I bought this rifle on the net. It has had some modifications done to it that need re-doing. I want to turn it into a fine custom rifle like my other Kurtz in 250-3000. I have discussed the work with Stewart Satterlee and I like his ideas. I just thought I would let some of the metalsmiths on the forum have a go at possible restoration ideas.









What ideas do you have for this restoration. I am not looking to counterfit the original just make it suitable for a custom project.

I think I'm gonna cry.

(I'll be interested in hearing from the pros.)

That is just how I felt. I know that there were many Mauser rifles with the front receiver ring dovetailed. This one hurts and is just plain wrong!

What did a kurtz original bolt knob look like ? Straight out or down?

What are you planning on redoing? Just weld on the stem?

I think a good place to start would be to drive that dovetail out of the front ring and get an idea of how much wall thickness there is left in that front ring. I've given this some thought and I opt to not put the patch dovetail back in but rather weld that area in completely,
making a fill that is solid and free of joints and dovetails, doing a little at a time keeping the heat low. weld in the hole in front as well.
Set up and resurface the front ring a very minor amount to preserve the side lettering. Make a front sq. bridge and weld it on. Mill the rear bridge off entirely and replace it with a sq. bridge. (Set the action up in the 4 jaw chuck dial in the bore and skim cut the inside of the locking lug breech and just skim the seats. (This opperation may or may not be needed, depending on the amount of shrinkage due to welding in the large dovtail area of the front ring). Thread and chamber a false chamber in a piece of common steel and do a preliminary feed and function for 358 Win. adjust feed rails if needed, cut bridges for rings. Fix the bolt handle, Lap the lugs 1/2 way in. Heat treat the receiver, Lap the lugs the rest of the way, Lap the bolt face. Do the safety work, install the barrel, stone and paper polish it to 320gt and scotch bite it. Find a light weight piece of full length Manlicher wood for it and stock it. Take a mcfarland solid buttplate and skeletonize it so it says LB 358 make it traditional but with just a little more so it's not like every other skeleton butt in the world. How about a J.P. Sauer style swamped octagan integral full length rib barrel for the little K. Mauser?
Stuart

lb,
Could you find or fabricate a claw mount base to put back in the dovetail?Then weld the mounting screw hole up and put a claw mount base on the rear bridge or better yet a square bridge with the claw mount?

Fred

I would think with that much welding, you run the risk of warping it.

I think the best way honor that action is to have it measured to the nth degree and have Timan make enough new ones such that he could sell them for a reasonable price and yet make a profit on them. Buy one of them and customize it any way you want.

In the meantime, then take your action, have it welded in like Timan mentioned, and the front hole as well. Find a good engraver to recreate the lettering, and hang her on the wall right above the tv set.

This was not prosecuted at Nuremberg?

Every Mauser that has ever been made from carburizing steel has been warped, it was part of the process, Straightening actions after heat treat, a bit of an art in it's day and a bit of an art today as well. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the front ring of that K action is going to shrink, but thats ok it's going to be remachined internally anyway. It will be a better action than it is now, when finished. If I was to pump a bunch of weld into, say the RH rail, then yes there would be warpage as the symetry of that part of the action is unsymetrical. The front ring being basically symetrical can't warp, it can only shrink and it won't more than about .020 internally at the most, plus, that too can be counter acted upon buy pre-heating the part prior to welding so the whole thing is about the same temperature when the frist welds go on. Pre-heat will be important for the first few stringers but the further the weld gets away the bore of the action the less critical it is to preheat it, (extreme example say i've built it up three feet away from the bore, that won't have much of an effect on the bore size then). I consider this a major surgery with risk, but I think the plan is sound. Without the opperation it's just another botched Mauser.
Stuart

Ib404

I'm not a pro but if you brought this to my shop the first question I would ask you is, What do you want the final product to look like and second, what is your budget.

One option as a shooter is to machine a set of sq.bridge scope bases. Machine them to fully cover the front dovetail and the rear bridge. Use the existing screw holes to mount them.

Another option is remove the dovetail and inspect the depth of cut. If dovetail is OK then weld the front screw hole up, sq.bridge the rear and install another set of claw mounts.

Next would be to weld up and machine as Timan has suggested. I would recommend to not having the front ring sq.bridged but re-engraved. I would sq.bridge the rear and put a saddle/Q.rib on the barrel for scope mounting. I would not change calibers. Just my opinion from what I can see in the pictures.

James