? about mausers in .308
I thought I had enough guns when the number reached 24 but for some reason I think I need a mauser in .308? I want the look of a traditional military mauser but I would like to have one in .308 to use for deer hunting. I've seen a few up for auction but I'm really wondering more about taking an existing one and rebarreling it. Would there be a specific action (Yugo, German, etc ) that would be better than the other? Is it possible to tap it for a scope? Will I have significant changes to the bolt and internal box magazine? Feeding problems? Am I just crazy?
I'm looking at this being a low (or as reasonable low as can possibly be) cost investment as most of the rifles I now have don't make a good knock-around-the-woods hunting guns. I've seen a few .308 rebarreled mausers up for auction under $300 so I'm wondering if that would be a more cost effect way to go rather than have my local gunsmith do some of the work?
GL
I'm looking at this being a low (or as reasonable low as can possibly be) cost investment as most of the rifles I now have don't make a good knock-around-the-woods hunting guns. I've seen a few .308 rebarreled mausers up for auction under $300 so I'm wondering if that would be a more cost effect way to go rather than have my local gunsmith do some of the work?
GL
0
-
Every now and then there are some surplus Israeli 98K rifles on the market in 7.62x51mm NATO. You can get into an endless debate with some forum members about whether or not it is the same as .308 Win., but it's "close enough for government work". These seem to fall into two categories: (1) W.W. II rifles which were given/purchased by the Israelis originally in 8x57mm Mauser and rebarelled to 7.62mm. I would have to include some captured from their enemies in their various wars; a friend owns one with the Syrian crest on its receiver that is outstandingly accurate. (2) 98K rifles contracted for with FN of Belgium specifically made in 7.62mm for Israel. I own two of these, and both have outstandingly smooth actions and are very accurate. There have been other countries that converted Mausers to .308 including Chile, but the good thing about all the Israeli Mausers I've examined is that their troops seem to clean their weapons, and the bores are usually outstanding. One of these would seem to fill your bill, as no magazine work is required and they can be drilled and tapped for a scope. As for self-sporterizing--it is done all the time. There are even books on the subject. Again, you can get in an endless forum debate on whether or not it is cost-effective, but this depends largely on how far you go with the project. Something that isn't often pointed out in the "do it or don't do it" debate is that the person wishing to arrive at a custom sporter via a military Mauser can do it a step at a time as he can afford to do it, instead of coming up with the total price of a ready-made sporter. 0 -
Well it is certainly a feasible project. Brownells sells military contour and sporter barrels new, short cut chambers, in .308 for the large ring Mauser for about $95. My gunsmith charges $90 to install a barrel, finish ream, check headspace, and put on the sights. Figure a little more if you have it drilled for a scope. Not that this barrel is in the white, bluing if desired would be extra, my smith charges $70. So for me the cost would be $95+$90+$70+shipping on the barrel, tax, and the cost for tapping if I wanted a scope. So at least $255 for the job, unless you can do some or all of it yourself. Methinks you would be better served to buy a Mauser already in .308 but stay away from Spanish 93 actions in ".308" as they were really designed for the 7.62 CETME or perhaps NATO rounds, loaded to much lower pressures. Or you could certainly buy one already sporterized and if needed refinish a bit. The mag should handle the .308 fine especially with a longer bullet as mine feeds the 8mm with 150gr RN fine, even though it is way short compared to military Spitzer ammo.
Any Mauser action would be just fine, though I'd go with a large ring action as they are easier to find parts for. So a Yugo, some of the Turk (some are large, some small ring), German, or Czech would all do great. Awhile back one of the surplus dealers was selling Turk parts rifles for $19.95 to $29.95 and they still sell complete for $39.95 so the gun itself isn't going to cost much if you shop around. Good luck!
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf0 -
GL
I'm suggesting that you read/research the 8mm-06 conversion of the Mauser. It's a very simple procedure to ream the chamber. Bolt face is the same, use same barrel, same bore. .30-06 brass is cheap, only needs to be necked up slightly,- you can do this with a homemade expander.
You'll have a rifle you can load to .308 level or one that's great for elk, bear, etc,- beats the '06 by a bunch.
jonk - I urged you to do this. Have you done it yet?0 -
I.Shute, I remember your suggestion. Actually I came across a fairly nice 8mm barrel and took it to my smith to replace the ratty one on the gun. As the gun is otherwise all authentic, though not matching, I chose to keep it in 8mm Mauser. However, I have been tinkering with the idea of building my own bolt action rifle from parts as I get the time and money, over the course of some months or years. I could do all the work myself except having the barrel installed and actually was thinking of 8mm-06 for this project. It might be awhile but if and when I do it I'll let you know how it turns out. I plan to buy a large ring reciever, military take off barrel or civilian in nice shape, I don't care which, 98 bolt, and stock. I'll go from there. It will be a budget project that I'll probably have reblued in the end but should come out quite nice.
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf0 -
I was thinking of rechambering a nice Yugo 48 Mauser to .308 Win too; I figured I'd basically buy a .308 military large-ring Mauser barrel (so it fits back into the original Yugo 48 wood), take off the old barrel, screw on the new, and hand it over to a gunsmith to check headspace and whatnot. But I now wonder about the bolt or bolt-face because the rim diameter on a .308 is supposed to be a pinch smaller than the 8mm Mauser (which is the same size as the .30 -'06.) Will the bolt/bolt-face be an issue? And what has to be done if it is?
Maybe it would be simpler to just convert to .30-'06; the ammo would be just as plentiful, though not quite as cheap...0 -
Handling the 06 size rim is no trouble; in fact before the current rash of surplus it was quite common to used trimmed down 06 brass with the neck expanded.
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf0 -
I had not heard of the 8mm-06 conversion until now. Sounds like the simplest way to go except for the fact that I'd have to handload everything. That's kind of why I was leaning towards the .308, being the availability of ammo, surplus and commerical hunting stuff. I don't do any of my own loading and probably won't till I eventually move out of the city and back to the country where I could load a batch and then go do some benchmarking.
I have seen the various posts debating the .308/7.62x51 topic. IMO, there's a few members around here that are making mountains out of mole-hills. If I get an old military surplus rifle I'm going to do two things 1) ask questions on this board. 2) take it to my local gunsmith to have him give it a thorough going over. Jonk, glad you thought to mention the Spanish mausers as those were a few that I've seen up for auction.
Overall, it sounds like it might be worth exploring finding an Israeli mauser already in .308. Given the cost it would seem a little better than buying a barrel and having my smith install it. I think a future project might entail me doing more of my own work. And I'm not looking for something that looks really nice (finish, stock) otherwise I'm going to be inclined to not want to take it to the field. It doesn't have to drive nails at 300 meters, but just be accurate enough to drop a white-tail at 100 meters max.
Thanks everyone for all the info. This has been a great help!0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
7 comments