Compact mauser project

[Alaskan Ironworker]

Got bored and went ahead with a project Ive wanted to do for a while. Picked up a 1942 Turkish mauser about a year ago, it was already someone else’s bubba project, so perfect for me to tinker with guilt free. Ive already tapped the receiver, bent the bolt handle, and got one side of the stock checkered. This one has a sporter barrel installed already but still in 8x57. Its a small ring barrel on a large ring action, so finding a replacement barrel in a high pressure cartridge is gonna be a custom job prospect which im not willing to spend money on. The current barrel is a little rough and the bore is eccentric to the outside of the barrel. So long story short, I hacked the barrel down to 16.5 inches and chopped the stock forend down about 3.5”. Should be the perfect gun to beat the hell out of on the four wheeler/snowmachine and still in a fairly hard hitting chambering. Not expecting a lot out of this thing for accuracy, but who knows, just need to find some ammo now. Its wearing a leupold 1.5-4 power which is worth more than the rifle lol. Anyone else made a shorty mauser? Thinking Ill probably grind and narrow the trigger guard to save even more weight, any other thoughts on weight savings I wont have to spend money on?Thought about thinning the walls of the mag box, or even “skeletonizing” the side walls. Just brainstorming. Dont wanna spend money on aluminum floorplates or anything like that.

 

[DocRock]

I like it! I have a sporterized M49 Persian Mauser with the 18" barrel and I find that what it doesn't drop immediately is almost certainly incinerated by the fireball or concussed into stupefication by the muzzle blast. My shorty loves Varget and 195s. Enjoy!

 

[adcoch1]

I have wanted an 18" 7x57 Chilean for years, but I can't seem to find one messed up enough to justify chopping up. It'll happen someday....

 

[LoonWulf]

Nice work on the checkering....
That thing reminds me of my buddies old hunting dog...first reaction...."what IS it?" ...few second later....."awwwww he's so CUTE!"

It looks like a really neat little beater rifle, far more interesting than alot of guns that get used for such!

 

[LoonWulf]

oh for weight savings and a little balance adjustment should you desire it, you can core the butt stock pretty thoroughly without sacrificing a ton of strength. can also punch holes under the barrel in the forend.

 

[Alaskan Ironworker]

Oh yeah, maybe ill bore the buttstock out a bit! Also, speaking of chilean mausers, I almost bought a chilean military mauser barrel online in 7x57, they were the only affordable option for replacement small ring barrels less than 100 bucks, but I wanted to keep this rifle in a more Alaskan capable caliber, so ill live with this eccentric P.O.S. for the time being. Green mountain used to make .308 small ring barrels, would be a nice compromise. Cant wait to hear the blast out if this one, should be pretty awful.

 

[LoonWulf]

know you wanted a bigger round, but https://mcgowenbarrel.com/shop/7x57-mauser-96-threading-mcgowen-1-contour-18-ss/

 

[Alaskan Ironworker]

Too rich for my blood, if I go with7x57 its gotta be cheap:https://www.apexgunparts.com/chilean-1895-rifle-barrel-29inch-blued-gd.html although I did notice they had a mcgowen 270 chambering, tempting...,

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

7x57 sounds perfect to me.

My last Mauser project gun was a Scout Rifle. I thinned the triggerguard loop a bit in both dimensions and had the bolt knob flattened and hollowed, but in the end it was more for aesthetics than any noticeable weight reduction.

 

[wiscoaster]

That rifle looks pretty business-like with the tactical scope mounted on it. Pretty cool!! Nice going ...

 

[chicharrones]

Got bored and went ahead with a project Ive wanted to do for a while. Picked up a 1942 Turkish mauser about a year ago, it was already someone else’s bubba project, so perfect for me to tinker with guilt free. Ive already tapped the receiver, bent the bolt handle, and got one side of the stock checkered. This one has a sporter barrel installed already but still in 8x57. Its a small ring barrel on a large ring action, so finding a replacement barrel in a high pressure cartridge is gonna be a custom job prospect which im not willing to spend money on. The current barrel is a little rough and the bore is eccentric to the outside of the barrel. So long story short, I hacked the barrel down to 16.5 inches and chopped the stock forend down about 3.5”. Should be the perfect gun to beat the hell out of on the four wheeler/snowmachine and still in a fairly hard hitting chambering. Not expecting a lot out of this thing for accuracy, but who knows, just need to find some ammo now. Its wearing a leupold 1.5-4 power which is worth more than the rifle lol. Anyone else made a shorty mauser? Thinking Ill probably grind and narrow the trigger guard to save even more weight, any other thoughts on weight savings I wont have to spend money on?Thought about thinning the walls of the mag box, or even “skeletonizing” the side walls. Just brainstorming. Dont wanna spend money on aluminum floorplates or anything like that.

Nice rifle. Regarding weight, what's that Mauser weigh right now? 7.75 lbs.?

I'm with @LoonWulf in that the most I would attempt to do to lose more weight would remove wood from the stock. Boring some large holes from the buttplate end into the stock might remove up to 0.25 lbs.

 

[Alaskan Ironworker]

As near as my bathroom scale can tell, its around 8 lbs with the sling.

 

[Alaskan Ironworker]

Damn you loon wolf! I just bought the mcgowen .270 barrel and its all your fault! Well mostly did it because I have a bunch of .270 ammo and no 8mm ammo. Wife’s gonna yell at me now.

 

[LoonWulf]

Damn you loon wolf! I just bought the mcgowen .270 barrel and its all your fault! Well mostly did it because I have a bunch of .270 ammo and no 8mm ammo. Wife’s gonna yell at me now.

SORY....not sorry......

You ARE welcome to use me as an excuse at any time you feel the need.
Curse my name!! Promise vile retribution!!!
She might at least find it amusing? I do that about @horsey300, but mine doesn't believe me, I just get wacked.....still do it tho.

Anyway, I missed the .270 barrel. Went and looked at it just now (shows as bought), and that 1-9 Twist is pretty nice, should be able to shoot all but the heaviest VLDs should you be inclined. Since its a #1 it should also be lighter than the barrel that's on there.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Damn you loon wolf! I just bought the mcgowen .270 barrel and its all your fault! Well mostly did it because I have a bunch of .270 ammo and no 8mm ammo. Wife’s gonna yell at me now.

FWIW, I was checking the ammo stocks at a local hardware store and the only cartridge they had a reasonable supply of was .270 Win. I've already got enough loaded ammo and reloading components on hand or I might have been tempted.

 

[BreechFace]

Good job on the checkering! Get you some 170gr SST's and go get some. However, you being in Alaska might need a better constructed bullet.

 

[troy fairweather]

I have 2 type 99s that were cut in thinking of doing similar to. I just need to get some extra parts that I misplaced.

 

[Alaskan Ironworker]

I got the new mcgowen.270 barrel installed yesterday, got to use my homemade barrel vise and action wrench for the first time. Had to inlet the stock alot for the new barrel as the old one was pencil-width. It headspaced perfectly, so I went ahead with mcgowen’s recommended break in procedure. As of last night I had no worthy scope to put on this rig, so I casually mentioned something to the wife and she told me to go buy whatever I want! I ended up with a Leupold vx3i 4.5-14x40mm. Now I have a $300 barrel and a $500 scope on my $180 dollar rifle lol. Cant wait to see how this thing groups, wish it didn’t get dark at 3:30.

 

[LoonWulf]

Looks fantastic!

 

[Alaskan Ironworker]

Thanks guys. Its all loon wolf’s fault, and that damn mcgowen and their clearance rack.

 

[troy fairweather]

Nice, one day id like to make blocks to fit in the hydraulic press to use as a barrel vice, much quicker. Have to make a wrench, sucks borrowing one since mine was in the flood.

Hope to see some groups, can't see you have a timminy safety or not?

 

[Alaskan Ironworker]

Original mauser safety. I dont generally use safeties on my mausers, if I want to carry one in the chamber Ill leave the bolt not fully closed so when I stalk to where im ready to shoot its a quiet proposition to turn the bolt down the last 90 degrees. On some of my mausers including this one the scope is mounted just high enough I can fit my thumb between the bolt and scope to one-hand carry the rifle at its balance point. If im not moving in on an animal I simply dont keep a round in the chamber. Been hunting like this my whole life. Ive argued with some who say this is unsafe, I feel just fine with this practice.

 

[792mauser]

Nice work!


A friend of a friend did something similar years ago since he had access to a proper machine shop

His 7.92x57 "boomstick"
Thin and taper the forend
Drill a couple of storage holes in the buttstock
Use a thin piece of checkered hammered sheet steel for a buttplate
File and thin the bottom metal
Use a lightweight barrel
Fluted the bolt body
Only one weaver rail on the rear sight bridge for a tr25 and no iron sights
And a bunch of other small things.
It looked a bit odd and handled kinda whippy.
And man was it light for what he started with.

Loud, blasty, lightweight and fun.

 

[Alaskan Ironworker]

Put about 20 rounds through her, starting with some old 130 grain silver tip stuff. Was pretty disappointed with that, about 4 inch groups. Then I switched to some new federal premium 150 grain partitions and the groups shrank right up. Nothing spectacular, about 1 1/2” groups for 5 shots at about 85 yards. I will say im not the greatest shot, but also this trigger is awful even by old mauser standards. Gonna try to polish it up like I did my swedes before I break down and get a timney.

 

[MartinS]

One of the things you got going for you with the original caliber is reliable feeding in all conditions. To me, that would be precious and I wouldn't touch the magazine box.
What is the length of pull? You could go compact on the stock, like a youth rifle.
Maybe a short forend like those old Rigbys.