Mystery Rifle.... Help

[blume357]

Yesterday I went by a church friend's house to look at doing some work and he showed me his grandfather's rifle... which he can't figure out what it is and what caliber and cartridge it holds.... I'm pretty sure the only way to be safe is to take it to a gunsmith and have them check the chamber... the barrel is beautifully blued but it appears that the manufacturer and caliber have been removed... I think I know what it is but would like y'alls opinions and comments... I know the sighting system is a new add on as well as the front sight... here's some pictures.

 

[MLeake]

Looks like a Mauser 98 to me...

... but as to what factory made it, couldn't tell you.

Here's one link you could check: http://world.guns.ru/rifle/rfl02-e.htm

Normal caliber would be 7.92mmx57mm (8mm Mauser).

Good luck.

 

[Jim Watson]

The action is, as marked, a Model 98 Mauser with proofmarks from the Nazi era. The maker's code and date were mostly buffed out in the rebluing process.

I can't tell if the barrel is original. If it is, it probably remains in 8mm Mauser (8x57, 7.92x57) but might have been rechambered to something like 8mm '06. If it is a replacement it might be about anything. A chamber cast will show what. Once upon a time we would have just stuck in an 8mm cartridge to see if it would chamber freely and if it did, touch it off. We are more cautious now in the Internet Era.

 

[Jimro]

The barrel contour doesn't look right for a milspec Mauser. I think what you have is a "sported" m98.

I've picked up a few sporters with no caliber markings.

A chamber cast is safe way to figure it out, but you can also just start trying to see what chambers to get an idea of what you are dealing with.

Also check the bolt face to see if it is still the standard .470 or if it's been opened up to the .530 Magnum. You can easily test that by pulling the bolt from the action, and slipping a 30-06 or 308 under the claw... if it holds the round it's a standard bolt face.

Jimro

 

[Scorch]

The date mark on the front ring looks like 40, so it is a military Mauser 98.

Like Jimro said, the barrel has been changed, so try to find out what it is chambered for. My advice is do a chamber cast.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Definitely not the original barrel.

If it's not marked, have the chamber cast.

 

[blume357]

I'm pretty sure it is a 1940... at the right angle you can see the '19' in front of the '40'.... I just was not sure that actually meant a date... being this was owned by the guys grandfather and I was thinking the rifle was probably older than that....

I know this doesn't prove anything... but I dropped a 30-06 round in the chamber and it fell in flush... I think it might have wiggled a little in there but not sure.

I know unless there is a mark under the barrel, we got to take it to a smith.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Mauser magazines are too short for full-length .30-06 loads (without expensive and/or time consuming modifications).
It's more likely to be 8mm-06 -- a common rechamber/rebarrel choice.

 

[DnPRK]

As Jim Watson posted, the only way to be sure is to make a chamber cast.
Cerrosafe chamber casting alloy $28.99

 

[natman]

Mauser magazines are too short for full-length .30-06 loads (without expensive and/or time consuming modifications).
It's more likely to be 8mm-06 -- a common rechamber/rebarrel choice.

It was certainly popular to rechamber 8mm Mausers to 8mm-06, although I wonder how they got the 06 brass to fit in the "too short" magazine.

However, I can't imagine anyone going to the trouble to rebarrel a Mauser and keeping the odd (to US tastes) 8mm bore size and semi wildcat cartridge. It's probably a more standard US round.

Off to the gunsmith for a chamber cast.

 

[FrankenMauser]

However, I can't imagine anyone going to the trouble to rebarrel a Mauser and keeping the odd (to US tastes) 8mm bore size and semi wildcat cartridge. It's probably a more standard US round.

Take a closer look at sporterized Mausers when you're browsing your local shops. I've seen more Mausers rebarreled to 7x57mm and 8mm-06, than anything else. (An 8mm-06 rechambering was typically only done to fix bad head space, but I've seen plenty of 8mm-06 rebarrel jobs that were done because too much money had already been invested in reloading dies and components, before the barrel was shot out.)

In fact, I was checking out a 1922 Mauser a couple hours ago. The barrel had been stamped out with Xs, "7-55 Mitchell" (presumably a 7.5x55 wildcat), and re-stamped "7x57mm J.S.A. 1962". So, that rifle was not only rebarrelled to a wildcat, but then rechambered to an original "odd" cartridge.

It was certainly popular to rechamber 8mm Mausers to 8mm-06, although I wonder how they got the 06 brass to fit in the "too short" magazine.

The answer to that question depends upon which 8mm-06 design was used. However, the chamber was generally longer than an 8x57mm case, but shorter than .30-06. It was a compromise that tended to make lighter bullets, or heavy bullets at low velocities (deep-seated), the better choice for the rifle.