turning a turkish mauser into a woods rifle.

B

bamafan4life

New member
okay i bought a turk the other day from a friend who was needin money for 100$ long story short it has hardley any collectors value left so im going to play with this one. alright i was looking at my gun collection the other day and i noticed i do not have a brush gun. well then i thought hey maybe i could turn this into a brush gun. so heres my dream for this rifle cut down the original barrel to 16.5 or 17'' then get a walnut sporter stock and drill and tap it for a scope and put a 2-7 power scope on it. now ive drilled and taped guns in the past so thats not a problem for me. but its cutting the barrel down. i have a metal shop a mile or 2 up the road so i can get them to cut it down to the desired length with a lathe. but i beleave im going to have to crown it my self. what tools are required? how hard is it to get it right? are there any instructions i can read on how to do it. and the $$$ of the tools is not a worry
 
I cut my own barrels short with a hacksaw, after first marking it all-around with a machinist's square for the cut.

I cut the barrel a tad longer than the scribed mark, then file it down to the mark from all sides.
I break/chamfer the outer edge slightly, then decide what type of crown I want - flat, rounded, or recessed - and dress it off accordingly.

I do the actual crowning with coarse, then fine, automotive valve-grinding compound and various sized round-head brass wood screws, chucked in a hand drill and worked around in all directions.
I start with the largest head, which barely edges the rifling, and progress through grits, then reducing head sizes until I get to a screwhead the goes into the bore. - then clean/flush from the chamber end.

I also change my own bolt handles, by hacksawing the old ones off near the root, and welding another in place after deep chamfering of both parts along all four edges.
Commercial bolt handles are available from Brownell's and many others - but I happen to be partial to the Rem 700 handle, since it has the checkering already cast in, and can be readily had from the Rem Parts Dept. YMMV.

CAVEAT ! The bolt cocking cam's hardening can be altered/damaged, causing galling and/or hard cocking some time down the road, if the bolt body is allowed to overheat !
I use a large heatsink, screwed into the rear of the empty bolt body, and wrap the locking lugs tightly with soft lead.

GunAlbum004.jpg


.
 
PetahW: You can find heat stop paste at Brownells or a welding supply shop that works very well. That would be eaiser to find than lead sheating. I've never used lead myself so I don't know how it would compare, but I can see where it would be a good heat sink though.
 
If ya go with a peep, open or scout scope you don't need to turn down the bolt handle. For your intended use I'd go with a peep. 16 - 17" barrel is going to have sum purdy serious muzzleblast in the 8mm Mauser. I'd be tempted to trim back to 20" or so (still going to be fairly obnoxious, but the 8mm is a pretty efficient cartridge).

If you start doing a full custom build, you are going to end up with a price tag that exceeds most factory rifles and end up with a rifle that's worth less. I'm not trying to discourage you, but that is the most likely result. Is it worth it to YOU?

I'd trim, square and crown the muzzle and remove the handguard,throw on a removable buttpad, peep it and be done. JMO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top