turk mauser, + .280 Ai = good to go?

[brian923]

just wondering what you guys think about building a .280 Ackley Improved on a turkish masuer. the rifle is a large ring mauser, threaded for small ring barrel. i will be having my brother in law help me with the machining of the action and the barrel. the action will be both outside turned and blueprinted. the barrel is a SS 28" 7 STW benchrest barrel that i picked up from a gentleman hear a while ago. i figure if i cut out the old chamber, and make a new one, the new throte and bore should be more than perfect. it will be contured to roughly the same as a savage heavy conture barrel, and i hope to be able to keep it around 24-25" long. then ream for .280 AI. i want to square the bottom of ther action, triangulate the top of the action and drill and tap for a single piece scope mount. the stock i have will be re-worked to get ride of some wait, but not much, and hopefully i can get a good coat of finish on both the metal and woodwork. well see what happens, brian.

 

[brian923]

pics:

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd22/demonslayer923/SS850184.jpg

i cant get the attachment manager to work properly.,probably my fault.)

 

[FALPhil]

The barrel might not work for the 280AI. The smallest diameter on the STW cartridge, right behind the shoulder, is 0.487 inches. The largest diameter anywhere on the 280AI is 0.473 inches. You would have to cut the entire chamber off the barrel, which is probably not practical, although with a heavy contour, you might be able to make it work for a small ring shank. I don't know the dimensions of your barrel.

The other thing you will run into is that the mag well will not accept 280 Rem length cartridges without alteration or an aftermarket mag/trigger guard, which runs up the price. If you can find one, the Brazilian M98s will hold the 280 Rem cartridge, but you will be limited as to COAL. You will also have to alter the feed rails to get it to feed reliably with the AI cartridges,ask me how I know).

Your easiest conversion will be to a Mauser-length cartridge, like the 257 Bob AI, 6mm Rem AI,my favorite), or 7mm Mauser AI. That way, you don't have to much but play with the rails to get it to feed.

 

[brian923]

the barrel i have is 1.3" thick, all the way down, so basically, i have a good barrel blank. i am going to cut the barrel off at the neck of the stw chamber, and this should theretically give me a good shot at centering the .280 AI reamer on the throate of the 7mm stw chamber.

some research:
i have a k.kale mauser, witch is a large ring, long action mauser. i have found some guys that have made there long action mausers into 300 win mag,s, which have an overall length of 3.34". the .280 COAL is 3.33, so, it should work.

the thing i cant seem to find is if the pressure is going to be to much for the k.kale mauser action, and if having the action carberized,hardened) might make it stronger. not to load hotter, but to just give that little more support. besides, it seems that 1-1.5 grns below max loadings seem to yield the best performances in any cartridge.

 

[FALPhil]

My 6mmAI varmint gun is a K.Kale '43. It is plenty strong for high pressure cartridges, but, I didn't grind the contour at all. A lot of Mausers, even M98s are case hardened. Based on how the metal reacted when I drilled and tapped it for the scope mount, I believe that the K. Kales are too, at least in my case. Therefore, if you have reground the contour of the receiver, I highly recommend that you have it re-hardened.

 

[Clark]

I have built allot of rifles on 1903 Turkish Mausers, but only one on a 1938 Turkish Mauser.

I have converted one VZ24 to 300 Win Mag with 3.34" OAL.

Lengthening the magazine well and getting a longer cartridge to feed in a Mauser can be done.


As far as Mauser strength goes, it is way more than what is needed and heat treat is for corrosion resistance. The book by Keunhausen on Mauser sporterizing says some things about having Mausers re heat treated that has mis lead may before you.