Mausers anyone?

C

cheapshot

New member
I was perusing around a local shop and found a couple old Mausers in 8mm. I believe it may be a turkish mauser. Does anyone have any expertise with mausers and can share their viewpoints on whether a Turkish mauser reciever is as good as a Swedish one or not? Does it cost a lot to re-chamber and/or rebarrel one? The barrel is full of cosmoline, so I have no idea on it's condition.
I would like to build one, and the only thing I would probably use from this gun would be the reciever/bolt and maybe the trigger.
The price is about $90, so should I hold out for a Swedish reciever or go with the Turkish one?
 
Turk Mausers are an odd bunch. There are tons of variations, as many Turk Mausers were actually old GEW.98 and VZ actions that were rebarreled and fitted with different stocks and such.

The Swede Mauser is, in my opinion, one of the best-quality Mausers on the market today.
 
thanks guys

thanks a lot for the link Eric. Very informative.
I think I'm going to wait for a swede in 6.5 at a gun show. The general concensus is that the Swede can't be beat, (except in Eastwood movies ;-) ). Besides, if I wait to buy one at a gun show, I'll get to parade past the Million Mental Midgets with a new rifle. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!
 
There's a world of difference between the Swede and Turk Mausers, but if you've checked out the Tuco Mauser forums, you know that already. But those forums aren't as easy as this one, so I'll offer some adive here.

If you have any interest in a project gun, go ahead and get yourself a Mauser or four. It's a lot of fun to clean 'em up and shoot them. Ammo's cheap as can be, but corrosive, so you have to clean the barrel shortly after shooting.

$90 is too much for a Turk unless you've found a really good one. You can get them for under $50 if you look around at places like Big 5 sporting goods. Generally what you will find will be in "Good" condition, which isn't as good as it sounds, but what can you expect for $50? Don't expect a decent bore, and expect to spend a few hours cleaning the stock and innnards. If you're going to try that out, let me know and I'll offer a couple of tips...

As for rebarreling, I wouldn't bother. You can get one of the unused Yugo Mausers with a virgin barrel for less than $200 without even trying. And they'll come with all the accessories (sling, magazine pouch, cleaning kit, bayonet), to boot. The M-48 Yugo has a bent bolt handle, too, which many people prefer to the straight handle of the other models.
 
Glad to hear you're going with the Swede. I've got a 94 and I love it to death. I also have one of the Yugo mausers that Bruegger mentioned, and I keep thinking I have to shoot it more (I've had it for over a year now and I've only shot it two or three times). I didn't really want a nasty pitted Turk when I could get a perfect Yugo bore for so little. (Of course, to be sure to keep the Yugo nice, I've avoided corrosive ammo even tho it's cheaper than black dirt.) I totally stripped the Yugo this weekend to start cleaning off the over-tung-oiled oak stock - it ought to be gorgeous when I get it looking like it should. Then I'll have to get it out on the range more often.

Isn't surplus great?!
 
Erich -- what are you refinishing with? I've used Tru-Oil and I'm generally pleased with it, but I'm willing to try something new on my Yugo project (just got a M-24/47 with nice wood) if there's something better. What did you use for stripping the wood down? I've used scrubbing bubbles, which is dirt cheap, super-easy and does a great job of getting the crud and cosmoline off. Also doesn't give the wood any funky discoloration like oven cleaner reportedly does...
 
Hi Bruegger. I'm going to be putting tung oil back on it (but a very light coat) unless I actually get around to buying more linseed. Do you think Tru-Oil maintains the military feel? If so I might check it out.

To take the "shellac" off I'm using ammonia, water and elbow grease.

Scrubbing bubbles? Is that the Dow bathroom cleaner? How does it compare to straight ammonia in terms of minimizing my effort? (I HATE oven cleaner!)
 
Yes, scrubbing bubbles is the Dow bathroom cleaner. There are also store brand copies of it that are cheaper and have the same ingredients (just check the labels). I haven't tried ammonia, so I don't know how well that works, but the scrubbing bubbles work well and they're as easy as can be. I just stand the stock up in the bathtub and spray the stuff on liberally and let it work. Then come back once or twice and spray it on again when most of it's dripped down the drain. Then rinse and let dry. After three or so treatments, there's nothing left to worry about. And no scrubbing required -- the bubbles do the scrubbing for you.

Tru Oil is just B.L.O. with a couple other things thrown in. It doesn't add much color, but there is a faint amber tint to it. Seems to work fine for me, though if I'm not really careful I end up with drip marks that require sanding. It's sticky and takes a while to cure (seems like each coat requires longer than the last), but I imagine the tung oil is the same.

I'm planning on rebluing with one of those brush-on cold bluing concoctions. We'll see how that goes.
 
Cool! I'll try the scrubbing bubbles! That sounds tons better than the ammonia method.

Hey, on the cold blue stuff - be EXTREMELY careful not to get any on you. It numbs your fingertips immediately. I know people who've permanently lost sensation from using it. Other than that, it's pretty neat stuff (tho not the prettiest blue you'll ever see).
 
If you can find one in decent shape, old mausers are great fun for the money. 8mm is comparable in power to .30-06. 3000fps with a 150gr bullet is respectable.
 
My main concern would be the high cost of 6.5mm Mauser ammo...

The few places I have checked were pretty extreme on it, like .50 a shot...
 
6.5X55mm balistics

After doing about a minutes worth of research, I'm starting to wonder about the 6.5's long range ability. I briefly looked at a chart that showed the 6.5 dropping a full 72 inches at 500 yds (I wasn't paying attention to bullet weight though). Other loads like the .308, 30-06 etc., only dropped about 48 inches. Now I'm thinking I should find one in 8mm. Does anyone know if there is an 8mm Swedish mauser? A friend of mine has an ar-15 that can routinely hit a steel target at 500 yds with a peep sight, and I would truly like to show him up with an older rifle.
 
Thanks Martowski, I guess I'm just gonna have to finally start reloading (been meaning to anyway). I'll be happy, I think, with the 6.5 chambering. But first, I have to find a really nice Swede and get intimate with it.
 
cheapshot -- as was pointed out by Martowski, the Swedes were only chambered in 6.5mm Swede. It is a "small ring" pre-'98 Mauser as distinguished from the large ring Mausers, including the the more common 8mm models (there are pre-1898 8mm models chambered for an obsolete low pressure cartridge as well, but this isn't what you find at Big 5).

The 6.5 round is a flat-shooting sunofagun as you can see from the ballistic tables **for the realistic ranges at which you're gonna shoot a rifle that only has iron sights.** Over very long range, all other things being equal, a heavier bullet will maintain velocity better than a lighter bullet. For this reason, a 200 gr 8mm bullet *loaded to modern pressures* will have a flatter long-range trajectory than a lighter 8mm or any 6.5mm bullet. You can find surplus 8mm Mauser ammo with 198gr bullets as well as the 150gr.

However, I think you'd be hard-pressed to effectively engage man-sized targets at 500 yards with the open sights on a Mauser. Not saying it can't be done, just saying it's not easy. Mauser open sights have a small and shallow rear sight "V" and a tapered front sight post, which makes precise aiming more of a challenge IMHO.

You CAN find plenty of 8mm Mausers in decent shape for cheap, so I wouldn't discount that route completely. Swedes aren't the only good Mausers by a long shot.
 
Turkish Mausers are small-ring actions (smaller diameter hole in the front where the barrel screws in) with big-ring parts. For a shooter, they're not bad at all, but I'd go with a Czech VZ-24 from Wholesale (add in Shotgun News) for $50 in 'good' condition. The Czech rifles are very good quality. Numerich Arms (www.gunpartscorp.com) has a 24" .308 sporter barrel for $84 if you want a more modern caliber. Remember, if you get into building a project rifle, if you want to mount a scope over the action, that straight bolt handle has got to go.

I have a Columbian Army surplus FN Mauser 98K in .30-06 that I'm very happy with. I got it from Springfield Sporters, reconditioned and reparkerized for $130 + $10 s/h dealer price. I had a gunsmith remove the rear sight band and drill & tap the barrel for a Williams #94A scope mount (meant for the T/C Contender). I have a Leupold 2.5x28mm IER scope set up in 'scout' configuration. Sweet shooter, and I can still use stripper clips. ;^)
 
lotta info from y'all

You are all a much appreciated wealth of information. Actually everyone on this post has. By the time a gun show comes around I should be armed with enough information to make a sound decision.
Bruegger, I saw a picture of a Mauser with a really nice peep sight on it, don't know if it's period correct or not, but it looked very natural like that. I was thinking along something like that. Not to brag, but I do pretty well with peeps on a decent rifle (prone or bench). I don't have any formal military training except that I was an army brat and got to spend a lot of time at an on post range. I was taught the basics of shooting; positioning, cheek weld, breath control, squeeze etc. and safety of course. I never delved into the world of ballistics and the various loads etc. Now I'm interested and I think learning it on a mauser would be cool in a nostalgic kinda way (kinda like blowin' away a '99 z28 with an old maverick with a fuel injected 427 under the hood :D).
Ought Six's idea of the .308 sporter is interesting though.
Decisions, decisions...damn I hate being a Libra sometimes!
Nice collection Atticus, we have very similar tastes, but you just have to get at least one revolver (should be the law IMHO).
 
Cheapshot. I'm not sure what tables you were using but I've seen no such thing with the few M96 Swede Mausers I have seen. From the shorter barreled carbine(as seen in the picture linked above), the M38 I think.., the drop is about that. From the full sized M96 though, I have seen guys clean house in military issue bolt gun competitions where they are only allowed to use issued military bolt guns with all original parts, or replacement parts from originals. I'm talking out as far as 1000 yards. These guns from what I have witnessed even put the Springfield '03A3 to shame. Now like I said I haven't seen a ton of these, but the few I have were pretty damn impressive.

As for going with 8mm Mauser, you'd only be getting a LOT worse dropoffs. 8mm Mauser commercial ammo only goes about 2300fps at most. Military surplus stuff is really filled up with power so of course the velocity is better on those, but even so, they rarely will be found exceeding 2800fps. Swede Mauser, on the other hand, with military level loads, gets about 3200fps from what I have been told(I can't confirm that for certain though...). Civilian 6.5, when you can find it, still goes 2900-3000 fps which makes for an awefully nice trajectory, and if you get low drag silvertip stuff it's even better.

The cost of ammo is the only thing that makes me hesitant to get one...
 
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