Rechambering a Husky (commercial Mauser)

L

longfellow

New member
No response over in the gunsmith's corner so moving the post here;

I have a commercial mauser (Husky) in 270 Winchester that I'd like to have rebarelled to 22-250.
To try to get an idea how well this medium action will feed and extract the new case, I purchases and fed some 22-250 rouonds; they fed just fine, popping out of the magazine and up under the extractor exactly as the 270 cases do. However there is a brief instant with the 22-250's when the bolt loses full control, the case comes back out from beneath the extractor, and I can pul the bolt back without it having control over the case. They still go completely in to the chamber just fine, it just acts like a push feed action from about a point when the bolt face is about a half inch away from disappearing in to the receiver ring.
My question is whether the fact that the chamber is not correct might be partially responsible; will the action truly behave as a controlled round feeding action again when the approproiate 22-250 chambered barrel is installed or do your (I am speaking hopefully to gunsmiths out there) customers just live with a push feed action? Further, if this is the case then how is durrability affected when now the claw extractor is going to be snapping over the case as opposed to the case slipping beneath as it was designed to do?
I do not want any alterations to the metal. I may go back to the 270 chambering some day and the action is too beautiful; so any of the more extensive rail or extractor modifications are unacceptable. If they are typically done with a rebarelling job such as this, I will just go purchase a 22-250 rifle.
Thanks,
ed
 
Rim diameter on the 22-250 is smaller than the 270, so some bolt work would have to be done. There might be some rail work needed too. Since all you want to do is rebarrel, I would suggest purchacing a rifle that is already chambered in 22-250.
 
Rim diameter on the 22-250 is smaller than the 270
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That is not so. They are both on the "standard" head diameter going way back to the 8mm Mauser and .30-03.

True, there might be work required to get it to feed from the magazine.
One post described a spacer in the rear of the magazine box and a shortened follower and spring. But I am not a gunsmith and do not know how well that works. My local guy said that when he was making up varmint rifles on cheap Mauser actions pre GCA1968, nobody ever cared about the magazine, they were firing single shot.
 
Rim diameter on the 22-250 is smaller than the 270, so some bolt work would have to be done.
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Not so, sorry. 22-250 and 270 share the same (.470" aka "standard") head size, so no bolt work is needed. The issue (actually very common) is caused by the shorter length and body taper on the 22-250, and is usually remedied by putting in a magazine block, brazing shoulders inside the magazine (to keep the rounds from moving forward in the magazine during firing and/or bolt operation), or just by working the bolt quickly. So go ahead and rebarrel, and if you continue to have feeding issues you can try one of the other solutions mentioned.
 
The 22-250 is not particularly well suited to controlled feed actions, but it can be done.

To do it right it takes either a lot of patience and know how, or be willing to pay a smith with the patience and know how. For the money you could probably buy a new 22-250 and keep your Husky in 270.

Jimro
 
That Husky is a fine tool the way it is.If it is a model 5000,it has an alloy trigger guaurd/floorplate/mag box.The forward tang of that guard assy,where the front guard screw goes through,has different geometry than typical mausers.It does not narrow down,it is full width of the mag box.
This means wood has been removed from the stock.You cannot do a good job of retrofitting any other mauser guard assy.You also cannot braze or weld or silver solder the original.
That Husky .270 is a great big game rifle.Its only so-so as a tackdriver varmint rifle.Slow lock time,heavy striker fall.
Do what makes you happy,I'd keep the 270 a 270,buy a 22-250.It won't cost more.
The husky's bbl fit up is different than a 98 type mauser,no diaphram for the bbl to butt against,if iy is the 5000 action.
So,no pre-thread bbls.By the time you buy a bbl,and pay your gunsmith,you will have a so-so 22-250.Same money,you have a .270 and a 22-250 Savage or something that will shoot as well or better.
 
I had a Mauser Supreme in .243 many years ago. They just put a box spacer thingy in the magazine so the cartridges come up in the correct (rearward) location and a shorter magazine follower (that the shells rest on).

Probably can get one from somewhere...
 
Although capable of doing it occasionally, Mauser-style extractors are NOT designed to snap over the rim of cartridges. They will wear, bend, and/or break with repeated snap-over. Blocking a magazine, reworking a feed ramp, and modifying a follower can often cost more than the rest of the rebarrel job.

The .22-250 is better suited to short action, or, sometimes, intermediate length actions.

My vote:
Stick with .270 Win, or a similar .30-06 length cartridge.
Pick up a short action rifle for the .22-250.
 
Jumping on the pile here

The days of rebuilding Mausers have come and gone, if can't do it yourself, then just buy a rifle in the caliber that you want.

If you just have to have a custom rifle costing three times or more what a commercial model would, then have at it, but know what you are getting into.

I've done it, I love the rifle, but I'd never do it again...
 
The days of rebuilding Mausers have come and gone, if can't do it yourself, then just buy a rifle in the caliber that you want.

If you just have to have a custom rifle costing three times or more what a commercial model would, then have at it, but know what you are getting into.

I've done it, I love the rifle, but I'd never do it again...
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I just wanted to run with the good Doctor's words, before I hit the sack.

I started the process of having a Mauser rebarreled to .35 Whelen a few years ago. I had $250 in minor parts and the barrel, before I had a real idea of what it was going to cost me. I figured by the time I was done, I would have a $1,000 rifle that still couldn't hold a candle to a Remington CDL or the nicer Ruger M77 MkIIs (they were both chambering the cartridge at that time), and would still have to buy a scope ($300-500) or add iron sights ($250-400).

I gave up on the project.

On the other hand -
I have a Ruger M77 tang safety in .220 Swift, that is currently at the gunsmith. It is being rechambered to a 6mm wildcat, based on the .243 Win. All I am having done is: the rebarrel (cut/crown/chamber/polish/test fire), barrel bluing (not the whole rifle), and free custom engraving on the barrel. I do not have to pay for a reamer, or the anything in regards to the wildcat, as the gunsmith has the tools on hand. I sourced and bought the barrel, myself. Once I pay for the work the gunsmith is doing right now, I could have bought and scoped a new rifle.

....But I love the rifle, and want it to live on as something more useful than .220 Swift.


It's all about cost vs sentimentality.
Is it worth it to you?
 
If it is a model 5000
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The OP said it is a Husky Mauser action. They made them.
Blocking a magazine, reworking a feed ramp, and modifying a follower can often cost more than the rest of the rebarrel job.
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Magazine blocks are available from Brownells, about $6. Same for short followers, about $10.
The days of rebuilding Mausers have come and gone
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Couldn't disagree more.
I figured by the time I was done, I would have a $1,000 rifle that still couldn't hold a candle to a Remington CDL or the nicer Ruger M77 MkIIs
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I do believe mine could hold that candle. It's a 22-250, BTW.
Myrtlewood22-250-1.jpg

I gave up on the project
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Too bad, I would have loved to see it.
 
follow up from OP

Someone mentioned a model 5000. I don't think so. One of the reasons why I am interested in the projec and why I bought it originally is that it is all steel, and nicely finished at that.
To put a finer point to the issue, it is only those rounds that are staggered to the left of the magazine that are not 100 percent fully controlled. Those from the right function just as reliably as the 270. Interesting though that the 270 rounds are fully controlled of course but when watching them feed very closely the one spot in the bolt's travel wen there is the slightest bit of looseness is the exact sppot that the 22-250 case moves around as well - it is simply that with the 22-250 there is enough slop that the case does just barely come free. But again, I am not sure if a properly machined 22-250 chamber wouldn't take this away.

However your opinions are valuable so perhaps some thought to rebarelling to the 6mm Rem or 257 Roberts is the best of all worlds; lower recoil, beter suitability for my use (80% small game and target / 20 % deer), and positive feeding.

Point well taken as well regarding the reliable but crude, two stage military trigger and lock time.

Thanks everyone.
 
Given that it is left side,consider the extractor is on the right side.Rounds feeding up from the left are "less under"the extractor.If you can locate a new mauser extractor to fit,generally the hook gets modified a bit to ease feeding up under the hook,From new,you may be able to leave enough steel to solve the problem.
 
The commercial Husqvarna is a very good Mauser action that can be rebarrel to a multitude of standard long cartridges that need not have any modification to the action. If you want a 22 caliber round the 220 Swift uses a standard .473" bolt face, length of a loaded round is 2.680" and probably would not need any modifcations to feed thru the husky action, I don't think I would do anything that would require additional gunsmith work that would run up costs. FWIW I've built two rifles on 1909 Argentine Mausers(280Rem & 338/06), they were class projects while I was enrolled at TSJC in Trinidad, Colorado. My son uses the old mauser I built, quite frankly he prefers his model 70 Winchester and so do I. Will I build any more rifles on mauser actions, NOPE. William
 
Quote:
The days of rebuilding Mausers have come and gone
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Couldn't disagree more.
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:rolleyes:

Lol, as the kids say.

Certainly you can still build fine rifles on Mauser actions, however, with the price and quality of modern rifles, there is little reason to do it anymore, unless you just want such a custom gun.
 
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