and chamber let which slide forward and in the back, it knows why.

Okay, so a little bit is lost in the translation from German, but you only have to hold and shoulder this rifle to understand what Waffen was saying. The rifle shown here came into my shop to be completely refinished, which, of course, required complete disassembly. Searching the literature, both printed and on the web, I could find nothing to guide me, so I chose to take a slow, deliberate, and well-documented approach to taking it down.

I was able to find a poor-quality parts diagram on the Numrich Gun Parts web site, which still helped a great deal, giving a fairly clear notion of how things were supposed to go together. It, unfortunately, seems to be the exploded diagram of the Colt Sauer in existence. So, with the fuzzy schematic and a cup of hot coffee in hand, I tackled what turned out to be

Rotating the bolt body relative to the boltlocking head allows the bolt body to be removed, thus exposing the firing pin and firing-pin spring. a pretty straightforward disassembly process’with a couple of exceptions. What follows here is based on the notes I recorded through that process. Field Stripping As always, the first step is to ensure that the firearm is not loaded. With the safety (#42) "on," depress the magazine release (#60) in front of the trigger guard (#56) and remove the magazine (#64).

With the safety still on, depress the safety-release button which protrudes from the upper surface of the bolt handle. This allows the bolt to be opened while the safety is still on’a practice that should also be used when unloading the firearm. Once the bolt has been pulled back, visually inspect the chamber to make certain it is empty.

Having done that, move the bolt forward far enough to clear the safety slide, move the safety to the "off" position, depress the trigger, and slide the bolt out the rear of the receiver. Set the bolt aside and we’ll begin the disassembly of the rest of the firearm.

Using an appropriately sized screwdriver, remove the front and rear stock/receiver screws (#29), and then lift the barrel and receiver up out of the stock. (You might have to wiggle things a bit since it’s a tight fit.) With the barrel removed, it’s a simple task to push the trigger-guard assembly out of the underside of the stock. At this point, if a thorough cleaning is your goal, you’ve gone far enough; everything that would normally require cleaning is exposed.

Detail Disassembly To continue a more complete takedown, using an appropriately sized roll pin punch and being careful to clear the safety slide (#42) and the safety-slide spring (#41), drift out the retaining pin (#46). This pin is tiny, so be careful to avoid sending it across the shop. Now remove the slide and Arrows indicate the location of the trigger group roll pins. The forward pin should be removed first. Once it’s understood, however, removal is simple. slide spring.

Note the small tab on one end of the slide spring. On reassembly, that tab fits into the slot milled into the underside surface of the tang. The trigger group is retained by two roll pins (#37) which penetrate the rear of the receiver. Using a rollpin punch, drift out the rear pin first. The trigger spring (#45) resides above this pin and places the whole trigger group (#38) under tension.

As a result, while you’re withdrawing the punch, you’ll want to apply a slight downward pressure on the trigger group until the punch is removed and then ease off to allow the trigger group to rotate up on its own. Drifting out the front pin will free

1 Extractor 2 Extractor Pin 3 Extractor Spring 4 Ejector 5 Ejector Spring 6 Bolt Body 7 Bolt Body Lock Pin 8 Bolt Body Lock 9 Bolt Body Lock Spring 10 Lug Pin 11 Closing Cam Ring 12 Spring Ring 13 Bolt Locking Head 14 Pressure Pin the entire trigger group, allowing it to be lifted straight up and out of the receiver. Pay attention to the orientation of the bolt stop (#34) and the spring (#35) which penetrates the side of the receiver. The stop can slide off the spring if you’re not careful.

Fur- 15 Lock 16 Ejector Pin 17 Firing Pin Assembly 18 Firing Pin Ring 19 Firing Pin 20 Cocking Piece 21 Firing Pin Key 22 Mainspring 23 Bolt Cap Pin 24 Headspacer Ring 25 Indicator Spring 26 Indicator Snap Ring 27 Indicator 28 Receiver 29 Receiver Lock Screw 30 Thread Screw 31 Safety Screw ther disassembly of the trigger group is not advised.

The only way to describe the bolt of this rifle is to call it "a precision machine." Rotation of the bolt handle causes three locking lugs (cams) at the rear of the bolt body to pivot into 32 Bolt Lock Pin 33 Receiver Lock Pin 34 Bolt Catch 35 Bolt Catch Spring 36 Bolt Catch Pin 37 Trigger Mech.

Pin 38 Trigger Assembly 39 Bolt Stop Link Pin Snap Ring 40 Safety Connector 41 Safety Slide Spring 42 Safety Slide 43 Bolt Stop Link Pin 44 Safety Link 45 Safety Link Spring 46 Safety Slide Pin 47 Bolt Stop Link 48 Front Sight 49 Front Sight Base 50 Barrel Colt Sauer Bolt-Action Rifle 51 Rear Sight 52 Rear Sight Base 53 Rear Sight Screw 54 Stock 55 Swivel Assembly 56 Trigger Guard 57 Trigger Guard Screw, Front 58 Magazine Ejector Screw 59 Magazine Ejector Spring 60 Magazine Latch 61 Magazine Latch Spring 62 Magazine Latch Pin 63 Trigger Guard Screw, Rear 64 Magazine recesses cut into the inside of the receiver, thus locking the bolt into position.

The bolt body (#6) itself does not turn when loading or unloading the chamber. Before starting disassembly of the bolt, grasp the cocking piece (#20) in a vise, rotate the

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The round toothpick shown inserted into the hole in the cap pin is used to help "wiggle" the pin from its recess while slightly depressing the bolt cap itself. The lock is shown released and can be withdrawn to the right. bolt-locking head (#13), and allow the firing pin to move to its forward-most position. To disassemble the bolt, depress the bolt-body lock (#8), rotate the bolt body (#6), and the locking lugs will pivot into position.

Rotate the bolt body a little more and it can be separated from the bolt-locking head (#13) revealing the firing pin and firing-pin spring. Note the position of the closing-cam ring (#11) and the spring ring (#12) to be certain they get reassembled in the proper sequence. Now comes the tricky part. The lock (#15), which also forms a cap closing the rear of the bolt, is retained by a short and fat (approximately .3 inch in diameter) bolt-cap pin (#23).

The pin penetrates the rear side of the bolt-locking head (#13) through a small-diameter hole in its center and is retained by friction. To remove the pin, grasp the bolt-locking head in the hand so that the "cap" of the lock can be depressed with the thumb. Repeated depression and release of the cap will cause the bolt-cap pin to start working out. Use patience here. I assume there was a tool designed to be inserted into the small hole to effect pin removal, but this "working-it-out" process will work just fine.

Around toothpick is just the right diameter and can help as you work the pin out. (I would caution you, however, not to turn, drive, or otherwise force this pin out. To do so could cause severe damage to the pin and to the lock.) As the pin begins to work its way out, grasp the exposed edges with your fingernails and while still keeping pressure on the cap, remove the pin. The lock is under spring pressure so keep your thumb on it while extracting the pin.

Once the pin is clear, ease the pressure off and the lock will back out exposing the mainspring. These parts can then be removed together. Unless you are replacing broken parts (firing pin, firing-pin spring, extractor, etc.), further disassembly is not required. If broken parts are to be replaced, their removal and replacement is quite straightforward. The Numrich Gun Parts catalog shows a complete list of parts, but most were listed as "out of stock" at the time of this writing.

Colt would be a contact of last resort, since they will not provide parts or guidance on repair to either gun owners or gunsmiths. For "liability" reasons, Colt requires that the unaltered firearm be returned to them for any necessary repair or parts replacement. Reassembly Reassembly of the Colt Sauer simply proceeds in reverse order of the disassembly’with a few cautions. First, ensure the correct positioning of the closing-cam ring and the spring ring when reassembling the bolt.

Also note that the tabs on the exposed ends of the three cams (locking lugs) must be "captured" by the closing-cam ring. When reinstalling the trigger group, make sure that the bolt stop slides into its hole and that the spring is properly oriented. Line up the holes in the trigger group with their respective pin holes in the receiver. Insert a punch into the front hole, making sure it clears the notch in the bolt catch, and then drift in the roll pin from the opposite side.

With the front of the trigger group secure, push down on the rear of the group to depress the trigger spring and align the holes. Insert a punch to hold it all together and drift in the roll pin. Once you replace the safety slide, safety-slide spring, and safety-slide pin, you can replace the trigger guard and barreled action into the stock. Then it’s ready to receive the bolt. Make sure to rotate the cocking piece into its cocked position before reinserting the bolt.

Other than these few potential snags, the rest of the reassembly process should go smoothly and easily. Finally, I have to offer a special thanks to Kim Stuut, whose rifle is featured here, and to Donn Hilker for taking the photographs appearing in this article. I