mauser build thread

[WyomingWhitetail]

So i am starting a hunting rifle build based on a Mauser 98 action. A member of this forum(RwBeV) is helping with the build as he has built quite a few of these rifles before. It started out as a bare turk Mauser action and so far i have ground and filed the action down as well as we got it drilled and tapped for scope mounts. We also swapped the bolt release/ejector for a cut down non military style one. next on the list is to forge and reshape the bolt handle. Im planning on a short-chambered barrel in 6.5x55 from brownells or midway, a side swing or low set safety, a wood or laminated wood stock. Ill try to keep this updated with pictures as i progress.

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

Well ordered a barrel, trigger, and safety kit. The barrel is a 6.5x55 Adam and Bennett from midway. The trigger is a timney sportsman and the safety is a side swing kit both from brownells.

 

[OHW]

This is a great project. More details will help me buikd mine in the future. How much $$$ for each step? Bare action , tap for scope mounts, new bolt , forging the handle, barrel (6.5x55 is my goal as well), stock , gunsmithing services or what ever.

Pics would be cool too.

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

well the barrel was 90, the trigger was 47 and the safety kit was 33. the action was 120 and thats all ive spent so far. Fortunately for me i met a board member who lives about 45min away who builds guns as a hobby and has built several Mauser sporters. He has all the tooling already built so i haven't had to buy any of that. im not sure what im going to do for a stock yet. Ive been looking at richards micro-fit but hear they are kinda hard to order from. My grandpa has some walnut logs off the family farm in Nebraska and i also enjoy woodworking so i might just build a stock.

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

well just ordered a Richards micro fit frontier sportster in semi fancy black walnut. I only had to call twice and the 1st was right at noon so overall wasn't to hard to get ahold of. Hopefully it won't take ridiculously long to get here and is good wood and well inlet. The stock was $129 shipped.

 

[Magnum Wheel Man]

I've done several custom builds as well...

& I have ordered several Richards Micro Fit stocks... they are generally pretty good, & reasonably fast... if it's one they have in stock... if not, I've gotten good quality but had to wait for ( sometimes seemed ) like quite a long time...

becareful of 2nds... they can crack easily if they are 2nds as far as wood grain goes...

my last total build was on a BRNO long action ( originally chambered in 30-06 ) has a set trigger& wears a camo laminate bench rest stock from Richards... ( I had to re-inlet & re-shape the stock, because of my full length extra heavy barrel contour ) also the cheek rest didn't clear the bolt... rifle is now chambered in 6.5 X 284...

 

[Smokey Joe]

Need Pix!!!

WY Whitetail--The 2 pix you had in your original post are just question marks. Pls put up some pix--I'd like to see what you've done!

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

i have heard nothing but good things about the quality of the micro fit stocks but it seems that a lot of people have a hard time getting ahold of them to order. maybe i was just lucky i dont know. I have a friend that was building a 6.5x284 based on a highwall (he is a machinist and was building the entire action from scratch).

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

not sure what is going on with the pictures when i looked at them on my ipod they were question marks but when i look on my computer they are fine. ill try to figure it out. ok just redid the pictures from a different place on line and they show up on my ipod now so hopefully it worked. if not let me know ill try again. Sorry for them being so small

 

[Smokey Joe]

Pix...

WY Whitetail--Thx for posting the pix. They don't enlarge, but are far better than the question marks. I'm on a big Mac; mebbe that's the problem.

Sounds like a VERY interesting build project!

 

[Scorch]

I think you will be happy with the Richards MicroFit stocks, they are pretty nice, a semifancy will have some figure in the butt area, and pretty nice grain. I generally spring for the AAA seconds, the results are generally very nice. Here is a picture of a Mauser in the same stock you ordered.

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

Thanks for that picture it is a very attractive rifle. I would have liked a super fancy stock but this is a hunting rifle and will likely get beat up some and I'm not going to pay three hundred dollars for a stock that will likely get scratched

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

Well the trigger and safety kit came today. barrel should be here soon.

 

[sc928porsche]

Be sure to square and lap the lugs before you install your barrel. A little care here will help the accuracy of your final product.

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

well the barrel came in yesterday. It looks beautiful on the outside especially for 90 bucks. As long as it shoot good ill be happy. I have been meaning to check and see how good the lugs are contacting but haven't yet. Its an old well used action so it might be wore in good enough already but ill have to check.

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

just adding some pics of the parts. Timney trigger, side swing safety kit, and two pics of the barrel. I am no photographer so i apologize. Hopefully they are a little bigger.

Well now they are really big. trying to figure out how to post thumbnails that enlarge when clicked but can't yet.

 

[Grim_Reaper]

Excellent choice with the 6.5x55 SE!!!!

 

[RwBeV]

I like what your doing here Matt. Bring along your camera next time, good thing you cant record sound on here. Looks like to me you have a pile of work ahead of you. See you soon.

If we don't teach this trade to our young folks it will bite us in the butt in the future. All its costing me is a little time. In the end I hope to plant a seed that will help us all in the end. I had my fill of fellows that thought that gun smithing was some sort of secret. I know there are some very good schools out there but there are also lots of young folks that want to learn and don't have the means to attend such a school. I hope that this in some way pays back the gunsmiths that took the time to show me some of the "tricks of the trade" most of them are gone now, but there legacy can live on.

Bob

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

Ill bring my ipod (only camera i got) which is why most of the pictures suck. hopefully i can get over there soon and get some work done on this so i can have more pictures to show off. This project will be a lot of work but it will be worth it in the end.

 

[WyomingWhitetail]

got some work done yesterday so i thought i would update this. Got the barrel re-threaded to fit my action. The barrel was a short-chambered pre-threaded adams and bennett barrel in 6.5x55 but my action is a turk and i decided to go with the 6.5-06 cartridge. This means we had to cut the barrel back a little re-turn it and re-thread it to fit the smaller threads. Overall a good day of progress, I haven't run a lathe in like two years and the newer lathe was a lot more picky than the old WWII era machines i used to run but finally got back in the hang of things even if a few machine shop gods were feeling mischievous.