8mm Mauser target barrel?

[winchester '97]

Hi, im new here and i have a question: i am in possession of a sporterised 98 mauser varmint rifle chambered in .219 zipper, and am re-chambering the rifle in a more hassle free round that i can actually find ammo for. I'm partial to the 8x57 round and was wondering if there are any quality target type barrels out there that would fit what im assuming is a large ring mauser (has waffenampt and swastika markings). any help is appreciated.

 

[Steven Youngblood]

Do you have access to a shotgun news?
sometimes you can find parts there.
Sarco inc gets parts or e gunparts.
I would start there also try midwayusa.com and brownells.
all are on line

I checked "http://www.sarcoinc.com/mauser.html#4" they have several calibers.

 

[NCsmitty]

Welcome to THR winchester '97.
I'm sure you know that there are many different rounds that will work well in your 98 action. The 8x57 is a great cartridge, and I have a couple Mausers in 8mm myself that I reload for.
By the way that you described, it appears that you are mainly concerned in making a target style rifle in a popular caliber.
I would suggest a rebarrel to 30-06 because of the availability of ammo, and components if you reload. It's a fine cartridge for serious target shooting and a great hunting round too.
The only issue that may occur is the bolt face or extractor may have been modified to fit the .506 rim of the Zipper. The 8mm and '06 both have .470+ rims and may require at least changing the extractor to fit that size rim.
Let us know if the usage will be primarily target shooting or if you may want to hunt with it.

NCsmitty

 

[jim in Anchorage]

219 zipper-rim .506 8MM Mauser-rim .473. If the bolt face has been opened to accommodate the 219 going back to 8MM may be impossible. Also the extractor and magazine rails and the follower have probably been modified. The 219 is just the 30-30 necked down-use your rebarrel money to buy reloading equipment,and enjoy your 219.

 

[Steven Youngblood]

If you are going back to 8mm, just get a new bolt and extractor.
I have a parker hale target barrel in 308 from sarcoinc.com.
for around $140.00 you could get a complete bolt and 308 target barrel in 308.
a gunsmith could lengthen the chamber to 30-06 if need be.
but I haven't looked for an 8 mm target barrel.

 

[rcmodel]

There are a heck of a lot more .30 caliber target bullets to pick from then all the available 8mm bullets combined.

Go 30-06 or .308.

BTW: You are aware that re-barreling a 98 Mauser is not a DIY project?

rc

 

[jimmyraythomason]

Never mind..

 

[Steven Youngblood]

It’s not?
I have done it twice
Once in 308 and once in 30-06. And one conversion from 303 to 45-70 on a SMLE.
A barrel wrench a receiver wrench to hold the receiver and a set of headspace gauges. The only need for more equipment than that are if there is a headspace problems. The bolt face will not have to be modified for 308 or 30-06,just the extractor, and it can be done with hand tools.
A short chamber can be reamed by hand.
You will need to do your homework in order to do a good job, but it is not that complicated.
A spacer and shorter follower and spring can be bought from egunparts.com for 308, 30-06 works fine as is.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

A .308win also works fine as is. No need to shorten the magazine or follower.

 

[dirtyjim]

lothar walther will make you a nice target barrel in 8mm mauser.
pac-nor is another good one that offers target barrels in 8mm mauser. they will not be cheap but good barrels seldom are.
PM me if you're looking to sell the .219 zipper barrel & bolt.

 

[winchester '97]

the bolt is a mismatch so i am not worried about replacing it and yes, i do know that this is not a do it yourself type of thing. im not planning on doing alot of target shooting, just need some long range (300+ yards) accuracy for hunting. and forming
.219 ammo is way more involved than just necking a 30-30 btw, or i would just reload for it.

 

[Mustang51]

Might consider picking up a 7.62 x 51 K98 barrel from Coles Distributing. They were under a $100 bucks and in military profile. Made by the Norwegian military armament factory in Kongsberg and absolutely top notch.

http://www.coledistributing.com/

 

[LeonCarr]

You could make your .219 Zipper cases from .25-35 Winchester brass, which are easier to form to the .219 than .30-30 brass.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[rcmodel]

It’s not?
I have done it twice

I meant in the sense it's not like screwing the barrel in a Savage or putting an AR-15 kit together.

The old militay Mauser barrels are often so tight it takes a very good barrel vice and a 3' cheater bar on the action wrench to get them off.
And it generally always takes a headspace guage and a finish chamber reamer to cut the headspace correctly.

Most DIY folks don't have equipment like that under the kitchen sink.

I should have said, it's not a DIY project unless you have several hundred dollars worth of gunsmith tools in your shop.

rc

 

[jimmyraythomason]

"it's not a DIY project unless you have several hundred dollars worth of gunsmith tools in your shop." AND both go and no-go headspace guages,plus a lathe if the headspace is too great or you have sights to align. I'm curious about the Enfield, I think it takes more than just screwing in a barrel and setting headspace..

 

[winchester '97]

i might just reload for the .219 after all, it would be cheaper in the long run.

 

[Steven Youngblood]

I'm curious about the Enfield, I think it takes more than just screwing in a barrel and setting headspace


It did.
I had to mount the new barrel, check head space,that was easy, it head spaces on the rim instead of the sholder.open up the receiver to accept the larger rim dia.cut out the area for the extractor.slightly modify the extractor to accept the larger rin. and mount the sights.
blued the barrel.
I put a spacer in the mag to make it a single stack, It works but is not as smooth as I would like.
the 303 ran 47000 psi, and a 45-70-500 bp load runs 20000, so there hasn't been any pressure problems. the factory 300 gr round runs around 18000 psi.
I broke the barrel in with the 300 gr. loads

 

[Story]

Steven,
Did you have any pics of your Enfield conversion?

 

[Steven Youngblood]

Hear is one.