Cracked 308 Mauser Action

[fireman 9731]

I have a Spanish Mauser 308 conversion that I picked up for a project to do a Rhineland Arms 45acp conversion.

I have heard and read all of the issues and concerns associated with the 308 conversions. That was part of my reasoning for using this particular example for a 45acp conversion.

Well, after I took the stock off, I found these two cracks in the receiver. One is fairly thin, the other is more substantial. I have never fired it and certainly have no plans to now.

Two things:

Firstly, the fears of weakness in the small ring 308 conversions are clearly founded. I don't know if it cracked during the conversion process or it cracked due to firing. Either way, its a bad deal.

Secondly, would it be worth it have the cracks welded up and still use the action for the low pressure 45acp conversion? Or should I just sell the parts, get an unsafe gun out of circulation and find another donor rifle for the 45acp conversion?

 

[PRD1]

That receiver...

should be scrapped. There is no way to repair it and make it safe for further use.
And, it is a good illustration of why the conversion of these questionable Spanish Mausers to .308 (or any other modern cartridge) is a really bad idea.

PRD1 - mhb - Mike

 

[LoonWulf]

Im curious honestly.
Id think if rewelded it would be alright for the .45 conversion, but nothing hotter. I dont know if you would have to reheat treat tho since the welding could get it hot enough to cause issues...unless made a big heatsink that threaeded into the front of the reciever....anyway im not qualified to give an answer, and this is just speculation.

 

[Mauser lover]

Oh! Convert to .22 LR, just for fun!

Odds are, it would be fine for .45 ACP if you welded it. But I'm not a betting man. I wouldn't do it.

 

[rbernie]

I would be concerned that any repair might be misconstrued in the future as indicating this to be a viable high pressure receiver - how would anyone else a generation from now know that it's not?

 

[Sun Tzu warrior]

Scrap it, unless you don't mind a potential pipe bomb a few inches in front of your face.
Medical bills are a lot more costly than another receiver.
STW

 

[fguffey]

I have a Spanish Mauser 308 conversion that I picked up for a project to do a Rhineland Arms 45acp conversion.

I needed Mauser receivers, I made a few phone calls and found a box of receivers. Most were Spanish/South American 7mm57 and 7.65mm53mm/7.65BM others were converted to shot gun, and then one of the rifles was a complete 1894 Spanish Mauser. According to the Internet the one complete Spanish Mauser is worth more than I paid for the box of parts + the rifle.

Contact me if I can help.

F. Guffey

.

 

[fireman 9731]

Oh! Convert to .22 LR, just for fun!

I already have a 22lr Mauser trainer or I would!

 

[fireman 9731]

I also tossed it in the vice real quick to see if the cracks had relieved the tension on the threads and if it would easily un-thread. It wouldn't budge. But I also don't have a proper action wrench and it looked like it was pretty cosmo'd/gunked up.

 

[fireman 9731]

Now let's hear everyone's opinions... Did it crack during the conversion and nobody noticed? During the proofing process? Or when fired with 308 ammo?

 

[Scooter22]

I guess thats solid proof .308 conversions in a soft Spanish 93/95 action isn't good. I have one of them myself but only load cast boolits in it. I had a 7.62x39 adaptor in it. Worked great and was accurate but after a couple 100 rounds it started to back out so I removed it and went back to cast boolit loads. I would not weld it. Cut the action in half so know one blows it up. That would cause a BAD headache.

 

[Jim Watson]

Does it have a crest and date?
The oval gas hole looks like the 1916 "upgrade".

 

[Arkansas Paul]

I guess thats solid proof .308 conversions in a soft Spanish 93/95 action isn't good. I have one of them myself but only load cast boolits in it.

My dad has one as well. He got in back in the 80s when the local hardware store had a couple hundred of them for $50 apiece. He had a gunsmith buddy turn down the bolt and mount a scope on it. Now it wears a synthetic stock and a Weaver 3-9x40. For a Bubba job, it actually looks and shoots great.

Because of the issues with them we only shoot very light loads in it. We use the Hodgdon 'youth load' data with H4895. I cringe when I think of all the factory .308 ammo we shot out of it before we knew better.

 

[fireman 9731]

Does it have a crest and date?
The oval gas hole looks like the 1916 "upgrade".

No crest or date anywhere. As far as I know, its is a 1916. It is nearly identical to a 7mm 1916 that I had.

 

[4v50 Gary]

I suspect it was cracked during proofing.

 

[WestKentucky]

Before I did anything else I would remove the bluing and spray it with die-penetrant to see exactly where and how far the cracks go. There's almost always a lot more than what the unaided eye can see, but when a bright red line appears on bare metal you can see it a lot more clearly than just eyeballing the receiver as is. I would be inclined to take that receiver and use it for dimensions, then cut out a new one from modern heat treatable steel. I have a .308 Guardia Civil as well, and I still havent shot it in the almost 2 years I have owned it. I still want to convert to 327 fed.

 

[boom boom]

I agree that it appears to be a 1916 Spanish Mauser Short Rifle. A properly heat treated mauser has a thin case hardened layer over a relatively soft interior--these normally do not crack but instead the receiver stretches over time where the firearm's headspace becomes excessive. You also see setback on the lugs quite often but cracked receivers are a bit more unlikely than something like a low numbered Springfield or a rebarrelled 1917 U.S. Rifle Eddystone.

I suspect that 4v50 Gary has it right--someone fired a proof level load and the receiver was not properly heat treated--e.g. brittle. It could have also happened during rebarreling depending on whether proper tools were used and whether the barrel or receiver was out of spec. However,I don't see bubba marks that indicate big honking pipe wrench or the like being used that might crack the receiver. Someone who was careless might though have installed a barrel that was a bit too big for the receiver (tolerances vary especially over decades where the Spanish used these rifles) and that might have caused it.

Re O/p You could weld it but it would be costly because you would need to have the whole receiver re-heat treated for safety and it might still warp during retreatment. Most cost effective, just buy another receiver for your project--Sarco is selling Mauser 93 bare receivers for about $20 + s/h. as of a few weeks ago.

 

[fguffey]

http://milpas.cc/rifles/ZFiles/Span...les/Model 1916 Short Rifle Serial Numbers.htm

F. Guffey

 

[fguffey]

http://masterton.us/Gammo

F. Guffey

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I would scrap the receiver with cracked ring rather than repair it to prevent future diasater in someone else's hands. I have scrapped at least two guns I considered beyound reasonable safe repair in my 50+ years of being a gun enthusiast.

 

[entropy]

Scrap it. Every gunsmith on here will tell you that, as this one has.

 

[Old Shooter]

That receiver has reached the end of t's life. I would scrap it without a moments hesitation.

 

[Jim Watson]

Agreed, junk.
I would hit it with a large hammer so nobody would be tempted to patch it up.

 

[BBBBill]

Make a cutaway for edumactional porpoises. No one can use it then and at least you'll get a little use out of it.

 

[HankC]

I have a 1893 small ring receiver that I bought to build many years ago, when I was preparing it to drill and tap I saw a hair line crack just like yours. It was so hard to drill that I could only dimple it. I have drilled and tapped several 1893s and typically they are case hardened, only needed to break the skin and take the drill and tap well. I guess 1893 receiver heat treat have a lot of variations.