Anyone know where to get a 7.62x39 Mauser barrel?
I've always wanted to build a Mauser in 7.62x39, to take advantage of the cheap surplus ammo. Numrich used to have the barrels--Wilson made, I believe--for both large ring and small ring Mausers, feed kit included. However, they have been sold out for months. Thus, does anyone know where I can obtain a large or small ring 7.62x39 barrel, preferably already blued?
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i don't know where to find a 7.62x39 mauser barrel but here are some other options.
1. buy a whole gun there's this on gunbroker right now "Remington Model 799 7.62x39 Caliber NIB" it's basiclly the gun you want you could also buy a ruger.
2. wait a barrel will show up eventually.
3. buy a 308 barrel and gut a chamber insert that way you also have a 308.
4. modify a barrel0 -
Or, #5 you could get a barrel blank from Brownell's or similar and have it turned to shape and chambered and threaded for your action. You may need to work the magazine box for feeding as the 39mm case is much shorter than the rounds normally fired thru a Mauser 98 type action. Sounds like suggestion #1 by spas12 may be your best/cheapest route. Save your 98 for another project. 0 -
My Hornady reloading manual states that surplus 7.62x39 bullets are .310" not .308" dia. So personally I'd keep looking for the right barrel rather then chance it with a tight .308"dia barrel.... 0 -
There are mausers available chambered in 308. There normally priced $250.00-$350.00. Save your 98 for a deer/target rifle. Best 0 -
quote:Originally posted by spas12
i don't know where to find a 7.62x39 mauser barrel but here are some other options.
1. buy a whole gun there's this on gunbroker right now "Remington Model 799 7.62x39 Caliber NIB" it's basiclly the gun you want you could also buy a ruger.
2. wait a barrel will show up eventually.
3. buy a 308 barrel and gut a chamber insert that way you also have a 308.
4. modify a barrel
+1.
And just to be clear here, 7.62x39 ammo isn't all that much cheaper than 8mm.
Right now, the former costs about 17-18 cents a pop if you buy the corrosive Yugo stuff in bulk, and the latter about 22 cents a pop for the '50s Yugo surplus.
I can definitely see why shooting 7.62x39 from a Mauser would be more fun and perhaps nicer on your shoulder, but I think with only 4-5 cents a round savings, you'd have to do quite a bit of shooting before doing this conversion paid for itself!0 -
True, while 7.62x39 isn't that much cheaper than 8mm, I foresee that the price difference will widen in the coming years. 8mm is an obsolete round; it will eventually dry up as .303 British did. While the surplus Yugo 7.62x39 will also dry up, I can rely on the 22-23 cent round Russian steel cased 7.62x39 when 8mm dries up. Thus, the 7.62x39 will be both a price saving and a relative investment measure.
Also, I do prefer the lower recoil of 7.62x39 in addition to its price--much less bruising on the shoulder. [:)]
And as for the feeding issue, Numrich still has the magazine adapter in stock, and Brownell's has extractor blanks that I can have fitted to the 7.62x39 case. Hence, the only dilemma I face now is the barrel.0 -
I think A&B made the barrels for the Numrich kit, and they were .308 bore. Contact ER Shaw, they'll make you one for a large or small ring.
http://www.ershawbarrels.com/contact-information.php0 -
I well remember when 30 Carbine, 30-06 and 45 ACP was in such great supply that it would never dry up.
It was $7.50 per round for years.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Firebolt1176
True, while 7.62x39 isn't that much cheaper than 8mm, I foresee that the price difference will widen in the coming years. 8mm is an obsolete round; it will eventually dry up as .303 British did. While the surplus Yugo 7.62x39 will also dry up, I can rely on the 22-23 cent round Russian steel cased 7.62x39 when 8mm dries up. Thus, the 7.62x39 will be both a price saving and a relative investment measure.
Also, I do prefer the lower recoil of 7.62x39 in addition to its price--much less bruising on the shoulder. [:)]
And as for the feeding issue, Numrich still has the magazine adapter in stock, and Brownell's has extractor blanks that I can have fitted to the 7.62x39 case. Hence, the only dilemma I face now is the barrel.
Can't help you locate a barrel, though as mentioned, they are out there, and you could always have one custom made. (Whether or not its cost effective to do so, being another matter altogether).
I wouldn't say 8mm is "obsolete".
Yes, like .303 and .30-06, 8mm has been displaced by .308 NATO, and no big armies are fielding it anymore. There probably is still some limited military use of 8mm as a sniper round, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there is still some use by some ragtag third-world infantry out there, but basically military use is over, meaning there aren't going to be new stores of surplus ammo created.
But even given that, there are still TONS of guns in circulation chambered in 8mm, with the caliber still fairly popular for hunting in Europe. In fact most of the big European rifle makers (Blaser, CZ, Mauser, etc) are still putting out NEW hunting rifles in the caliber, and all of the big ammo makers are still putting out commercial loads (including WOLF branded ammo). So I don't think this round is going to disappear anytime soon.
On surplus ammo, it wasn't all that long ago that 8mm cost less than 7.62x39, now it costs more. So sure, 8mm costs have been going up steadily for quite a long time. I still think there is plenty of the stuff floating around. It won't entirely disappear in the next few years, I don't think.
If (like me) you believe that surplus 8mm will eventually dry up and prices on surplus will keep going up, then I'd argue that for "investment" purposes, the best investment is 8mm ammo itself!
For that reason, I've squirreled away a few spam cans of the Romanian steel case 8mm. Probably not the best ammo out there, but good enough for blasting, and probably one of the best for long term storage.0 -
I think what others are saying is that by the time you buy a barrel and parts, plus the original action, you will have nearly the same or more invested as buying one already done, on a new action. Besides the serbian mauser by remington and ruger, there is also the CZ and there is a Australian lee enfield converted to 7.62x39 that was imported at one time. They seem to range somewhere around $500 for the REM up to $650 for the CZ and others. If however it's a project challenge for you, then it is what you want to spend. The Ruger and a couple others are .308, but then depending on the country of origin, it has been reported that a lot of the surplus is also .308, even tho its supposed to be .311 0
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