Hi Folks,

not sure if I'm posting this in the right place, but here goes...

I need some help to work out if a barrel I've been offered is worth buying.

Some background:

I've been sitting on an old Columbian Mauser '98 action that is in excellent condition - very smooth, no rust or pits, so I figured I might as well do something with it.

The barrel I've been offered is apparently in excellent condition, the calibre (8x57 JS) is what I want, however I have no idea of the manufacturer or their reputation.

From the proof markings, I'd guess that it means that the barrel was imported into England sometime between 1925 and 1954, but that's about it.

Any thoughts would be welcome.

Pics follow (sorry about the quality)..

http://s1234.photobucket.com/a...urrent=barrel011.jpg

http://s1234.photobucket.com/a...urrent=barrel002.jpg

Don't know what you would have to pay for it and also don't know about the situation down under but, if it were me, I would not bother with something that old especially when you say you know nothing of the manufacterer. Go the new route, get one made today, in the long run you won't be disappointed and you can't say that about an unknown barrel.

Jim

Before rejecting the barrel offered to you, I'd suggest you try to learn more about it.

You mentioned it has already passed proof in England. That means it has been fired with proof cartridges for the chamber dimensions marked on it and has been gauged, and has met both those tests satisfactorily. So I believe one can assume it is safe to use.

I also note it has the markings of Curt Anschutz, a former German gunmaking firm (which at one time also built double rifles in up to .600 Nitro).

If you can come by it inexpensively enough to treat it as sort of a lark, and enjoy experimenting with it, it might just prove to be a little diamond in the rough.

I bought a 9.5x57 barrel from Ernest Kempster's of England (#95 Lamb's Conduit, London) for a Mauser for $3 one time in the early 1970s under pretty much the same circumstances, and it proved out to be a "primo" hunting barrel. VERY accurate.

The stamped NOT ENGLISH MAKE was not put onto guns proved after 1955 that is correct.

Is there anywhere a letter and number in a X cross device anywhere near those marks?

My thoughts, and only that, are:

What do you want with this barrel? Is it special contour, do you like the history, or do you just want something to go bang with and the price is really cheap?

If any of the above, and you have either the equipment and interest to do it yourself, or someone who you can get to do the work for a reasonable cost, go for it. It will let you learn some things about what it takes to make a used barrel work on another action. Some of those things you will learn is how to time the barrel so that the markings come out on in the right place, how to headspace it correctly, and how to refinish the finished product and stock it.

The markings on this are interesting historically, if the barrel is an attractive contour or configuration and a good price, I'd go for it myself.

If you're doing this for low cost, consider the following advice for what it's worth.

I (and many others) sell a good used mauser barrel from a sporter for about $75. They will usually simply screw in and work, and if you don't care where the caliber mark comes out, don't need indexing or changing. Just screw in the barrel, check the headspace, and if good, you're done. If headspace isn't right or you care about indexing the markings, the barrel needs set back and/or chamber deepened, both easy jobs. But, if you have to pay to have it done, you'll be into it from $35 to $150 or even more depending on who you have do it. Takes some of the good deal out of the used barrel fast, especially since you have a used barrel when you are done.

A new barrel, ready to install and check as detailed above, costs anywhere from $150ish to $300 depending on what barrel and who sells it. I can personally sell good quality cro moly barrels threaded and short chambered for mauser for $250 or so. This would be in in any .30 cal, .22 cal, or .338 cal, and sometimes in others depending on what I have in stock at the moment. If you have a depth mike and the skill to check your action depth, I can ship you an exact chamber barrel, guaranteed to headspace, for the same price, in any caliber I have a reamer and guage set for. That would be .308, .30-06, .338-08, and .338-06, and maybe 220 swift or .22-250. I'm not looking for that business, I'd rather sell a blank for $150 and give you a contact that can do the chamber work for you reasonably instead, you get a better product if you have the barrel and action worked on together.

A new barrel, fitted by a competetent smith, will cost from $200 to $1000 depending on what barrel and who does the work. The job, excluding bluing, costs $225 plus postage if you buy a blank from me and go with a reasonably skilled smith I can recommend. Note that is cheaper than I can supply a short chambered barrel, and the quality is as good. There are many people that are better at this than me, and some of them are cheaper also. I tell friends all the time that want me to do work to take it to someone better and less expensive than me. I hae enough of my own work to do to more than keep me busy in the time I have available!

It's a menu, pick what you want and what you're willing to pay. The used barrel route is usually only a good deal if you like the particular barrel for some reason such as historical markings, unique contour or sights, personal satisfaction in doing some work yourself, or it's personally special to you for some other reason.

dave

Gentlemen,

thank you for your input.

Much food for thought.

What you have here is nothing that is intriniscally exotic. It is simply a Mauser M98
(NOT 98K) barrel manufactured and used before and during WW !. It is a sample of those long-barreled Mausers you see in the old picures of WW1 when the Huns wore those "Pikle-Stube" (spiked) helmets. It is chambered for the standard 8X57 Mauser cartridge and was made sometime after the Krauts switched from round-nose bullets to pointed bullets, which is why the US Springfield Bolt rifle fires .30-06 cartridges rather than the original .30-03 cartridges, we had to change to keep up with the Germans. This change is shown by the markings "JS" stamped on it. These letters stand for "Infantrie Spitzer" meaning "Pointed Infantry" (bullet). Machine gun ammunition was not the same as the nfantry. Yeah I know, but "J" and "I" are interchangeable here (no, I don't know why, you'll have to ask the Germans.)
The other stampings are obviously proof marks by the Brits to allow the barrel to comeinto the UK.
Don't flame about me using "krauts" I am of straight German descent on both sides, from 1726 on one side and 1745 on the other and if I want to say "krauts", I'll say "krauts", and I'll be glad give you a place and color for your political-correctness complaints.

Wahoo,
I like your style. Kenny