Mauser 98K Scout LR&H Build - Questions!

[NorSpecOps90]

Mornin' Guys

The Reason for this post is a dilemma I'm sure quite a lot of you have found yourself In over the years, it's about a Mauser 98!

I got this Oberndorf Mauser 98K Action some weeks ago as I went out on a quest to find myself a sturdy Warhorse to build upon.

My desire is to build a rifle I can take out with the future kids one day to teach them the Art of hunting. A family heirloom to be exact, a rifle that will never die. After analyzing and researching every thread possible, I think I may have found the List of things that I would want to do to it.

Since y'all are excellent Gunsmiths, Hobby Gunsmith and experienced Sporterizers I'd like to run some things by you to make sure that I have everything covered!

This is a step by step List of mods and works that will be done to it either by me or my Gunsmith:

Action:

• Sand/Beedblasting
  
• Truing the Face of the Action + re-cutting the Threads if necessary
  
• Welding the Thumb Recess and Stripper clip feed ramp shut (or maybe I can use latter to install a M40a5 Type Picatinny Rail?)
  
• Polish the raceways + Cartridge Feed ramp
  
• Shorten the Tang

Bolt

• Truing the Bolt face + centering and re-cutting the Firing pin hole(Opening up to fit 6.5x55 Diameter if chosen)
  
• Lapping the Lugs by Hand, finishing with a 1000 Grit Compound to Polish
  
• Shorten the Cocking Piece and Firing pin
  
• Reshape the Military Bolt handle and lengthen it

Accessories:
3 Position Side Safety
Lighter Firing Spin + Spring?
Timeny Trigger

Lothar Walther Barrel – either Special Mauser 98 Barrel or Custom Medium Weight Varmint Barrel. Caliber choices are 30-06, 6.5x55/284 and 280 AI.

The problem I have with the Special Mauser 98 Barrel is that it is chambered slightly to long instead of slightly Short. This just goes against my grain but maybe one of you can show me some advantages to this method?

As it goes for stocks I am considering buying a McMillan A5 or Tactical Hunter kind of stock.

I am wondering If there is a specific action Style that nearly Fits the Mauser measurements(more importantly the Action Screw Distance), like a pre-64 or any Winchester 70 or a Ruger, that I can buy a stock of and modify it.

There will be a Bottom Metal installed, which of course will have to modify again to fit the Action measurements if required.

Can Anyone measure the Distance between the two Action Screws center to center and let me know? This would help me a great deal.

Thanks a lot in Advance guys

Falco

 

[specweldtom]

A couple of answers for you.

Don't weld anywhere on the receiver. The thumb notch is behind the main locking lugs and recesses, so doesn't diminish the action's ability to retain pressure. No way to weld up the huge notch without softening the receiver bridge and warping the action badly. Same applies to the stripper guide notch. The cocking ramp is less than 1" away, and would be softened.

Scope bases are available that fit the receiver bridge with the raised stripper guide.

Some pre-chambered barrels have long chambers so that you can set the shoulder and breech faces back (in a lathe) without having to buy a reamer. All you need is a headspace gauge.

The .30-06 and the .280 are longer than the original 8 X 57 Mauser and probably won't feed out of the magazine unless you deep seat or use light short bullets. However, the 6.5 x .284 works very well out of the std magazine box.

Don't quote me, but I believe the action screw spacing on the std large ring Mauser is close to 7 7/8" center to center.

Floor metal is available with longer mag boxes that can handle .30-06 length cartridges including the std length magnums, like .300 Win mag, .264 Win mag, 7 Rem mag, etc.

If you drill and tap the action for scope bases, have them in hand, and be super critical about getting them at 12:00 o'clock and perfectly spaced. I've seen the Forster drilling and tapping jig and know of no better way to get them right the first time (usually the only time).

The std bolt face will work on all 3 cartridges you mentioned, but would have to be opened up for
the magnums.

The bolt handle can be forged down or cut off and welded. Whichever is done, it needs to be done by a skilled 'smith. It's not a job for a hobbyist.

Any un-modified Oberndorf large ring '98 action made before 1944 is a good one, but in my opinion the 1935's to 1943's are the best.

The receiver thread is a 1.10" major diameter x 12 pitch by 55deg Whitworth form. Some barrel installers use a std 60 deg threading tool to cut the barrel thread. I've seen it done both ways.

Watch out for Yugo parts. Bolts, firing pins, and bottom metal are all shorter than the std '98 action.

You'll need to get a stock that is inletted for the Mauser. They are unique, and modifying any other stock is a major job. I wouldn't shorten the tang. It'll mess with stock inlet and bottom metal fit.

Enjoy, Tom

 

[shortgrass]

Mornin' Guys

The Reason for this post is a dilemma I'm sure quite a lot of you have found yourself In over the years, it's about a Mauser 98!

I got this Oberndorf Mauser 98K Action some weeks ago as I went out on a quest to find myself a sturdy Warhorse to build upon.

My desire is to build a rifle I can take out with the future kids one day to teach them the Art of hunting. A family heirloom to be exact, a rifle that will never die. After analyzing and researching every thread possible, I think I may have found the List of things that I would want to do to it.

Since y'all are excellent Gunsmiths, Hobby Gunsmith and experienced Sporterizers I'd like to run some things by you to make sure that I have everything covered!

This is a step by step List of mods and works that will be done to it either by me or my Gunsmith:




Action:

• Sand/Beedblasting
  
• Truing the Face of the Action + re-cutting the Threads if necessary
  
• Welding the Thumb Recess and Stripper clip feed ramp shut (or maybe I can use latter to install a M40a5 Type Picatinny Rail?)
  
• Polish the raceways + Cartridge Feed ramp
  
• Shorten the Tang

Bolt

• Truing the Bolt face + centering and re-cutting the Firing pin hole(Opening up to fit 6.5x55 Diameter if chosen)
  
• Lapping the Lugs by Hand, finishing with a 1000 Grit Compound to Polish
  
• Shorten the Cocking Piece and Firing pin
  
• Reshape the Military Bolt handle and lengthen it

Accessories:
3 Position Side Safety
Lighter Firing Spin + Spring?
Timeny Trigger

Lothar Walther Barrel – either Special Mauser 98 Barrel or Custom Medium Weight Varmint Barrel. Caliber choices are 30-06, 6.5x55/284 and 280 AI.

The problem I have with the Special Mauser 98 Barrel is that it is chambered slightly to long instead of slightly Short. This just goes against my grain but maybe one of you can show me some advantages to this method?

As it goes for stocks I am considering buying a McMillan A5 or Tactical Hunter kind of stock.

I am wondering If there is a specific action Style that nearly Fits the Mauser measurements(more importantly the Action Screw Distance), like a pre-64 or any Winchester 70 or a Ruger, that I can buy a stock of and modify it.

There will be a Bottom Metal installed, which of course will have to modify again to fit the Action measurements if required.

Can Anyone measure the Distance between the two Action Screws center to center and let me know? This would help me a great deal.

Thanks a lot in Advance guys

Falco

About 90% of what you've listed isn't done to a Mauser '98 in the USA. I don't know about Europe. Face the action, have a 'sporter' bolt handle welded on. Forget the welding. Forget the thread 'truing'. The only time the bolt face is touched is to 'open' it for a magnum cartridge. For best accuracy forget the pre-threaded and chambered barrel, have a blank fit and chambered by a gunsmith that understands Mauser actions. McMillian only makes one stock for the Mauser '98,,, it's a sporter best used with a barrel contour no bigger than a #4. Have new springs installed for the firing pin and the magazine follower. Forget 'chopping' the firing pin, and if you have the ledge on the cocking piece milled back to shorten the firing pin travel it will need to be re-hardened. Any alterations of the firing pin/cocking piece, or replacement of the entire firing pin assembly may cause ignition problems and effect potential accuracy. If you want to try to turn this militay action into a commercial action, do yourself a favor and just buy a commercial action to begin with. I know, I know,,,,, much was done in the past to 'sporterize' military Mauser actions. That's when labor was cheap! I'd not get caught up in the pretty pics on the commercial stock pre-inletters' web sites (like Richards). A good blank will cost as much as their 'higher end' pre-inletted stocks do. Good wood work commands the highest hourly wages of any gunsmithing task. So, the finest wood blank that you can afford should be choosen. A mediocre piece of wood will never be anything more than a mediocre stock. "Ya' can't make a silk purse from a sows' ear". Military Mausers are probably the most expensive actions to use for a custom build because of all the needs to be done to them to sportize them. And then, what do you have, a 'sporterized' military Mauser? There are thousands if not millions of them 'floating' around the USA. Some that have seen some of the highest quality work done to them that command and get prices in the tens of thousands of dollars range (built by known custom gunmakers) to those that are no more than junk, not even worth the value of the action because of mis-drilled holes, welding, chopping,,,,, you name it (Bubbas' finest work! 'cause he read all about it on the internet!)! That said, I have built many rifles using good '98 actions. And have never done any more than face the the front ring, weld on or forge the bolt handle, drill & tap for scope mounts (using a Forester jig, as Tom suggested), installed a custom barrel (from a blank, not pre-threaded and chambered), and custom stocked the barreled action. Don't try to turn it into something it is not. I wouldn't use a Mauser, no matter what banner it wears, if I couldn't do all the work myself!

 

[NorSpecOps90]

Thank you both for replying!
I might have gotten so exited about that project that i approached it with a Precision Custom Build kind of mind i would normally use for a TRG, T3, SSG, Remmy 700 range of rifle.

I'll carefully reconsider my approach to it before making rash decisions.