Thought I would ask you guys where the best source for original 98 bottom metal would be. I'm interested in just the mag box. It doesn't need to be a hinged floorplate unit, just the standard military configuration would suffice.
We are looking at producing bottom metal for the Mauser and using the original box. We figure we can get them out to the gunsmiths for about $150.00. The only problem is access to thousands of boxes. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a bunch.

I don't have much experience with Mauser 98, but I do have 2 of them. An M48 and a VZ-24. On both, the bottom metal includes trigger guard and the magazine box as a single piece. The snap in floor plate is the only separate part. I have not seen any with a separate magazine box, but then again, I haven't seen that many.

Matt,
I will take a look but I think I gave all of mine away. I have some hinged argentine but dont want to part with them. I will get back to you if I have any left.

David,
All I'm looking for is the whole assembly. I'll seperate the box from the triggerguard myself in a production basis. You are right, you won't see an original Mauser with a seperate box, till now of course.

Thanks Chic for the look. I'm really looking to see if anyone knows of a real large supplier, say about 2500-5000 units per year perhaps. I'm also looking at having the customer supply us with their original bottommetal for exchange on the purchase of the replacement.
Thanks for any info you guys can provide.

Matt,
Sorry, I misunderstood and thought you were looking for some different types for a pattern. I don't know who might have them in those kind of numbers.

Maby try Springfield Sporters in penn run [?] Pa.or Century arms Intl..Good luck,,,,,

Matt,

You may want to try JLD Enterprises.

http://www.jldenter.com/

Food for thought: If you're going to produce new bottom metal anyway, consider a new slightly longer box that would handle .30-06 length cartridges without any trouble. Speaking for myself, I would love to have a source for reasonable priced bottom metal-without having to extend the mag box...

I may not understand what the finished product will be,but lets see.
You want to modify factory metal to be able to use detachable box mag?
If this is correct then you would not be the only
one to do this.
Gibbs Rifle Company has done this for the Mauser 98,and they are available from Numrich.
If i am wrong then please excuse this intrusion.
By the way,they come in long and short action length.
Z

[QUOTE]Originally posted by triggerguard1:
[QB]David,
All I'm looking for is the whole assembly. I'll seperate the box from the triggerguard myself in a production basis. You are right, you won't see an original Mauser with a seperate box, till now of course.

I obtained one of the 1904 portugese bottom metal units for a 98 mauser I from JLD displayed at this site http://www.jldenter.com/JLD%20Accessories%20page.htm. I wanted a hinged floorplate. The unit I received was spotless - no pitting at all and blued - almost a parkerized finish - much better looking than the picture. The magazine box is 06 length and together with the supplied floor plate and spring completely eliminated a fedding problem I was having with the original aftermarket unit that was intalled on this custom 98 in 270. For $40 is sure beat $460 some were asking - and its steel - not aluminum.

Z,
What it amounts to is that I'm having a hard time finding someone that can supply a magazine box for a Mauser 98. Bottom metal for Remingtons and Winchesters have a sheet metal box, the Mausers do not. They are integral with the triggerguard and rail assembly. I need a source for the box. This isn't going to be a detachable box assembly, just a floating magazine box, like a Winchester or Remington. If I was in the metal fabricating business, it wouldn't be such an complicated task, but I'm a machinist, not a fabricator. This has been our hold up from day one on building bottom metal for Mausers. I get at least 4-5 requests minimum per week wanting such an item.

I don't understand why you couldn't use a flat piece of appropriate gauge steel, milled / stamped to fit the recess in the rear of the receiver loading port, and just rivet or spot weld a shaped peice of sheetmetal for the rest of the box (somewhat like an Enfield box). I think the most important parts for feeding are 1) a properly shaped follower, and 2) the underside of the feed rails, not the box (assuming it's the proper width and taper for the cartridge casing being used).

Unless I'm misunderstanding you somehow?

Todd

Todd,
You're right, it's really that easy, except for the fact that I can't seem to find anyone who can manufacture it with enough quality that I would want our company name associated with it.

To carry the concept from above a little further, you could manufacture the actual bottom metal in two pieces -- a trigger guard bow, Oberndorf style, and a separate piece that is actually the bottom of the magazine, where the hinged floorplate attaches. The bow would be universal, mated (weld or silver solder) to the other piece that would be specific for a certain receiver. If you used castings and machined to final dimensions, it would be even cheaper.

If you could get such a concept to market at a reasonable price, I'd probably buy a half dozen right now.

Todd

Trigger,
Hello fellow Oregonian. Listen, if you get me sketches of what you want I can produce mfg drawings and get you quotes for the above mentioned work . I have an extensive network of people in the metal trade, most here in OR. If you are interested let me know. I can also get you quotes for the whole assembly as I have a good friend that owns a well respected and high quality(they do work for FLIR) shop in town. Send me an email and we can talk more.

Regards,
JAG
Hood River, OR

Hope it all works out for ya.

Matt - Todd
I had thought of a trigger guard in two pieces as you mentioned but screwed together like Sako's.
All rear bows could be the same They could be fit to any action length or width by changing the front frame, box and floorplate.

Matt
I just placed an order with Century Int. Arms.
I checked and they have close to 5000 trigger
guards in stock.They are $5.00 each or 5 for $20.00.With the quantity you want you can get them cheaper.Please keep me informed on your progress. Hope this helps.
James

J Bennet,
Thanks for the leg work on that deal. I appreciate it. Been swamped around the shop and haven't had time to check out any of this stuff yet, but will be hopefully working on it before the week is up.
As far as the construction of this assembly, it would be similiar to how we do all of our current assemblies. The triggerguard is made seperate of the rail-hinge area and then it is mechanically joined and finished. To my knowledge, everyone that is making bottommetal these days uses a similar process. The only difference is that we are the only manufacturers who don't weld the joint between the triggerguard and the rail. That's just cause we gotta couple tricks up our sleeve. That's also how we keep the price down on our parts. When you're putting 20,000 units a year together, you don't have time to be fooling around with a tig welder. We've proven that the joint that we put in our parts is stronger than the rest of the part, which is plenty strong for the application that it was intended for. Also, we are the only manufacturer of bottom metal to use a drop-hammer forging for our triggerguards. This allows us to machine less material, while not compromising the integrity of the part.
The good part about the Mauser project is that Remington, Winchester, and most all other current bolt-actions are a copy of the Mauser in one way or another. This makes the relative measurements compatable with our existing line of parts. This will also be adaptable to our own line of actions, since the bottom metal will more closely resemble the FN Mauser.

If I understand the concept, correctly, I would go with J Bennett's suggestion. I have a Sako and I feel that it would not be cost prohibitive to get the box made in whatever length you need. I do not mean to sound pretentious but I would be happy to e-mail you some detailed photos if you are not familiar with the system Sako uses. Good luck..........Alan