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I just Bought A Project……Opinions

jackieschmidt

jackieschmidt

Gold $$ Contributor
I have been wanting to build a “classic” Mauser hunting rifle for some time. I guess I am trying to relive my youth, as the very first custom I ever built back in the ‘70’s was based on a commercial Santa Barbara Mauser.

So this action has been in our classifieds for some time. I know it is as old as Methuselah, but it looks solid and not abused. Since it is an actual German manufactured piece, I figure the steel used was at the very least good for that era. I can take it over to Lone Star Heat Treating and have a Rockwell C test done, just to see. I could also take a little off of an inconspicuous place, take it to the Lab that does our testing, and see what steel it was made from. I suspect a medium carbon such as our modern day 1040.

SELLING - Mauser Model 1908 Action

Mauser Model 1908 Action, Made in Factory MUNITIONSFABRIKLN OBERNDORFaN. Action is complete and has no visible pitting, locks up very tight and has little wobble on bolt when retracted, Bolt handle has been professionally forged and will come with a Bold adjustable trigger with safety...
forum.accurateshooter.com
IMG_2321.jpeg

So what to chamber it in? My two choices are 30/06 or 338/06. I know there is a temptation to go 300 H&H, but that would involve opening the bolt face and probably altering the magazine.

My best friend Ed Bernabeo just happens to have a beautiful stock that came off of a Browning FN Mauser over 50 years ago. I would imagine a re-bedding job and it will work fine.

I will true the threads, action face and the inner ring drill and tap it for suitable scope mounts, change the safety, and a few other things. I picture all of the steel parts parkerized and the bolt polished. Probably get a Krieger barrel in something like a Remington Varmint Taper, maybe a little lighter.

What do you all think. Caliber? Cartridge? Parkerize, Blue.

I am open for suggestions.
 
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Just as information, I recently built a 300WSM on a similar action (actually a 1941), opened the bolt face and all that jazz. I finished the build, it was in perfect headspace and took it to the range. I loaded some ammo oin the very lowest end of the spectrum to start. After the first round it seemed fine, after several more the bolt started to be hard to open. I took the rifle home, checked headspace and sure enough it had set the lugs back and the receiver is garbage now. Had I built it on a reasonable cartridge like 6.5-55 it would have been fine, but alas it is what it is. Thought I would share.

My understanding is the older actions were only CASE HARDENED and not heat treated through and through like modern steel. Most of those rifles were designed for pressures around 48000psi to 50000psi. That is my understanding anyway.
 
SixFive said:
Just as information, I recently built a 300WSM on a similar action (actually a 1941), opened the bolt face and all that jazz. I finished the build, it was in perfect headspace and took it to the range. I loaded some ammo oin the very lowest end of the spectrum to start. After the first round it seemed fine, after several more the bolt started to be hard to open. I took the rifle home, checked headspace and sure enough it had set the lugs back and the receiver is garbage now. Had I built it on a reasonable cartridge like 6.5-55 it would have been fine, but alas it is what it is. Thought I would share.

My understanding is the older actions were only CASE HARDENED and not heat treated through and through like modern steel. Most of those rifles were designed for pressures around 48000psi to 50000psi. That is my understanding anyway.
Click to expand...

SixFive said:
Just as information, I recently built a 300WSM on a similar action (actually a 1941), opened the bolt face and all that jazz. I finished the build, it was in perfect headspace and took it to the range. I loaded some ammo oin the very lowest end of the spectrum to start. After the first round it seemed fine, after several more the bolt started to be hard to open. I took the rifle home, checked headspace and sure enough it had set the lugs back and the receiver is garbage now. Had I built it on a reasonable cartridge like 6.5-55 it would have been fine, but alas it is what it is. Thought I would share.

My understanding is the older actions were only CASE HARDENED and not heat treated through and through like modern steel. Most of those rifles were designed for pressures around 48000psi to 50000psi. That is my understanding anyway.
Click to expand...
I have been reading up on military Mausers for decades, just about every thing there is to find out about them is out there somewhere. Hatcher did extensive analyzing of just about every aspect Of the various models From different manufacturers in different countries.
The basic metallurgy changed very little through the years. Very few, if any were manufactured with what we consider modern alloy steel. Most were made with low carbon steels that simply do not respond to the hardening and tempering procedures like modern alloy steels, such as 4140. These actions got the required strength from the basic design, the quality of the parent metal, and good manufacturing procedures.

However, they were designed for pressures at 50,000 psi and below. They were also designed for the bolt thrust of the typical .473. diameter cartridge.

Considering that a Winchester Short Magnum exerts close to 30% more actual bolt thrust at the same pressure as a .473 case, I can see why you had problems.

The case hardenning of these military actions was not to add strength, but to add to the wearability of the parts when subjected to the combat environment.

I think this action will be fine for standard 30/06, 280 Remington, 338/06 loads In the 45 to 50,000 psi range.
 
NZ_Fclass said:
I would go with the 280 and blued. Are you planning to scope it?
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Yes. Through the years, I have drilled and tapped several Mauser actions. I did a Mexican Mauser for a friend a couple of years ago. The best thing to do is use the proper drill and tap in carbide. The case hardening on that Mexican Mauser was had enough, and deep enough to preclude using high speed steel without worries.

You have probably heard of old gunsmiths talk about using only carbon steel taps, so if you break one, you can actually take a small torch and anneal it in order to drill it out. The problem with tapping a case hardened piece with high speed steel is even though you get a hole drilled, that thin layer of case, which can be as hard as 62 RC, will dull the tap as it passes. it will be dull when it hits the soft inner core, casing tap breakage. Carbide, when used properly, solves these problems.

there are multitudes of scope bases for unaltered actions, I will have to shop around for what I think is the best.
 
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Sounds great! Im with you as I have had many custom Mausers. There was a time in my area that most all builds were done on Mauser actions. I thiink either of your choices would be great calibers.
A nicely done rust blue is hard yo beat for a classic rifle.
 
The 1908 'Brazilian was originally (as issued) a 7x57mm. Those 'early' DWM actions can be soft. In that time period military Mauser '98s were 7x57mm, 8x57mm and 7.65x53mm, all low pressured by todays standards. The 'toughest' 98s , IMO, were the BRNO CZs. Of the 2 choices in your 1st post, go with .30/06. You may want to source an aftermarket or MK X bottom metal as it's a bit longer than the military (3.4 verses 3.323). Bear in mind, metal gets removed from the feed ramp to use that longer box/bottom metal. Recknagel makes some nice 3 position safeties for Mausers (Win 70 like). Agree with the slow rust blue for a "classic" build.
 
jackieschmidt said:
Yes. Through the years, I have drilled and tapped several Mauser actions. I did a Mexican Mauser for a friend a couple of years ago. The best thing to do is use the proper drill and tap in carbide. The case hardening on that Mexican Mauser was had enough, and deep enough to preclude using high speed steel without worries.

You have probably heard of old gunsmiths talk about using only carbon steel taps, so if you break one, you can actually take a small torch and anneal it in order to drill it out. The problem with tapping a case hardened piece with high speed steel is even though you get a hole drilled, that thin layer of case, which can be as hard as 62 RC, will dull the tap as it passes. it will be dull when it hits the soft inner core, casing tap breakage. Carbide, when used properly, solves these problems.

there are multitudes of scope bases for unaltered actions, I will have to shop around for what I think is the best.
Click to expand...
Several times I have had to spot heat the area to be drilled on Mauser actions due to hardness, this always worked well as long as the rest of the receiver was wrapped in wet cloth to stay cool. Funny thing is no two ever seem to be the same, some are soft as butter and some are hard as diamond, depends on the make, year, etc... I did two Spanish Mauser scope mounts recently, one was super hard and the other was soft, go figure?

Note: If you ever do break a Carbide tap in a hole you can BLOW it out with a plasma cutter, been there, done that.
 
shortgrass said:
The 1908 'Brazilian was originally (as issued) a 7x57mm. Those 'early' DWM actions can be soft. In that time period military Mauser '98s were 7x57mm, 8x57mm and 7.65x53mm, all low pressured by todays standards. The 'toughest' 98s , IMO, were the BRNO CZs. Of the 2 choices in your 1st post, go with .30/06. You may want to source an aftermarket or MK X bottom metal as it's a bit longer than the military (3.4 verses 3.323). Bear in mind, metal gets removed from the feed ramp to use that longer box/bottom metal. Recknagel makes some nice 3 position safeties for Mausers (Win 70 like). Agree with the slow rust blue for a "classic" build.
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Shortgrass is absolutely correct, the 30-06 case is long for the action and will require additional planning.
 
You only mentioned ".30/06 or .338/06", but the 7x57mm ain't no slouch. A "classic" cartridge at that. Fits the military box, fits the rating the action was manufactured for. As for hardest to drill and tap, the "Huskies" and the Gustaf 94-96s can be extra hard. Drill though the 'case' with your carbide drill, change to HS and finish the hole, then anneal the edges of the hole with a 00 or 000 tip, and it can be taped with a HS tap.
 
In '73 my bud gave me a Mauser action and I found an old local German smith to build a 30-06. He blued it, fit and checkered a nice Fajen walnut stock , all in a 10x10 shop. As best as I can recall this cost a little over $100 parts and labor! It had trouble feeding long ammo but was pretty accurate. Long answer to suggest a 308.
 
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