Mauser rebarrel ideas

4

45flaco

New member
Hey guys. Got an old sporterized Spanish mauser.
Controlled round feed, so it doesn't feed hollowpoints or cast lead.
I have no interest in a rifle that only feeds FMJ.
Effectively, this means I own a single shot rifle in a mediocre and obsolete cartridge.
Was considering rebarreling it to something interesting, and since I paid 75 dollars, might as well have some fun.
It's gotta be limited to low pressure, and 3.4" length to eject a loaded round.
Any opinions on a fun cartridge for a single shot?
Probably a black powder big bore cartridge, since I don't think a small ring mauser is good for 458 win mag.
Maybe 50-90, if the bolt face is big enough to open up?
Or like 9,3x62, although that may be too much.

Opinions are appreciated.
 
Just found out, there's a 45 acp kit for small ring mausers. I'm not normally a fan of this stuff, but I might have to do it.
 
45flaco said:
Just found out, there's a 45 acp kit for small ring mausers. I'm not normally a fan of this stuff, but I might have to do it.
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That conversion sounds interesting. Do you have a link to the source?
 
Hey guys. Got an old sporterized Spanish mauser.
Click to expand...
Cool, which one??

Controlled round feed, so it doesn't feed hollowpoints or cast lead.
Click to expand...
Controlled round feed doesn't mean that. If YOUR rifle doesn't feed, its a problem with your rifle, not the controlled round feed idea.

Effectively, this means I own a single shot rifle in a mediocre and obsolete cartridge.
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Which "mediocre and obsolete" caliber is it in now??
7x57mm ? Spanish 7.62x51mm??
 
"Controlled round feed" simple means the cartridge feeds up under the extractor from the magazine.
It should not have all that much influence on what sort of bullet you can use.
Claw extractor controlled round feed rifles,including Mausers,are often the choice of professional hunters who may be facing dangerous game.

Rebarrel to whatever you want for whatever reason you want,but I suggest you base your decision on something that is true.

Skilled,experienced gunsmiths in the heyday of milsurp conversions could figure out how to make a Mauser work with a lot of different cartridges...especially if there was money to get it done. Nearly all of those guys are dead. You will have a hard time finding one.

You said "sporterized" Its hard saying what that entails. It might mean the extractor,or receiver rails ,or ramp,or follower,have been altered,"polished" ,or otherwise lost function.

Most military Mausers in the original cartridge will feed about any factory hunting load,including soft and hollow points.

What can happen,a replacement extractor may have too much tension or lack the few correct file strokes to allow smooth feeding of the cartridge.

If,for example,this is a 7x57 rifle, by far the easiest way to have a reliable feeding rifle (with a vatiety of bullets) is to stick with cartridges derived from the 7x57 case. You also don't have a 98,so pressures should be moderate.

The 6mm Rem is a necked down 7x57,but its loaded to higher pressures,
257 Roberts is a natural. Its a necked 7x57 factory loaded to moderate pressure. There is not a thing wrong (and a whole lot is right) with the 7x57.

It will(probably) be way easier to get that rifle to function beautifully with the cartridge case it was designed for,

If it has been converted to 7.62 NATO...there CAN be some troublesome feeding problems. The 7.62 NATO has a less tapered case . It does not stack in the mag box properly. It stacks tight at the shoulders while the case head end of the brass is loose and low.

The bolt face can pass over picking up the case head. Then the lower sharp edge of the bolt face digs into the side of the cartridge case. What follows is a jam,with a messed up piece of brass partly in the chamber and partly under the bolt.

I learned that the hard way.
 
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"...a rifle that only feeds FMJ..." Has something else wrong with it. Controlled round feeding doesn't determine the bullet type. You might have an extractor issue.
What's in chambered in now? The model of Mauser matters too.
Rhineland Arms are professional bubba's like Century Arms, et al. Taking a $300 plus, way plus, milsurp and turning it into a $50 big kid's toy.
 
Controlled round feed, so it doesn't feed hollowpoints or cast lead
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I'm not sure where you got that idea. If your rifle won't feed HP or cast, that's a separate issue.
Just found out, there's a 45 acp kit for small ring mausers.
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Been there, done that. It turns your rifle into an expensive 22.
Effectively, this means I own a single shot rifle in a mediocre and obsolete cartridge
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7X57 is far from obsolete. I have hunted with 7X57 all over the west over the past 40 years. Never had a complaint about it.

A 93 Mauser, on the other hand, is old and possibly obsolete and inadequate, depending on its condition. Parts are hard to find and often salvaged from old rifles that don't work any more, which means you are taking a chance on them being old and worn as well. I own 3 93 Mausers (DWM and Loewe, I do not own any Oviedo Mausers anymore). I do not consider 93 Mausers real hunting rifles any more, they are typically well worn and I don't put a lot of reliance on them. They are fine for a day out shooting bunnies, but not serious multi-day hunting rifles.

Was considering rebarreling it to something interesting
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7.62X39 (I own one of these), 444 Marlin (and one of these), 450 Bushmaster, 458 SOCOM, 30AR, 257 Roberts and so on. If you feel like you have the skill or a good gunsmith, you can add 30-30, 44 Rem Mag, 35 Remington, 44 or 357 AMP, 45 Win Mag. All of these are lower in pressure than the original 7X57. The old standby of 300 Savage is no longer a good option, factory ammo is very hard to find (if you reload, it is still a good choice).
 
This rifle is chambered in the original caliber, with original barrel. It's still a 7x57 factory chamber. Feeds surplus ammo somewhat reliably, but I have zero use for surplus ammo.
It does NOT feed soft points, hollow points, or anything with a round nose.

In this case, the sporterizing looks like it consisted of knocking the rear sight off with a hammer (literally), cutting the stock down hideously, installing crooked scope mounts, and then having a really nice polished blued finish done by a professional. As far as I can tell, internals weren't messed with.

The reason I distinguished CRF vs push feed is because of the nature of the jam.
If a push feed rifle doesn't feed from the mag, I can just drop one in the chamber and close the bolt over it. Some of my long range varmint guns were push feed single shots, because the High BC bullets didn't fit in the magazine. Can't do that with a CRF. If it doesn't feed from the magazine, it's a heavy walking stick.

I've never messed with something as complicated as a mauser, and honestly have no idea how to make it function, short of tearing it down and starting from scratch.

As far as the caliber conversion goes, I'm actually considering doing a 510 Whisper, and integrally suppressed barrel. Main reason being that I've already made the dies before, and can probably find my sizer reamer if I decide to go that route.
Can make a detachable single stack mag and matching bottom metal with minimal effort.
Then it's just bolt face/extractor modification and barrel work. Last 510 whisper we built was spooky quiet, even unsuppressed.
With a ported 10" barrel and full length integral suppressor, it should be nearly inaudible from the next room over.
 
Another reason I'm mildly annoyed with the mauser is that I just got the 375 H&H Mosin to feed from the magazine, with very minimal effort.
The mosin was NOT originally chambered in 375 H&H, but it works fine.
The mauser WAS originally chambered in 7x57, and I'm lucky if it feeds the surplus ammo that was designed for it.

At this point, I'm done with 7x57, unless I build a mosin or CETME chambered for it.
 
Come to think of it, I'm wondering if there's enough metal on the mauser barrel to turn the tenon threads off, and make a Cetme C in 7x57. Nothing wrong with the cartridge, other than the rifle it was designed for, and being kinda boring. Being in a semiauto would make it significantly more fun.
 
I did one of the Spanish Mauser 45 acp conversions. Turned out decent, hed to work on the receiver to get it to feed constantly. But it works pretty well, I have hand loaded up some rounds to super levels and it's a fun no recoil rifle. I also did one of the 7.62x39 conversions as well. Has a bull barrel, works pretty well. I added a mag spacer in it from Numrich and a no drill scope mount. Figure once I get a good load worked up I'll use it one a doe tag one year. Even though I had to chop up a couple of rifles, it was no loss they were shot out Samco ones from years ago.
 
It is entirely possible to make a Mauser that will allow you to put a round in the chamber and close the bolt on it, without damage.

Most military Mausers were not made that way, Many have been converted to allow it, but don't expect it.

The 1903 Springfield is essentially a CRF Mauser system however, it was designed from the beginning to take single rounds hand fed into the chamber.

IF you're rifle won't feed anything but 7mm Mauser military ammo, I suggest you have it looked at by someone who understands the Mauser to determine why it isn't working right.
 
If the bolt closes over a round dropped into the chamber, someone has messed with the extractor. You can buy a new small ring Mauser extractor and fit it. As I said earlier, I currently own 3 1893 Mausers (none in the original chambering) and have never had to change out the extractor, but I did have to replace an extractor years ago on a 93 I built. I bought a new extractor for a 96 and installed that.
 
I wouldn't recommend a .45 Auto (or similar) conversion.
#1 problem: The cartridge is about the same length as the distance from the feed ramp to the chamber; shorter than that distance in some instances. It is very difficult to get reliable feeding with an unsupported cartridge that has to be guided only by the bolt face and extractor. (This is why bolt guns designed for short cartridges use rear locking lugs.) The feeding issues are only made worse in well worn surplus rifles.


Rhineland kits, in particular:
I have one. I assembled a bunch of ratty, nasty, otherwise unusable 1893 and Spanish 1916 parts into most of a rifle, and added a Rhineland kit to finish it off.
Before I bought the kit, I read up on them quite a bit. I have also had lengthy discussions with two other owners of rifles built/assembled with Rhineland .45 Auto kits. Our experiences are roughly the same, even though the other guys started with pretty decent rifles.

Hokey kit design. Lots of fitting. Lots of modification. Lots of time and effort.
For something that's just a toy - and usually an unreliable one.
The Rhineland kits, in particular, are billed as "one size fits all". But they're actually far from universal.

My rifle was extremely cheap, too. The parts were basically free. The Rhineland kit was on sale at the time. The magazines were donated. And all dummies and ammunition used for setting it up and initial test firing were given to me.
And it still doesn't qualify as a 'good' rifle. It's a novelty. (Though much more fun when suppressed.)

If you want a .45 Auto bolt action, start with a rear-locking design (like an SMLE or No-series Lee Enfield). If you just want something fun for an old Mauser, go to a longer cartridge and something that doesn't use 1911 magazines. Something that suppresses well is even better.

If it were me, I'd be looking at .458 SOCOM.
But I can understand the .510 Whisper appeal.
 
For myself,I'd stick with he 7x57 and make it work.

But the man who owns the rifle would prefer something else.

OK.

Would a 35 Remington do?
 
"...It does NOT feed..." Have a look at the follower. And maybe the feed ramp.
The 7 x 57 was used on elephants by Walter D.M. Bell. 1,011 of 'em from 1902 to about 1918ish.
 
I gotta agree with T.O. on this one. Check your feed ramp, and follower.

Don't forget the neglected 284 Win.
Pressures are close to 257 Roberts (56,000 psi), and uses the standard bolt face.
The intermediate length Mauser actions are perfect for it!
 
I gotta be honest, I have no idea what I'm looking at, as far as follower and feed ramp.
If I had to guess, I'd say it looks like the mag well is too wide. The rounds on the right side go too far left, the ones on the left go too far right. Not really sure how to fix that. I'm not particularly used to working with feed ramps other than 1911.
I can try to post some pictures later of exactly what it's doing.
I'm not taking this rifle to a gunsmith, it's just not worth it to me. I'd rather build something retarded, and maybe have some fun.

@HiBC, I had considered 35 remington, but I have a 358 winchester build already started for another receiver, and they're similar enough not to need both, in addition to the fact that 358 winchester brass can be formed from 308.
 
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