Curious as to how others approach rebarreling milsurps, especially when considering a modern, higher pressure cartridge than for which the receiver was originally designed- AKA, Mauser 98...

I have a "commercial" Federal Ordinance '85, K98 action that came in to be re-barreled into what was their original .308- and got to thinking...

There are of course the "normal" caveats when rebarelling any old milsurp- but curious how you approach it when the customer requests a higher pressure/higher bolt thrust chambering, and at what point does "I'm comfortable with that, but you need to sign a waiver acknowledging the risk etc." morph to "Nope...can't do it".

At what point, insist on re-heat treat, and testing, etc.?

Looking for some thoughts on this, thanks!

I decided long ago that I won’t chamber milsurp Mauser actions in high-pressure cartridges. In my opinion it’s like low serial number 1903s, not worth the risk. I particularly won’t put modern cartridges on pre-98 Mauser actions. I know there are M1916 Spanish Mausers in .308 being sold but I recommend they not b e fired unless loaded with the specific ammo designed for them.

The Fed Ordnance is a large ring 98, not a K98, which are small ring, large thread 98s. 308 would be appropriate for them.
But as for others, I treat most 98s the same as any modern action. Pre 98s, limit to 40K psi.
Some of the early 98s can be soft, like the 1909 Argentines; but most others are fine. I limit those to standard cartridges. Not Chinese ones; do not use those for anything. Just evaluate each one.
The Spanish 93s were made for the low pressure CETME 7.62, and when fired with 7.62 NATO, usually develops lug set back, as Spanish 93s are soft, usually. Not always.
OTOH, the Swedish treat their 96s (and the later Husqvarna commercials) as strong as any, but I do not put magnums on them.

^^^
Should have added the small "k" on the end...I meant K98k, not the Kar98....

Even Kuhnhausen is kinda vague on this, saying only (as I could find) to limit length to no longer than the .30-.06, and listed the 7 mag, .300 win , .338 win, .458 win mags as acceptable for magnum conversions. Pressures and bolt thrust for these are exponentially higher than that of the 7.92, and Shilen and others make prefits for chamberings with pressures far exceeding the original.

I know it's obviously impossible to know the capabilities of an unknown receiver, be it a Mauser or other milsurp. I was just wondering how others tread here, thanks for your input.

There is no K98k.
It does take working with them to get all the models straight.
K98 is the Polish small ring, large thread.
Kar 98 is the German small ring large thread.
Kar98k (kurz, short) is the German designation for the large ring, large thread weapon based on the Standard Modell, used in WW2. I know, makes no sense since the Kar98k is no shorter than the older, WW1 Kar 98. Just shows there is no rhyme or reason for weapon designations.
And to complicate things, all Kar98ks were marked "Mod 98". But the official nomenclature was Karibiner 98k. In 1945 the marking was moved to the top of the receiver ring.
Gew98 is the German WW1 rifle, Gewehr 98, large ring.
And many others.

You do have to be carefull about some of the Golden State Mauser commerical actions,

Seems they had a boatload of surplus 1903 barrels, and had FN make a batch of receivers up with the matching square threads so they could use the 1903 barrels by trimming off the cone breech.

In 45 years I have found 3 of them.

JW

Yes, and they made some that used a Mauser receiver, a Springfield bolt, and the barrels that Jim mentioned. Surplus 03 parts were scrap metal cheap then.

Take that national ord reciever and throw it in a really deep river.

quote:

Originally posted by D Humbarger:
Take that national ord reciever and throw it in a really deep river.

I think the OP was referring to the Federal Ordnance Mauser (built on Spanish surplus 98s, if I recall correctly) . The National Ordinance was a cast copy of the Springfield 03 that used the large quantities of 03-A3 parts available post WW2.