Project Mauser

And I got the barrel off. Confirmed that the barrel is a small-shank. I haven't got a gauge to determine if it's 12 tpi or 11.5 (as many Turkish Mauser's apparently are), but I figured to go ahead and chase the threads anyway with a tap for a small ring Mauser.

The receiver bottom is still flat, so it doesn't look like it's "sprung."

Barrel, however, is pretty thoroughly ruined. Still, since I planned to pitch it anyway, that's not a great loss.

Next up is selecting a barrel.

What I have in mind is one from ER Shaw's barrel builder is this:
Ok, my barrel will be a Mauser-95 Standard bolt face only with a number 3 contour and .308 Win caliber barrel. I chose the 4140 steel in the white metal type and finish, on a 24 inch barrel with no fluting. My barrel will have a 1 to 10 inch rifling twist rate.
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- Mauser 95 for the small shank barrel. The Turkish Mauser has a large ring on the outside, but its internal diameter is that of the small ring Mausers.

- The #3 contour they call a "varmint" profile and tapers down to 0.700" at the muzzle (well, the profile shows for a 26" length so maybe it's a hair larger at the 24" length). Weight is 4 lb 3 oz.

Lengths range from 16 to 26 inches. I picked 24 since that seems to be the most common that I've seen in gun stores.

- The barrel could be had in 1 to 12 or 1 to 10 inch rifling. I don't know which would be better for my purposes.

Thoughts?
 
Dburk: Given a choice I'd go with the 10" twist, but either one would work. Glad that your action is ok and not twisted.
I have a Turk that I built for myself about 25 or 30 years ago. I've fit two barrels for it, the orginal 8mm and a 308 Win.
 
You could file off the stripper clip hump before you take it. That makes longer, cleaner looking bridge for the rear base.
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That it does.
bolt-1.jpg
 
Now,I am certainly not saying you cannot put a .308 in a Mauser.You can.

Here is an issue you may come up against.There is less case taper in a .308.The dia at the shoulder is greater than a mauser case.

In the mag box,the cases will find ther ideal triangular stack forward,at the shoulders,while back at the rim,the cases are loose ,and have not come up to the rail.

This can lead to the bolt failing to pick up a round from the mag,or dragging a cartridge forward.

You may have a bit of work to make it feed right.

If you want something unique,there is an old cartridge called the .30 Dunlap.

All you do is short chamber with a 30-06 reamer,and then grind off the bottom of 30-06 dies.to get a 57 mm length version of an 06 and you get a tight chamber.

7x57 and 6.5x55 might be great choices,too
 
In other forums I received advice to go with the longer barrel (26") and stay with the 1 in 10" twist.

So we're looking at the following then:

Ok, my barrel will be a Mauser-95 Standard bolt face only with a number 3.5 contour and .308 Win caliber barrel. I chose the 4140 steel in the white metal type and finish, on a 26 inch barrel with no fluting. My barrel will have a 1 to 10 inch rifling twist rate.
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Contour "3.5" is nominally:

26" long. 1.25" dia for the first 3". Straight taper from there to the muzzle where it's 0.875". Weight is 6 lb 12 oz.

I presume the first inch or so (I haven't measured the length of the threaded portion on the old barrel) will be turned down to 0.960 and threaded to fit a small ring Mauser.

The next question is fluting: Is having the barrel fluted (for cooling and, I suppose, to save some weight) worthwhile? A friend of mine, Michael Z. Williamson, wrote an article Six guns for every home. I'm planning this one for category 2: a good bolt-action rifle for long range sniping. Planned uses are medium-long range target shooting (longest range I know of nearby goes up to 700 yards but I'd certainly like the rifle to be capable of better if I have to.), and possibly long range hunting.
 
Dburk: Fluting is a personal choice type thing, and some like it for the cool (:cool:)factor. It does cut some weight and it does cool down slightly faster, but not enough to really make a difference. A sporter weight barrel can't be fluted very deep before you have safety issues.
 
The barrel he's talking about can be fluted pretty deep but it's purely cosmetic. Does look good tho. This is about the same dimensions as the one he's talking about. Stainless Steel with an eight groove flute.

100_0264.jpg

100_0263.jpg
 
Hawg: Your right about the barrel, I didn't catch that in D's last post. I was still thinking about the #3 sporter weight that he mentioned earlier.


Dburk: Keep us posted as to how its turning out. (maybe some pictures?)
 
Feeding problem

I got some snap caps/dummy rounds in .308 Winchester to try in the action of the Project Mauser. I have encountered a problem with one particular round (as defined by its position in the magazine) feeding poorly.

When I load 5 rounds into the magazine, the 2nd round (first one on the left) hangs up on the side of the feed ramp:

feedingissue.jpg


I can "force" it by shoving the bolt handle hard. All the other rounds, including the 4th round (other one on the left) feed fine.

Suggestions? I can take and provide more pics if that would help.
 
Dburk: It looks like you need to open the feed rail on the left side a little. Look at where the left side is pushing the cartridge to the right and hitting the area that your showing. The spring pressure is lighter on the next round on the left and allows that cartridge base to move slightly to the right. That allows it to feed easier. It won't take much off the rail to give the clearence you need. Go slow and polish it all up when your done.
 
Minor update:

Got the replacement bolt stop assembly (bolt stop, spring, ejector, and screw) today. I'll install it when I get home this evening.

I'll try that with the feed rail. However, it is only with great trepidation that I remove metal from the receiver. It's a lot easier to take off than to put back. ;)
 
Turkish Mauser

Sir;
Do not, do not, try to "straighten" that reciever - get another Turk Mauser - they are fine rifles to convert. The former advice is fine about removing the barrel, particularly by Nick.
No, no Turk action has 11 1/2 threads! They are 12 pitch. Brownells promulgated that idea until I straightened them out and they admitted they were in error but wouldn't admit it on the web!
The barrels, (VERY FEW) had a machining error and some (few) were 11 1/2 pitch but the action has always been .980X12! This is done by the machinest having his quick change box one hole off!
I've built 416 Taylors and 9.3s on that action and have always found them good!
You need a good barrel vise and a good action wrench and then that is easy (I've found some on the Turk 38 you could unscrew by hand ) - others come loose like a 22 short being fired!
Turn off the dust cover flange (not threaded and its not a (recessed barrel seat as one expert has claimed) and your action will be VZ24 length.
Check the lug seats for set-back and general condition - I've not found a Turk 38 to be soft inside where it is carburized.
Let me repeat, don't straighten that action!
Harry B.
 
???

Where did I say anything about straightening the action? What I found, after finally getting the barrel off, was that the action (based on the flatness of the bottom) was still straight.

Incidentally, even with the action wrench and barrel vise I still could not get the barrel off. What I ended up doing was using the bench vise to hold the action wrench, using a pipe wrench on the barrel, and using a very long "cheater bar" on the pip wrench. Once I broke the initial bit free, it turned nicely and I could unscrew it by hand.

After that I checked that the bottom was straight against an optical bench we have here in the lab. Then when I got home, I trial fitted the trigger guard/magazine and that still fit nicely too. It does look like the action is still straight.
 
When I load 5 rounds into the magazine, the 2nd round (first one on the left) hangs up on the side of the feed ramp:
Click to expand...
You are assuming that Mauser actions feed like push-feed rifles, which they do not. As the round starts to move forward, the cartridge pops out from under the feed rails in a straight line and rim slips under the claw extractor. The "ramp" is not a feed ramp per se. it is intended to allow forward movement of the cartridge on top of the box magazine while holding the rounds below it in place. Many feeding problems in Mausers are associated with cartridges that do not have enough body taper or feed rails that are the wrong shape.
 
In front of the magazine opening, at the bottom of the ring, there is a broad "channel" that slants up toward the barrel. That is what I meant by "feed ramp." The front of the round is coming across and hitting the side of that channel (as shown in the picture) while the rear end is still held between the left-hand rail and the 3rd round.
 
One thing that has just come up,and is worthy to consider..
In a controlled round feed rifle,the extractor and boltface are a part of the feeding cycle.One place to study,especially in the event of a feed problem only one one side,is the case head rising up the bolt face,under the extractor.

In some cases,the mag follower becomes an issue if the case design changes from original.

If any stockwork has been done,be sure the mag box is up to the rails and centered.

Remember the principal,it is the design intent of the magazine that both at the shoulder and case head,the rounds should be in contact with each other in a tight equilqteral triangle.Tight at the shoulders and loose at the case heads will cause problems.

You ar correct that you cannot put the steel back in the rails.Don't hack and hope.Use marker or careful obsevation to find only the right steel to take off.
 
Took the action to a friend of mine's (one who owns many Mausers) to see if we could identify the problem. He pulled out several different Mausers including an Israeli Mauser in 7.62, a Czech and (IIRC) one more 8 mm. He also pulled out some 8 mm dummy rounds (made from actual 8 mm Mauser rounds with dead primers and the cases drilled crosswise).

First, the 8 mm fed fine in my action, which is good. If it hadn't, that might have meant that the receiver was damaged, possibly beyond repair.

We then tried the .308 dummy rounds that I had. Slowly feeding them one at a time (and forcing past the "sticking" point, on the 2nd round, we saw that rounds 1, 2, 3, and 5 would "push feed." #4 popped up out of the magwell almost immediately after the bolt started coming forward and did a controlled feed. Now, HiBC said above and I have read elsewhere that Mausers don't "push feed" but are rather "controlled feed" rifles, however, I have to wonder. We tried the dummy rounds in the Israeli and Czech rifles and in both they push fed. We also tried the 8 mm dummies in my action and in another 8 mm and again the push feed. So, I dunno. I know what I've read. I also know what I've now seen in several different Mausers.

At the very front of the right rail there was a lump of metal (see picture). It was out of the way when the longer 8 mm cartridges were fed forward, but the shorter .308 came across at a sharper angle and the shoulder of the round would hit this lump and stick. The #4 round, however, would pop up out of the magwell and come in straight so it never encountered it. None of the other Mausers had a similar lump in that position so I suspect it was just the result of some sloppiness in the manufacture of the receiver.

A few minutes with a file planed down the lump. Now both 8 mm and .308 feeds nicely.

One thing we noticed in looking over the other Mausers was that the Israeli Mauser had a small block at the front of the magazine filling most of the space in front of the follower. The followers in both the Israeli and in my action were the same length (checked with both removed from their respective guns). I could probably fabricate such a block and either press fit or solder it in, but is something like that available commercially?

rcvrfix.jpg
 
On CRF vs Pushfeed in a Mauser

I suspect it is a question of understanding the terminology.

If,as the bolt catches the case at the beginning of the bolt stroke forward,the case head rises up under the extractor as the bolt moves forward
and the extractor is in front of the rim as this happens,it is controlled round feed.You can turn the rifle sideways,bolt handle down,and feed a round without it falling out of position if the extractor is proper.

I can't picture a Mauser with a claw extractor functioning as a push feed from the magazine.

Sometimes extractors are modified to allow dropping one round in and springing the extractor over the rim,but there are compromises when this is done and I do not recommend it
 
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