I am building a 9.3 x 62 on a 1936 Bolivian action. Somewhere I have heard that there needs to be a slight gap between the top of the magazine and the action. Are any of the readers here aware of this or is this just a figment of my imagination?

The Mauser mag box SHOULD NOT contact the action. You remember correctly

when screwed in propertly, there SHOULD be a gap

Thanks for the responses. Approximately, how large should the gap be?

You are OK as long as it is not touching. I think .010" is about right.

I agree...gaps are good! Stuart Satterlee "builds in" a gap of about .015 via the front pilar..Yeaaa! Stuart. Proper in the strictest sense! This guy know his Mausers!

A knowledgeable stockmaker will "build this in" Up to you to find said knowlegeable stock mechanic!

What is the purpose of the gap? I have several of Paul Mauser's finest in military configuration and there is no gap between the magazine box and receiver. They seem to shoot just fine.

I understand the wood crushing and not being able to tightening up in the stock, but, wouldn't built in pillars do the same thing or is it just an accuracy thing. Like I said, mine shoot just fine touching.

Someone enlighten me.

Rojelio

quote:

Originally posted by Rojelio:
What is the purpose of the gap? I have several of Paul Mauser's finest in military configuration and there is no gap between the magazine box and receiver. They seem to shoot just fine.

I understand the wood crushing and not being able to tightening up in the stock, but, wouldn't built in pillars do the same thing or is it just an accuracy thing. Like I said, mine shoot just fine touching.

Someone enlighten me.

Rojelio

on the actions i have, when tightened up, the front screw magazine "boss" contacts and captures the receiver screw protrusion and prevents the front of the mag box from contacting the receiver. are your mausers different?

I believe the idea would be if there is no gap, then there is a force pushing upward on the action, hence it is not a stress-free bedding job. I just did a 338 Lapua on a Surgeon XL action and like an idiot milled off a bit of the pillars to get the bottom metal flush with the stock. I ended up having to shim it back up and bed the bottom metal as the action and mag box contacted, and the damnded magazine wouldn't latch as the mag couldn't be inserted far enough. I guess I could have shortened the box and enlarged the latch notch on the magazine, but then the box would have sat too far upward and would have interfered with bolt operation. When I bedded the tangs of the bottom metal, I shimmed the box with heavy cardstock between it and the action(probably .015") and everything worked perfectly.

quote:

Originally posted by matt salm:
I believe the idea would be if there is no gap, then there is a force pushing upward on the action, hence it is not a stress-free bedding job.

I don't follow that...

What is causing an upward force, the mag follower spring? Any upward force would be balanced by the equal and opposite downward force it exerts on the floorplate, and this force exists whether or not the magazine is touching the action.

Those knowledgable in this area please enlighten those of us who lack understanding.

quote:

Originally posted by Rojelio:
What is the purpose of the gap? I have several of Paul Mauser's finest in military configuration and there is no gap between the magazine box and receiver. They seem to shoot just fine.

I understand the wood crushing and not being able to tightening up in the stock, but, wouldn't built in pillars do the same thing or is it just an accuracy thing. Like I said, mine shoot just fine touching.

Someone enlighten me.

Rojelio

Well? I haven't heard a plausible explanation for this recommendation.

I have several receivers and TGs laying around and they seem to match up with the mag touching the receiver. If there is daylight showing it is not uniform enough to appear intentional. Looks more like variations in tolerance.

The one explanation offered seemed a little uncertain and didn't make sense to me. The only reason I can think of is that if the mag contacted first and the receiver screws were really reefed down hard there would be some bending moment exerted on the reciever and TG. It seems to me that the ideal situation would be for any bedding pillars and the front TG boss/recoil lug to make uniform contact.

If those with 1000+ posts are tired of rehashing this, I apologize. But please, enlighten us newbies!

quote:

Originally posted by montea6b:
The only reason I can think of is that if the mag contacted first and the receiver screws were really reefed down hard there would be some bending moment exerted on the reciever and TG. It seems to me that the ideal situation would be for any bedding pillars and the front TG boss/recoil lug to make uniform contact.

If those with 1000+ posts are tired of rehashing this, I apologize. But please, enlighten us newbies!

If the box makes any contact with the receiver it will exert some force, which will affect accuracy. The correct set-up is to have the bottom metal only contact the boss on the recoil lug in front, and the pillar in the rear.

If the rear of the box contacts the receiver you usually need a longer pillar. If the front of the box contacts the receiver you usually need to file the top of the box because the boss "can't" be lengthened.

Before I glass the rear pillar into the stock I assemble the receiver and bottom metal and use a piece of paper to make sure that the box is free floating.

Thanks JBrown, I'm getting it now. That was pretty much what Matt was saying, but I think I misinterpreted his post.

Cheers...