small ring mauser

[ducmarc]

picked up a nice 91 mauser with a sporter stock and a cut down barrel. was thinking about rebarreling in a nice light caliber for the wife to shoot. need something with a large rim,lighter kicking than a 243,and reasonably priced ammunition. was thinking about 22 250 but open to ideas

 

[MudRunner2005]

.22-250 is a great caliber. I shot the barrel out of the one I had, then had it rebarrel to .308 Win. I'd like to have another .22-250 someday.

 

[morcey2]

A 91 isn't strong enough for a 22-250. I know that lots of small-ring actions have been converted to higher pressure chamberings, but it just isn't safe. You'll put the money into it to have it converted and your wife will be holding a potential grenade in front of her. SAAMI MAP for 22-250 is 65000 psi. Something to think about is converting it to the parent cartridge, 250 Savage, instead. The SAAMI MAP for it is 45000 CUP or about 50000 psi. Ammo availability is an issue, so it would become a mostly handloading affair. Perhaps that's a non-starter as well.

You might just be better off leaving the 91 as-is and getting her a newer gun. I've seen Savage Axis 22-250's for sale around here for <$400. Not the greatest rifle, but the vast majority of them are good shooters. And I'm not usually one to talk someone out of building on a mauser action. I've got 5 actions in various stages of buildage, including the aforementioned 1893 and a bunch of large ring actions.

Matt

 

[MudRunner2005]

You can easily neck-up .22-250 brass to .250 Savage brass (which is actually the parent case that was used to design the .22-250).

Some Berger .257 115 VLD's, loaded in the .250 Ackley Improved would make an excellent deer/varmint/coyote/ and all-around rifle.

Also, isn't the 6.5x55 a low PSI round? That would make an excellent deer rifle, too.

 

[RT2506]

Yep what Morcey2 said. It depends on what your wife wants to do with the rifle. If it is deer hunt the 250 Savage or the 6.5X55 would work really well on that action. But like has been said you could find her a good used rifle or even a new one for what it will cost you to have a gunsmith build that action into a decent rifle.

 

[Kennibear]

What part of, "stay away from small ring Mausers" is everybody missing?

Stocks are hard to find, barrels are different, scope rings from where? The small ring Mausers are mostly plain carbon steel of low strength (18 points of carbon I believe) and are case hardened for wear resistance. Even a polish before blueing can take most of the hardened case off.

Short action rifles in a ton of good calibers are on the shelf at your local gun store right now. Put a $50 tune job on the trigger and a $300 scope and your wife is going to love it. You can't do that with a small ring Mauser.

KB

 

[ducmarc]

thanks for the advise found a place with origanal parts may put back to stock. and look for a 223 or 22.250

 

[morcey2]

What part of, "stay away from small ring Mausers" is everybody missing?

I will agree that one should be wary of small ring mauser and there is no purpose served in seeking out unmolested military mausers to customize. But, previously-butchered ones can be made useful if done within the known limitations of the action.

Stocks are hard to find, barrels are different, scope rings from where? The small ring Mausers are mostly plain carbon steel of low strength (18 points of carbon I believe) and are case hardened for wear resistance. Even a polish before blueing can take most of the hardened case off.

Stocks are far from hard to find, pre-fit barrels are made by most barrel mfgs, scope bases are readily available. As long as the locking surfaces and threads aren't polished, that doesn't affect the safety of the mauser. Even the large-ring masuers (and small ring 98's like the 1910 and 1936 mexicans) are relatively soft steel that are case hardened. That is part of the design. Swedish mausers are their own animal and were made from the best steel available at the time.

Short action rifles in a ton of good calibers are on the shelf at your local gun store right now. Put a $50 tune job on the trigger and a $300 scope and your wife is going to love it. You can't do that with a small ring Mauser.

Not arguing with that, other than a $50 BOLD trigger with a 3 lb pull is easy to install.

thanks for the advise found a place with origanal parts may put back to stock. and look for a 223 or 22.250

I'm still looking for an 1891 to add to my collection. I think the 7.65x53 was a round that was years ahead of its time. PPU makes factory rounds that are supposed to be pretty good. I think they even do a match loading.

Matt