quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
I bought a nice looking old Gustav mauser w.o. asking too many questions -- it was some kind of S. American short-barrel calvary carbine. My local 'smith told me it was a "96" model, and he didn't think it could handle the pressure of the 375 Ruger. Is this correct? If any of this sounds illogical, it's probably my memory.

quote:

Originally posted by Tex21:
If it is indeed an M96 Mauser, use a different action for the 375 Ruger. Better actions have been around for over a century.

quote:

Originally posted by SWD:
I would keep it under 50k psi. Make a nice 9.3x62 on it. I would also send it out for heat treat. They tend to be pretty soft.

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
I bought a nice looking old Gustav mauser w.o. asking too many questions -- it was some kind of S. American short-barrel calvary carbine. My local 'smith told me it was a "96" model, and he didn't think it could handle the pressure of the 375 Ruger. Is this correct? If any of this sounds illogical, it's probably my memory.

quote:

The first thing to remember is that there were no modern strong Mausers before the model of '98. The receiver rings are small in diameter but the prime difference lies in the method of breeching. All these earlir actions lack the inner stop ring inside the receiver ring. This is the feature that encloses and supports the bolt nose that contributes much of the great strength of the model '98 action.

Modern actions rarely shear a bolt lug, instead they hold until they permit a cartridge case to burst. When that happens, the escaping high pressure gas can wreck the best action. So in the final analysis the prime factors in action strength are the completeness of the enclosure and support of the bolt nose. The earlier action might shoot right along at 70,000 psi pressure as long as cartridge cases are of excellent quality. But considering that case quality isn't consistantly good, these actions can't be trusted at breach pressures above 45,000 PSI.