How big of an undertaking would it be to make a slant magazine for a commercial Mauser in rimmed cartridges like 303? I have a double rifle in that caliber and I'd like to build a bolt gun in the same caliber. I'm a lefty and I have Zastava, Winchester 70 and Montana actions in left hand. I don't want to use a SMLe but would consider a shortened SMLE magazine

Easy; take a standard mag and cut it apart; weld back in, the front and rear panels at an angle. PM me and I will give you pictures of one. Like the Siamese.
On a M70, you just make or block the sheet metal mag box to feed 303. Bolt face will be easier than a mauser; remember Model 54s were made in rimmed calibers, early on. I would use the Model 70.
But, that is the easy part; the bolt head on the rimmed mausers is completely different. As is the extractor. Not to say you can't alter a rimless one to work, but they are not the same.
Anything can be made from steel though.
I would start with a Siamese; (not sure if they will feed a 303 but I can check; for sure the bolt face is bigger) original rimmed mausers are quite rare and expensive.

This is how Oberndorf dealt with the problem for Rigby. This is an original Mauser action designed for the Rigby 400/350. The Siamese Mauser is much the same, but the magazine is a little short for full length .303 loads.

I had a friend who had a .303 British chambered commercial Mauser. I think it maybe wasn't a Rigby but it was, for sure, made by Mauser as a .303 British.

Yes, Mauser made all of Rigby metal anyway. They had an exclusive agreement for sales in England until 1910 or so (forgot). I have an original Oberndorf 303 here now, but the bolt is missing.
Just thought; use a P14 303 magazine box in your Model 70; I will give you one.

I folded one up to fit 9.3x74r in my P14......



Roger

That's right. The P14 was converted to rimmed by pressing a straight box magazine with slanted guide rails. It also had a slanted rear insert. This allowed the rounds to stack back without rim overlap. Boltface and extractor modified accordingly. I've always wanted to convert a M93 to 30-30 Win with this method.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
Yes, Mauser made all of Rigby metal anyway. They had an exclusive agreement for sales in England until 1910 or so (forgot). I have an original Oberndorf 303 here now, but the bolt is missing.
Just thought; use a P14 303 magazine box in your Model 70; I will give you one.

I have seen a SR (93-96) Mauser chambered in 30-30. It fed and chambered and extracted ok. Not sure who made it.

Also have seen Siamese Mausers in 7.62x54R and 30-40 Krag. I’ve got one in 45-70.

All this to say... if you want one and have the money, it can be built.

I must admit that a lightbulb just fizzled on when I realized that the slant box’s purpose is to allow the rims of the cartridges to stack properly one in front of the next so they feed right. Or have I just extinguished the flame in front of everyone...?

No, you are spot on. You can use a slanted mag well or you can use a straight mag well and press slanted cartridge guides into it. The result is the same. The rounds are stacked down and back so the rims clear.

P14 mag boxes are actually stamped sheet steel sides with milled steel wedge shaped rear and front ends, riveted to the sides.