PCH the 98's that were originally 8mm feed 308 rounds fine. Whenever I use a Argentine 1909 action for a 308 I have to mill the inside of the magazine box. It doesn't take much to make a big difference. The internal geometry is taylored for the 7.65 Arg. round which has more body taper than the 8mm & a lot more than the 308. Four 308 rounds will stack into the 1909 mag. but the fifth will jam up the whole mess.

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NRA Life member

[This message has been edited by Bear Claw (edited 11-29-2001).]

quote:

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Originally posted by Pedestal:
Can anyone share some secrets on how to get a belted cartridge to feed properly in an M98? Say, one of the "short" mags? I've done several on "standard" size cartridges, but have been afraid to tackle the belted mags for fear of feeding problems..

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It has all to do with the internal geometry
of the magazine box. On the Mauser 98 it is not designed for the belted cases. Basically its too narrow fore and aft. Best way to go it to replace the bottom metal. The various 98 action feed rails differ too. For example the feed rail on the 1909 Argentine is narrower than the VZ/24 & not just at the top edges.

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NRA Life member

[This message has been edited by Bear Claw (edited 11-30-2001).]

Johan/Roger
Keep me updated on the subject!!

Cheers K9

[This message has been edited by K9 (edited 12-02-2001).]

1. Shipping. Both United Parcel Service and Federal Express tell me they DO NOT ship firearms across international borders. U. S. Customs told me that is a joke, they deal with this everyday, but the talking heads at UPS and FEDEX are adamant.

2. Port-of-Entry. Since a Human Being is not accompanying the rifle it has to go to one of the relatively few Ports-of-Entry (assuming I could find a way to ship it), naturally they are all in the Lower 48. I would have to have a Customs Broker get it and then ship it to me which adds considerably to the cost.

So you see, the best way for me to pick up goodies would be to have a bunch of Form 4's filled out prior to leaving the U.S., fly to a country for vacation, then once I picked up some nice firearms, fill the Forms out then mail them International Express Mail to BATF in Wash. D.C. to begin processing. Then just continue my visit in the country. Upon return to Anchorage, the firearms would be "seized" and held my Customs until the approved Form 4's arrived. Then I would go pick them up. By having the copies of the Forms I mailed it would speed things up greatly.
At least this is how both Customs and the BATF Field Office in Anchorage told me how to do it.

Now you see why I want just the stock. I think they are very good looking. This is what I am after. I can drop my own barrelled actions into them once I get one.
Roger.

Yesterday on one of my Turks, my brother used a Turkish Mauser inner stop ring lapping fixture he made. It screws into the receiver and diamond lapping compound on a brass ring grinds the inner stop ring.

He also used a receiver mandrel that allowed him to turn off on the lathe, the hand guard ring on the outer stop ring of the receiver.

The 96s are .645" between stops, and the 98s are .625", but the Turks are bastards. After he cleaned up the two barrel stops on the receiver, the distance between them was even more bastardized, so the barrel blank he was turning had to be made to fit.

All this farting around does give a flatness and uniform distance between stops all the way around as measured with a depth gauge.

The chamber the barrel, he dials in the breech and the muzzle. The muzzle is held in a spider that is on the left side of the lathe headstock. This technique I got this guy to post a spider picture:
http://members.tripod.com/Rbertalotto/

My brother made a spider that has 4 adjustments 90 degrees apart instead of 120.

After screwing around for 2 years and buying 20 Mausers at Big5, I have only 2 custom caliber shooting rifles. I have allot of scoped 8x57s that are nice rifles.

quote:

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Originally posted by Ray Atkinson:
Some of the finest rifles in the world are built on military surplus action..The 1909, 1935 Chilean, G33-40...

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To add to Ray's statement: I do not know of *any* contemporary US-made, off the shelf, factory rifle that could rival with the quality and worksmanship of early military Mauser actions. Building a whole gun today to these standards would likely cost $ 3000 to 5000.

Carcano

quote:

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Originally posted by Cobalt:
Are the YUGO's a true standard length

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Yes

quote:

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or an immediate length?

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Yes :-)

Carcano

You've seen my work in progress 350 Rigby mauser sporter. I've done everything but the chambering. Depending on what tools you have available, you can build a very nice sporter for a "reasonable cost", and learn alot on the process. With a drill press, mig welder, bench grinder, lots of files and a foredom tool I've been able to "sporterize" the action.

Finishing a semi inletted stock can be a very simple process, or extensive if you go about a massive re-shape, ebony fore end tip and skeleton grip cap as I've done on the one I'm working on.

My advice would be to farm out the barreling/chambering, and do the rest of the work yourself. The real key while learing is patience, provide you don't rush it, most of the work isn't that complex, and many screw ups have some handy work arounds.

Figure $100 for an action, $100 for a midway barrel, $150 for finish chamber and action blueprint, and 200-300 for a semi-inlet stock.

I did leave out the brownells order, as you can spend quite a bit on metal add ons just depends on how extensive you want to get. Minimum would be a recoil pad, bolt handle, Dayton safety and Weaver bases for $70, if you add barrel band swivel's, iron sight's et all, then you could be up in the 100's pretty quick.

You can also phase the project, my gun was in a plastic stock for some time before I started in on the wood stock.

If you want to bounce ideas off, drop me a line.

Scout...

I would question the metalurgy and heat treating and the total cost.

Around here you can pick up a JC Higgins M 50 for under $300 and work the bolt a few times to get your "Mauser" thrill.

Meanwhile I would not take any Mauser when I can have an old M-70 Winchester.

But there seems to be a lot of excitement here for the idea. We used to get them sporterized from Golden State Arms with new 06 bbls and sporter stocks for $55. Man did they kick.

If you are looking for a complete rifle in a particular caliber, then the way to go is start looking for a used one, complete and in good working order.