My Mauser 260 Build Finished w/ Range Report

[Tamarac]

This past weekend I was finally able to shoot groups at 100 yards with what is a completed 98 Mauser in 260 Rem that I've been working on for a few years. I wish I had photos of the build process to share, but sadly only have some of the completed rifle.

The rifle started as a 98 Czech Mauser purchased for 50-60 bucks about 15 years ago. Stock was semi-inletted and opened to accept a 1-9" Shillen #3 contour barrel. Barrel is 27" long. I had the original bolt handle torched and re-welded to what is currently seen in the pictures. Trigger is a Timeney Featherweight set at 1.5-2#. Ammo shot was a 123 gr SMK in front of 38.5gr of IMR 4064. The grouping was 5 shots at .42moa at 100 yards. I'll post more when I get an opportunity to shoot something farther.
Note: The last picture was taken 6 months ago when we had snow...

 

[Deleted member 46119]

Well done!

 

[morcey2]

Very nice! Who made the stock?

I've got an Oberndorf GEW98 action that is going to become a 6.5mm something. I'm bouncing back and forth between a 260 and a 6.5x55. I'm leaning toward the Swede at the moment, but that's subject to change.

As for the load, I'm a huge fan of IMR-4064. Except for right now. It's the most consistent powder I've found in almost everything I shoot and I can't find _any_ right now. I've only got 1 lb left. It's the only powder I use that I haven't seen for almost a year.

Matt

 

[Tamarac]

Matt,
I wish I could tell you who made the stock. My dad bought a bunch of rough inletted Mauser stocks 20-30 years ago from a guy in Missouri going out of business. He's had em on the shelf ever since and offered this up for my build. I graciously accepted and opened the stock up and glass bedded it. I finished it with some sealer and polish from Birchwood Casey.

I wish I would have spent more time looking into bullets and what twist was needed for proper stabilization for this gun. I started it years ago and it seems like more and more companies are making high performance bulelts for this caliber.

This is my first time shooting anything loaded with 4064. I'm impressed thus far and can't wait to try it out in some of the other test loads I have.

 

[benchracer]

That's a nice build and some very good groups. Are you sure your barrel is a #3 Shilen contour? I built a 6.5x55 on a commercial mauser with a #4 contour. Your barrel looks quite a bit bigger than mine. In fact, it looks very close to a Remington varmint contour (which would be a #7, I believe).

As far as your twist goes, don't believe all the hype about how you need a 1:8 to shoot 140's. My Swede has a 1:9 twist and shoots well below .5" @ 100 yards with Berger 140g VLD's. Even if your 9 twist won't shoot the VLD's, it will most likely shoot regular 140g hunting bullets like the Nosler partition or the Hornady SST. Don't be afraid to give some of the better 6.5 bullets a try. You will likely be surprised at the results you get.

BTW, with the 140's, I use H4831 with excellent results. H4350 or RL-17 would likely work well, too.

 

[johnnyk]

Pretty schweet! Something about those old Mausers a rifleman can't ignore. Looks really nice, I like it. JohnnyK.

 

[Tamarac]

@ benchracer - Ya know, I don't know why I had it in my head it was a #3 contour. I bought the barrel right after my Navy discharge 6 years ago. I measured the barrel and compared it with the specs in the Brownells big book and it looks like I have a #7 contour. I kinda remember that I didn't go with a 1-8" twist was that Brownells didn't offer that in at the time.

I'd also heard other people say that their 1-9" twists may properly stabilize the heavier 130 or even 140 grain bullets. I may get some 10 round sample boxes and give them a try.

Thanks everyone for all the awesome comments.