I am building a budget custom Obendorf style M98. I have the option of using an excellent 98K barrel W/the steps left intact, or useing a Persian Mauser barrel that will leave a heavier muzzle & overall contour when cut back to 24" & having the single step where the taper meets the .647" parallel section turned out & radius swept to the 2" long chamber area.

Were the original commercial "sporter" Mausers made W/the stepped barrel? I am leaning towards going W/the stepped barrel W/the tapered portion continued to just ahead of the chamber to clean up the rear sight area.

Like this.


The chamber will remain 8X57 as I see no need to change from that excellent (when loaded to adult pressure levels) cartridge. The action is a commercial Yugo intermediate larger ring 98 VZ500.

Would the stepped barrel be opropriate?

The Tauscher imported Army Model C rifles are about the only ones I know of that employed stepped barrels.

The various versions of the Standard Modell Mausers were commercial variants and had stepped barrels. But they were also stocked in basically a military stock.

Try this link and look at the B, K, and C models.
http://www.mauserwaffen.de/Arm...el-C.173.0.html?&L=1

The C model will give you an idea of what a stepped barrel will look like. I don't think the shortened Persian barrel will look right unless you completely re-contour it. Also get a copy of Mauser Bolt Rifles, Olson. There are a number of good pics there. None of the nice commercial ones had steps, although some had an octagonal section from the chamber reinforce to the forend tip. If you make it into a Mannlicher style the steps wouldn't be as noticeable. You need to decide what type of sights you want to use before any alterations. If you want a traditional carbine rear sight you will need to get the diameter right to accept the sight base sleeve. A 1909 Argentine carbine rear sight is a near dead ringer for the early commercial one. Also, the front sight sleeve for that rifle will fit the second step and when turned upside down can be remodeled into a slick barrel band swivel. Now if you really want a budget gun check out the Type "A".
All you would need is a M38 Turk and some ingenuity.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:
Try this link and look at the B, K, and C models.
http://www.mauserwaffen.de/Arm...el-C.173.0.html?&L=1

The C model will give you an idea of what a stepped barrel will look like. I don't think the shortened Persian barrel will look right unless you completely re-contour it. Also get a copy of Mauser Bolt Rifles, Olson. There are a number of good pics there. None of the nice commercial ones had steps, although some had an octagonal section from the chamber reinforce to the forend tip. If you make it into a Mannlicher style the steps wouldn't be as noticeable. You need to decide what type of sights you want to use before any alterations. If you want a traditional carbine rear sight you will need to get the diameter right to accept the sight base sleeve. A 1909 Argentine carbine rear sight is a near dead ringer for the early commercial one. Also, the front sight sleeve for that rifle will fit the second step and when turned upside down can be remodeled into a slick barrel band swivel.

If I use a shortened Persian barrel it will be re-contoured & will have no steps other than the radius about 2" ahead of the front receiver ring.

If I use the 98K barrel it will have a very small radius 2" ahead of the receiver ring, a 9" tapered section & then the 2 steps as shown in the picture in the post above.

At lothar-walther.com they list a few military mauser step contour barrel specs, including a few 29".

Bob

Well I spent a few hours W/a calculator & calculated a radius that will leave a 7 3/4" parallel section @ the muzzle that is .605" in diameter.

A 12'4" radius will just clean up the steps & will be .891" @ 2 3/8" from the end of the barrel threads. A short radius will blend that into the .982" chamber portion.

That should leave plenty of meat for a lightweight "Stalking" rifle for sneaking around in the ceedar thickets & popples.

If it will hold 1 1/2 groups @ 100yds I will be happy.

I have talked to Dennis Olsen & he will do the custom radius for a very reasonsble fee. I will have about $100 in the barrel & I will have used a perfectly good barrel rather than relegating it to the trash heap.

Here's shot of the bore/throat. You can see the cresent moon reflection of the polished chamber @ 2 o'clock. This is a 98K take-off barrel W/near perfect bore . I have already checked it for headspace on the action I will use & it will not require any headspace work.



I have a Persion take-off that is in similar shape for re-barreling my J.P. Sauer 98K action in 8mm/06 A.I. (I have decided to put the 8X68S on the back burner again)

I haven't decided whether to leave it @ 26" W/a .610" muzzle or cut it back to the 1st step @ 23 7/8" for a stiffer .647" muzzle diameter.

I was getting 2960 fps W/a 180gr Nosler BT on the old 23 3/8" (turned too thin) 98K barrel. Those extra 2 5/8" would probably get it in the 3050 fps range. The extra barrel length will not be a hinderance to me. I do not particularly care for short barreled rifles as I like some weight forward balance.

That brings up a curious (to me) point.

Why is a 26" barrel on a semi-auto shotgun considered short while a 24" barrel on a bolt rifle is considered long?

quote:

That brings up a curious (to me) point.

Why is a 26" barrel on a semi-auto shotgun considered short while a 24" barrel on a bolt rifle is considered long?

As a general rule, barrel length improves the accuracy of a smoothbore. (think Musket)

While there are still reasons to have a long barrel on a rifle, the rifling allows us to have an accurate firearm with a minimal length.

One of the primary differences is weight. Long shotgun barrels do not weigh much, and often improve balance and "swing."

Long rifle barrels get heavy, unbalanced and "whippy" if too thin.

Originally posted by wildcat junkie:
I am building a budget custom Obendorf style M98. I have the option of using an excellent 98K barrel W/the steps left intact, or useing a Persian Mauser barrel that will leave a heavier muzzle & overall contour when cut back to 24" & having the single step where the taper meets the .647" parallel section turned out & radius swept to the 2" long chamber area.

Were the original commercial "sporter" Mausers made W/the stepped barrel? I am leaning towards going W/the stepped barrel W/the tapered portion continued to just ahead of the chamber to clean up the rear sight area.

Like this.


The chamber will remain 8X57 as I see no need to change from that excellent (when loaded to adult pressure levels) cartridge. The action is a commercial Yugo intermediate larger ring 98 VZ500.

Would the stepped barrel be opropriate?

EDIT: No more "steps".




I had Dennis E Olsen continue the muzzle 0.609" OD to 7 3/4" from the muzzle, then sweep a 12'4" constant radius W/a .090" radius 1/8 turn clean up @ the chamber cylinder.

This cleaned up the "steps" while removing as little material as possible.

This was accomplishe in 6 days from when I shipped the barrel from northern NY state to Montana on wednesday, the 10th to today when I found the barrel in my mailbox.

wildcat junkie, what are you planning on doing for the rear sight?
i'm building a budget sporter that will be similar to the oberndorf model c & i'm planning on using the tangent sight from a walther training rifle to keep with the look. one of the newer cz rimfires also has a similar rear sight

on another low buget build i just cut about 1" out of the center of a miliarty rear sight then welded it back together & added the end of a krag sight to make it windage adjustable. reshaped the front to get rid of the forearm band. its still rough in the picture.

the argie 1909 carbine sight looks right too, i have one on another project.i welded front screw hole up & slightly reshaped the front the base

quote:

Originally posted by dirtyjim:
wildcat junkie, what are you planning on doing for the rear sight?
i'm building a budget sporter that will be similar to the oberndorf model c & i'm planning on using the tangent sight from a walther training rifle to keep with the look. one of the newer cz rimfires also has a similar rear sight

on another low buget build i just cut about 1" out of the center of a miliarty rear sight then welded it back together & added the end of a krag sight to make it windage adjustable. reshaped the front to get rid of the forearm band. its still rough in the picture.

the argie 1909 carbine sight looks right too, i have one on another project.i welded front screw hole up & slightly reshaped the front the base

No sights. I might be braking from tradition here but I plan to mount a 1-4 VX-2 Luepold W/a heavt duplex reticle.

quote:

Originally posted by dirtyjim:

the argie 1909 carbine sight looks right too, i have one on another project.i welded front screw hole up & slightly reshaped the front the base

Very interesting, thanks to all for the photos.