K98 Action Replacement.

[SFCane]

This is my first post, glad to have access to so much info!
I have a Mauser K98 on which the receiver needs to be replaced because I can not open the bolt after firing. Even with light reloads or various factory ammo, I have to pound it open with the palm of my hand. I'm told the receiver was not heat treated properly and that the bolt lugs have over time, pounded a depression that must be overcome after firing and the case has normal expansion. So the receiver is not repairable. It has been inspected by four different gunsmiths, all with the same conclusion.
I just love this rifle, a .308 Win. When I had it built, it used to be quite accurate, has a beautiful walnut stock, and a great medium weight barrel. My intended use would be for New Mexico mule deer.
I've tried for a couple of years to find a K98 action that is useable and affordable with no luck (still looking) so I'm thinking of using a different action, say Sako or Howa, or something else.
I need ideas for an action that would be readily available and similar enough to the K98 that I could use the same barrel and stock with reasonable gunsmithing. A little bedding compound neatly done here and there would be acceptable, similar barrel thread size would help.
Any thoughts?
Scott

 

[tobnpr]

So the receiver is not repairable. It has been inspected by four different gunsmiths, all with the same conclusion.

Well...actually it is "repairable", though it will not be inexpensive.
The lugs and receiver abutments can be recut/trued and the receiver sent out to be re-heat treated by a shop familiar with the needed process (Blanchard), so as not to warp the receiver.
Barrel shoulder and inner torque shoulder will need to be set back accordingly for proper headspace.

 

[10XSHOOTER]

Interarms Mk X action

 

[Sniperhandle]

This is my first post, glad to have access to so much info!
I have a Mauser K98 on which the receiver needs to be replaced because I can not open the bolt after firing. Even with light reloads or various factory ammo, I have to pound it open with the palm of my hand. I'm told the receiver was not heat treated properly and that the bolt lugs have over time, pounded a depression that must be overcome after firing and the case has normal expansion. So the receiver is not repairable. It has been inspected by four different gunsmiths, all with the same conclusion.
I just love this rifle, a .308 Win. When I had it built, it used to be quite accurate, has a beautiful walnut stock, and a great medium weight barrel. My intended use would be for New Mexico mule deer.
I've tried for a couple of years to find a K98 action that is useable and affordable with no luck (still looking) so I'm thinking of using a different action, say Sako or Howa, or something else.
I need ideas for an action that would be readily available and similar enough to the K98 that I could use the same barrel and stock with reasonable gunsmithing. A little bedding compound neatly done here and there would be acceptable, similar barrel thread size would help.
Any thoughts?
Scott

You may be looking in all the wrong places, As mentioned, An Interarms Mark-X is basically a Mauser 98, But a commercial so called. Minor differences.

Try these search words and learn what a Mauser 98 is made of.

Interarms Mark-x
J.C. Higgins Model 50
Fn Supreme
Golden State Arms
Parker Hale Safari
Parker Hale 1000,1200 and several others
Santa Barbara
Voere
Montgomery Wards
High Standard
VZ-24
BRNO
Yugo
Herters Model J9
Argentine 1909
Weatherby and Browning both used FN Mauser's as the basis for some of their early bolt action rifles.

There are more I can't remember at the moment.

Check the local gun classifieds and pawn shops, Around here there are still many to be had.

 

[joshb]

Try contacting @Ggmac . He used to have pallets of parts and actions.

 

[Lee in Texas]

It may be possible to buy a complete rifle for what you would spend on parts and labor for your project. I would have bought this if I didn’t have a new build underway.

FN 30/06 - Topic

forums.accuratereloading.com

It’s hard to go wrong with an FN commercial Mauser.

Check Gunbroker.com for Mauser actions and/or complete rifles.

 

[gat]

I have converted at least 200+ Mauser 98s and have never seen one incorrectly heat treated. Used to buy VZ24 by BRNO 4 for $100 from Burns Brothers in NY city. Bought several from a Hollywood prop comany that were used in Band of Brothers. Seen plenty that had been bubba'd so badly they were in unusable condition. The Germans were metal Masters. Now I might believe some extremely hot loads over a period of time. The camming surface engagement at the bolt shank being goofed up can screw with primary extraction....but a soft MAUSER....The Furher would have not approved. How about a few pics of the bolt handle root. In and out of the receiver.

 

[Sniperhandle]

I have converted at least 200+ Mauser 98s and have never seen one incorrectly heat treated. Used to buy VZ24 by BRNO 4 for $100 from Burns Brothers in NY city. Bought several from a Hollywood prop comany that were used in Band of Brothers. Seen plenty that had been bubba'd so badly they were in unusable condition. The Germans were metal Masters. Now I might believe some extremely hot loads over a period of time. The camming surface engagement at the bolt shank being goofed up can screw with primary extraction....but a soft MAUSER....The Furher would have not approved. How about a few pics of the bolt handle root. In and out of the receiver.

Out of those 200 you have never seen lugs setback? I doubt it. I have seen many of them. The OP has had it looked at by 4 different Gunsmiths and they all said the same thing. One wrong opinion, Possible, Or maybe 2, But all four of them most likely weren't wrong.

And it wasn't that the receivers were not heat treated properly, They were case hardened, Which is a relatively thin hardened surface.

 

[gat]

Was in the business for 30+ years the first 10 or more we specialized in Military conversions. As I said I have NEVER seen a Mauser that was not properly heat treated. I have seen lugs set back I didn't say I hadn't but it was typically from misuse i.e. over pressuring. Springfield 03's had a hard thin outer layer that drilled like butter once penetrated, typically. The 98's I've encountered were hard all the way through, I'm talking 3 flute Japanese carbide to drill em hard. But perhaps the 200+ I've modified were the exception not the rule.

 

[akajun]

Doubt it was not heat treated properly, unless it was late war production or a batch of parts that was not heat treated at wars end and sold as is.
More than likely the action was “ trued” cutting away the case hardening or a hot load was fired that set the lug back

To fix, have it trued again , sent out for heat treat or nitride , then set the barrel back and re chamber
Be advised trying to “fix” this action and using the same barrel will cost you more than you realize

 

[Ggmac]

most 1903 turk lr receivers I have are soft and they were made at obendorf !
Severe lug set back , same with some spanish but the only german receivers that had lug set back were ones that were trued , or the scope base screw was off center and made the lower lug taking all the pressure .
We need a picture of your receiver. The mauser 98 covers many barrel thread specs and action lengths . If you want to reuse your stock and barrel , getting the receiver like yours is important.
If you go military receiver, you’ll need to drill and tap it . Commercial receiver is usually already scope ready .
Where do you live ?

 

[jackieschmidt]

The vast majority of military Mausers were never heat treated in terms that involved, hardenning and then tempering to a specific RC hardness for tensile and yield strength.

They were machined from a simple carbon steel, probably equivalent to modern 1030.

They did go through a case hardenning the probably penetrated a couple of thousanths. However, this case hardenning was no where near as hard as modern carbonizing or nitriding.

Through the years, I have drilled and tapped numerous military actions for scope mounts, and even did my own Mauser Project last year from a German 98 of around 1930’s vintage.

Thread 'I just Bought A Project……Opinions'

Sep 19, 2023

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...

• jackieschmidt
• Replies: 195
• Forum: Gun Project Questions & Gunsmithing

• 

There is nothing “hard” about any of them.

Post war commercial Mausers are a different story. Many of these are machined from alloys such as 4140 and heat treated to specific strength levels and hardness.