1. Probably the best Mauser action widely and cheaply available for your experimental purposes are the Czech VZ24 actions that are on the market in abundant supply. These are actions of excellent quality.
2. These military Mausers are all made for cartidges of the length and width of the German 8mm and 7mm Mauser military cartidges. You actulaly have do a little work to make them fit the longer American 30/06 properly (3.340" long). These German cartidges all had a basal diameter of .473" and an overall length of up to 3.250". There are lots and lots of cartidges that fit these parameters and will fit in these Mauser actions rather easily. You just need to get a reloading manual that shows cartridge diagrams of all the common cartridges.
3. The most powerful cartidges that can be made to work nicely in these military (Standard) Mauser action are the series of American short magnum cartridges: 7mm Remington Magnum, 300 Winchester Magnum, 338 Winchester Magnum and 458 Winchester Magnum. These have a basal diameter of .532" and the bolt face must be enlarged accordingly (openned up). Because they are fatter, you will only get perhaps 3 in the regular military magazine and you will no doubt have to reconfigure the rails and other feed surfaces to get them to feed properly. These Short Magnums have lengths around 3.290" maximum and can be made to work well in the standard military action. If you want to get 5 of these into the magazine, you will have to buy special "bottom metal" (new magazine) and this costs $300+ "in the white". All this is not as cheap or easy if you have little experience.
4. Long cartridges such as the 375 H&H (3.600" long) or 416 Rigby or cartridges like the Weatherby Magnums are too long to fit in the standard military Mauser action. If you want a Mauser in these big long chamberings, you have to come up with a "Magnum" length Masuer action. These are currently available new "in the white" for prices going from $3,200 to $6,200: very, very pricey.
5. Whether you go for short or long Magnums, if you try to get 5 rounds of these in a Masuer magazine, you inevitably wind up with a rifle that looks like it is pregnant. Nobody has ever been able to solve this admitedly esthetic probelem. So if you go for one of these big cartridges, think long and hard about how many rounds you really need in the magazine for the purpose at hand.
[Edited by Herodotus on 12-19-2000 at 01:24 PM]
