daleatkins showed us his beautiful 9,3x62, and a question about the front base came up.
It is slotted into a dovetail in the front reciever ring:


I have always heard that this is rather hazardious, and not recomended. daleatkins agrees to have heard the same warnings, but neither of us have actually heard about an action failing due to this operation.

Does anybody have any input on this?

i don't think that the practice would be common enuf to hear anything about at all. I sure wouldn't do it, as i see it the area milled out is in the locking lug recess, which is probably a safe area since thrust upwards in that area would be lesser that other areas, but it would still have concerns aplenty

I have always heard it too, but never heard of a case where an action let go because of it. Not saying it never happened, but I never heard of it. Given my experience working in Germany and with Germans in other countries, they tend to over-engineer everything, so I never figured they would let so many actions be so modified if there were truly a problem.

You still hear people talk about how an action is ruined or unsafe when opened up for a .375 H&H. God only knows how many actions have been opened up and I have never heard of one letting go.

But then I used to ride bulls and I shoot low numbered Springfields too.

Mauser started doing it nearly 100 years ago, and continued for many years, so if it were a problem I recon they'd have discovered that and discontinued the process long before they did. I have an Oberndorf Kurz action that has filler piece where the dovetail was originally cut into the action in 1923 when it was made. It hasn't blown up yet.

Down in my basement i have about 3 m98 actions with reciverstretching on the frontring of the reciver.
2 are smallring largetreads 1 is largering rargetread, with a slotted clawmount base installed.

Most m98 actions are way overdimentioned, and when using standardammo, you can weaken them wery mutch without ewer realizing that you are getting near to the edge.

One problem we realized when running a sesion of blowing up rifles, was that CRF rifles, is exposed to a 3 time higher presurearea, if the casehead lets go because of the lack of support from the bolt.
At the beginning i was realy puzzled that the m98 we tested, was so heavily damaged, from a estimated presure of 65.000 psi in a 6.5x55, where some of the PF actions handeled more than 125.000 psi before letting go.

We concluded that as long as the casehead was keept intact, by the support from the rim of the bolthead, the internal preasurearea couldnt exceede 0.8cm2. But when the casehead lets go on the CRF the preasurearea rised from 0.8cm2 up to 2.0cm2.
That made a resonably explanation for the masive lug set back and the rupture of the recieverframe on the tested m98 (one was pulled apart in the thumbcut just in front of the rearbridge.)
Safety is a funny thing, you never know before to late.

In my lifetime i have ben driving more than 1.000.000 miles in cars without having any accidents, that doesnt meen that it proofs the safetyness of driving cars, Just that i have been lucky so fare.
One thing i cant say about my attempt of driving bikes

Jørgen, thanks for your reply! I was hoping you would!
But do you have a more spescific concloution? We know this is a rather commom way for european gunsmiths to make the front base for claw-mounts, have you experienced more failures than that one in your bacement?

Bent,

I don't have any information to add or any real reply to your quesion, but I do also have a Mauser with dovetail into the front receiver. Since this picture was taken I've had the rifle rebarreled to 9.3 x 62mm.



Can any of the Mauser experts out there tell me anything about this rifle from the serial number 8911?

Wink, thanks for the reply! Would have loved to se a pick of the whole rifle! Is not that scope mounted very high, very far to the rear?

Bent,

I will try to get some photos done this weekend. You are correct of course about the scope. This is a rifle built in the 1930s I was told. So far I have only had it rebarreled but I intend to get it restocked (there is a crack just behind the trigger guard on the existing stock) and also have a modern scope mounted in the claw mounts.