Hello,

I have a German Mauser 98k. I would like to
convert it to a 308. What would I have to do to convert it.

Thanks,
DavidL

David, You would need a new barrel, installation, and sights changed over to the new barrel or replaced. When you got through you would have a rifle just about as good as it was with the original 8 x 57 barrel. The 8 x 57 as loaded in Europe will out power the .308 and deliver just as good accuracy out of an issue rifle. If your rifle has a reasonably good 8 x 57 barrel, enjoy shooting the shiploads of milsurp ammo that are coming in :-) Regards, curmudgeon

David,

I won't claim the pulpit as I have a safe full of Mauser sporters made from old military guns. Very fine actions. HOWEVER, I would look into that 98K a little more, i.e. exact model / variation, makers' code, etc. and just be sure you don't have something that will bring the price of a nice factory sporter / low end custom on the milsurp market. Common they may be, but some of their variations are very uncommon, and bring high prices.

To properly sporterize a Mauser, you are looking at replacing the stock, a new bolt handle, modified / new safety, and trigger. And usually the barrel, although there is nothing wrong with the military 8x57. The minimum you could expect to spend is about $250 for parts and labor, not including the stock. Stocks can range from a $65 'U-finish' Boyd's to the very finest California English blank that you can find, plus the cost of shaping / inletting. Making a sporter from a Mauser becomes very UN-economical if you go with a round based on something other than the European _x57 case, or the American '06 case and their derivatives. Then you are talking some mill time to rework the rails, and a new mag box in some cases. Price rises exponentially.

My advice: farm out hard stuff like welding on the new bolt handle, installing the barrel, and drilling and tapping (not hard, but easy to mess up). Stick with something based on one of the above-mentioned cases. Buy a semi-inlet stock from Boyd's or Great American Gunstock, and do the final shaping and finish work yourself. Do your own metal hand-polishing, slow and careful, then send it out for bluing to somewhere like Craftguard ($88). You can end up with a super nice sporter for about the cost of the usual factory POS (plus a couple of hundred hours of your labor ).

Todd

Edited: If you are talking about simply converting to 308, I would ask the same as Curmedgeon -- why bother? If you have to have someone profile a blank to match the barrel on it now, and then headspace, affix sights, blue, etc. you would be well into the cost of a Savage or Ruger in 308.

[ 10-23-2003, 08:36: Message edited by: Todd Getzen ]

I don't have first hand experience, but Brownells sells a "drop-in" .30-'06 and .308 Win. kit for Mausers. Profiled and everything for military rifles. Don't know about the karabiner, but it won't hurt to contact them.

(Also, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the 8x57mm)

If the bore is good, go with a low $ stock, new safety, and scope. The 8X57 itself is a classic, and with a handload (or Norma ammo)is no slouch. It can, and does leave the .308 Win. in the dust with the right loads!

If there is a little rusting and some pits, have it parkerized, install a sinthetic stock, and go with the all-weather concept.

I agree with the others, most of the current 98's and varients, don't have the beautiful condition of Mausers from 50 years ago. After being used in war and rearsenaled, many receivers are quite rough. Perfectly useable, but rough.
I have a couple that I have "bubba'd" my self, these were badly pitted actions with nearly perfect barrels.
A Boyd's stock, Huber Concepts trigger,low style safety, drill and tap, bent or replaced bolt and refinish the metal, will give you a pretty good rifle. Not cheap, I do most of the work myself and it runs around $400.00 plus the cost of a scope.
That said, the 8x57 is a wonderful round! Just don't look to domestic ammo for performance.
Norma is great, just very expensive. Igman is very good ammo, by any standards, around $7.00 per 20 rounds. Another good 8mm round is made by S$B, almost as "hot" as the Norma ammo, at less than 1/2 the price.
With practice I feel confident with the 8mm, all the way to 300 yds.
I have a Yugo 24/47, from an internet special, that was ground all over the receiver, the crest is totally gone. The good part, it has a new barrel. It will be my winter project, I'm going the shorten the barrel to 20", restock and set it up with compact scope. I plan on it being a variation on a mountain rifle.

All you have to do is rebarrel and bed.
It ought to feed pretty well as-is, and you can get an Adams & Bennet for around $150.
I've heard mixed reviews about it, but on the cheap, I'm sure it would do.
If you don't like the military stock, you can find aftermarkets from about $75 up.
If you want a custom benchrest sub MOA job, just hand it to a good smith with about $2000 and you should be happy when it comes back.

I bought a 1903 Turkish Mauser for $50 about 4 years ago.

As a result, I have spent $10,000 on lathes, welding equiptment, milling machines, metal shapers, vices, scope mounts, barrels, reamers, more Mausers, etc.

I am not sorry I did it, but ...

I agree with the statements on the sporting of the old 98s. I have done one and it will most likely be my last. It was a gun found in a pawn shop in very rough condition. Someone had done a very poor job sporting it and gave up. I picked it up for 99$ plus tax. after a new bolt handle, scope, new safety, mounts,rebedding of the stock, sanding and refinishing, lathing the barrel to a diferent contour, and all the finishing touchs ran me to around 700 dollars. I left it in the 8x57 caliber. I like the bore and like its ability to take all animals in NA. LLB

Clark's post just about cracked me up! I did about the same thing.

Bought a $50 Turk from Big 5, and a $40 unfired Remington 30-06 barrel. Got the barrel threads turned down to fit, did the usual new safety, bolt handle, trigger, stock, etc. It is a fine rifle. I really enjoy it, and I enjoyed building it. But I will not do another one.

If you want a good rifle, just go buy one. It will be much cheaper.

Milsurps should be shot and enjoyed for what they are.

The few mods that make economic sense to me are replacing the sights with Mojo sights (concession to old eyes), and reaming an 8mm chamber out to 8mm-06 for a little more oomph. Even this last one is quite marginal financially.

I built a .308 Mauser for $35. Paid $15 for a shot out and rusty M98 bought a .308 used barrel for $15, and a low scope safety for $5. Did the rest myself. Got another .308 that easily does 1/2moa it's a M98 with a PH heavy barrel in a Ramline stock, cost me about $170 all done.

Major...

Wow! Great piece of work.

DavidL, 120mm mentioned the Wilson Arms .308 barrels carried by Brownell. The military step contour barrels are 24" long and short chambered. This means that they are meant for the K98k (you will have to finish ream, shorten the barrel to 600mm - 23.6", and have the front sight installed).

Now, I personally would be reluctant to do this to a collectable K98k. Like previous posters mentioned.... the 8mm Mauser is not a bad cartridge and you can get surplus (albeit corrosive)ammo dirt cheap.

However, if you want to do the barrel swap... it certainly can be done. You can even use the 8mm strippers for loading.

DaMan

[ 11-14-2003, 20:59: Message edited by: DaMan ]