Is there a contemporary source for the kind of half octagon full ribbed barrel we see on some prewar Mauser sporters? Wanted for a Remington Hepburn .30-30 project.

Have you talked to Mark Stratton? I know he somewhat specializes in octagon barrels for bolt actions.

http://www.gunmaker.net

the half octagon full rib barrels are very expensive to build. The round part can not be turned on a lathe with the integral rib. It is done with milling cuts full length and then the edges are draw filed "round". Best done on a CNC but even then it is time consuming. You also need to start with a big blank and mill most of that away.

Butch Searcy would do one CNC but the last I checked and it was some time ago, the price tag was over $1500.

I built one many years ago and chambered it to .222 and installed it to a sako L-461.....I had over 200 hours milling the 1.25 diameter blank. I used a manual mill....bridgeport.

If someone will build you one for $1,500 I'd say it a steal.

BTW mine was badly warped upon finish but it still shot surprisingly good.

Chic,
give me about 2 years, and I'll be making intregal ribbed, sights, etc barrels...

need to find a 4th axis for my hurco

jeffe

Jeffe, Does that mean you aare ready to sart taking orders now?

Hey thanks for the info on the Savage. Can't fiure why I wasn't able to find it.

Frank

I believe Lothar Walther can make the barrel you're describing.

Every once in a while someome asks me to machine one of the round to octagons with and integral rib. When I quote the price, they usually decline. I wish I could go back in time and see the machine setups and tooling that Mauser used back in the 20's and 30's. Mauser was machining these units as a production line process and it would be interesting. I think the appeal for todays shooters is to have the old styling with a Krieger or Shilen tube as the bases for the barrel. I think that one of the problems today is that a gunmaker has a very limited market for one of these barrels, so we machine them one at a time, which drives the cost up. As Chic said earlier, you need to start out with a large diameter barrel blank and most of it finds it way to the floor. Today's price is a function of machine time and tooling to do the job. These barrels will never be cheap.

Thanks for all the tips. Looked at the Walther website, they do offer a ribbed octagon barrel. Will check with them and Mr. Stratton, no doubt I will be paralyzed by their quotes. Years back, in the late 60s, I had a Stevens 44 1/2 fitted with a full octagon barrel with matted top flat and integral front ramp, a 1-12 twist .30-30. It was my first full custom rifle, the metalwork by Lufts, the stocks by Jack Haugh. The barrel had originally come from Flaig's in Pennsylvania, a long gone importer of German stuff (and, incidentally, mixed up with the American Nazi movement before WWII). Also just last week I sold off a deluxe FN Mauser 7x57 with 26" full ribbed half octagon barrel. These were both post WWII barrels, so someone on the Continent has been making them in the last fifty years. Mr. Stratton is undoubtedly correct that before WWII these were production barrels at Mauser, a rifle fitted with one of these fancy barrels of course cost more than a round barrel but I don't think the difference was prohibitive. Perhaps some of our Oberndorf collectors might have old price sheets or maybe a prewar Stoeger catalog. It would be interesting to know how much more this option cost.

Franz Sodia of Austria supplied Flaig's with Boehler steel ribbed barrels in the 50s, 60s.

apparently GMC also offer half octagon barrels. Could not find a website for Franz Sodia, maybe they are out of business?

Ralf Martini can do it.
SDH

I have one of these barrels in 9.3x62 on an old Mauser Ob. sporter, complete with lever floorplate, ebony snabble insert, claw mounts and truely gorgeous wood. It has a full-length rib with sights and the workmanship is simply fabulous with inletting that is "grown in the wood". Lovely old piece from about 1927 and very accurate according to the friend from whom I recently obtained it. It was made by Wm. Oschatz-Potsdam.

I would imagine that a rifle such as this would cost very large bux to replicate today; the barrel alone must have taken both incredible skill and long hours to make. I have no idea what such a piece is worth, but, it certainly must be fairly valuable.

Mike Petrov tells me that a substantial number of Sauer Mauser sporters came with half octagon full ribbed barrels, I have seen a few at gun shows over the years. It is a very elegant configuration.

Mark, Good luck finding someone that will make one for you. I like them a lot, I have a real early 1903 G&H that has one on it and if memory serves me right it’s marked “Germany†on the bottom. Terry’s G&H .400 Whelen has one as well , these were found on many of the early G&H rifles. MP

Lothar will do it For $1200 but its a minimum of 6 barrels, same caliber. Or so a friend was quoted last week. Finding $7200 is probably easier than finding 6 guys who would agree on the same caliber!

Mark Kizler does these, but he's not cheap I bought an action from him once seemed like a nice guy but, I've never had him do any work for me.

Terry

I purchased a Kreighoff Mauser in 7X57 a number of years ago. It has a half round half octagon with a full length rib. The bore is perfect but the stock was kind of butchered. Also has an extended tang flip up peep sight. Still sitting in my safe waiting for me to resurrect it. It will wait a bit longer.

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:
Lothar will do it For $1200 but its a minimum of 6 barrels, same caliber. Or so a friend was quoted last week. Finding $7200 is probably easier than finding 6 guys who would agree on the same caliber!

Lathar Walther offers the full tapered octagonal barrel with or without a 1/4 rib and a 1/2 round -1/2 octagonal barrel as stock items.

You should be able to get the full rib on the octaganol barrel for a reasonable price, but the combination of the 1/2 oct-1/2 round with the full rib that you're looking for is a killer look though.