Mauser Gunsmithing

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HB

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I have a Charles Daly Zastava m70 Mauser in .308 that I love but originally intended to be a lifelong project. Adjustable trigger, great blueing, seemed like a great base for the ultimate hunting rifle. Has taught me how to bed a rifle etc.

Is getting a Mauser rebarreled something that you can trust your local (2017) gunsmith to do?


308 is nice due to recipes and free brass but a long action Mauser feels neutered in this configuration.

Also recommendations for caliber are appreciated. If I'm getting it rebarreled to a 30 cal it will be a 300 magnum but 338-06, 35 Whelen, and similar "odballs" would be up my ally.

For some reason I have several hundred 6.5 bullets up to 140 gr but no 6.5... But I also love .357 revolvers and enjoy plinking/position shooting and .35 cal bullets could be used out to 100 yards.


Thanks,
-HB
 
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I would trust MY FLG to rebarrel a Mauser, he did it many times in the Golden Age of mailorder surplus, pre GCA68.
I don't know about YOUR guy. Have you seen his work on barrel changes?

Caliber: I don't want a hard kicker, I don't want to ask even my regular smith to change bolt face and magazine for a belted magnum.
Blowing pistol bullets out of a rifle sounds neat but pales after a while, and I have done it to know.
An inventory of 6.5mm bullets would make nostalgic me think about a .256 Newton but a simple 6.5-06 would be easier to tool up for.
 
If they barrel that's on there is in good shape why not just ream the chamber to 300 mag and have the bolt face opened up?

It's an option for him, but that's not the easiest feat to accomplish well. Reaming a chamber on a new barrel, your reamer pilot centers in the bore. Trying to ream an existing chamber to a larger diameter round and do it well, you're looking at custom reamers with extra long pilots. Otherwise, you're just hoping a standard reamer centers itself well enough that you don't end up with a wonky chamber. That's not a gamble I'd take with a customer's gun.

I'd make them buy a custom extra long pilot reamer, which will cost more than a new Bartlein or Shilen barrel.
 
Have JES rebore it to 338-06 or 35 whelen. Cheaper than a new quality barrel, and there reputation for great work speaks for itself. Don't have to worry about an unknown smith thataway
 
All good suggestions so far. It seems like a 6.5-06 would be both practical and unique.

I don't know of any good gunsmiths in my area. Most are AR assemblers less knowledgable than me... Which is to say I wouldn't trust them much.

Should I make my way to Alaska for caribou etc, would a 6.5 be suitable?
 
Well if sending it out would be an option, i have an action at ER shaw (the arisaka) getting a barrel put on. Cost for a what i want is supposed to run around 350-400

I have one gun they did for me a while back and its the most consistently accurate rifle i own. They did some extra work like truing the reciever and bolt face and lapping the lugs while it was there, total cost i know was under 500.

Some big stuff has been shot with heavy 6.5s. I dont know Caribou, but id be comfortable with one and good 140+ bullets i think.
 
I built a 6.5-06 in 2015, and it is my most successful long range rifle to date. [600 yard targets keeping it in the kill zone. Made 629 yard kill on a small animal.]
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Dumoulin Mauser receiver from SARCO
Dumoulin trigger replaced with Timney Featherweight trigger. Adjusted pull force from 3.25 pounds from Factory to 1 pound.

Making Weaver S45 and S54 scope bases flat on the bottom to fit square bridges of Dumoulin Mauser receiver

Sightron SIII 3.5x10x44 moa turrets moa reticle with illuminated dot, Weaver tactical rings 48355

Shilen Select match #3 taper Stainless barrel 6.5mm bore 26" long rachet rifling
Cut inch off each end = 24", cut Mauser threads, cut 6.5-06 A square chamber with 0.005" headspace, cut crown at 11 degrees and chamfer ID and OD of muzzle.
Subsequently measure 2.528" of neck space [for trimming cases] [ 6.5-06 A square cannot use necked 270 brass without trimming, but can use 30-06 necked brass]
fired cases necks measure 0.298" in the middle, chamber measures 0.300" in the middle [chamber neck narrower in front and wider in rear]

Boyd's pro varmint Mauser stock.Replaced Boyd's recoil pad with Limbsaver large grind to fit pad
Home made rear Aluminum alloy pillar glass bedding with pre stress in compression with Devcon steel putty
Home made front pillar/recoil lug/sling stud base/ bipod base Aluminum alloy milled out 9" long, drilled and tapped for 10-32 Uncle Mike's studs, glass bedding with pre stress in compression with Devcon steel putty.
Front action screw clamps bottom of recoil lug to Aluminum bed block so there is no lengthwise bind on receiver.
Drilled clearance holes in stock for 1/4-20 lag bolts in Karsten's custom cheek rest model A

Harris bi pod attachment knob replaced with KMW pod loc

Custom FL sizer body from Forster neck honing service by paying for double hone out fee from 25-06 body to 0.292" neck.
Custom collet neck die mandrel from Lee Custom Mandrel reduction service by paying triple fee for 270 mandrel from a collet neck die down to 0.262", but leave the top 1/4" alone to fit a 270 collar

120 gr Nos Bal tip moly with 50.7 gr IMR-4166 powder 3.34" , Win 30-06 brass, that QL estimates at 3236 fps 65 kpsi using IMR-4895 in the QL library.
9-23-2015 range report:
Chronographs at 3197 fps

I called up Forster and went around and around until they sent me a 25-06 Full length sizer die body honed out to a 0.292" neck.
That would make it an ideal 6.5-06 sizer die body, for $57. [double the honing charge]
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I called up Lee and went around and around until they agreed to reduce a 270 mandrel from a collet neck die down to 0.262", but leave the top 1/4" alone to fit a 270 collar.
This will make it ideal for turning a 270 Lee collet neck die into a 6.5-06 die.
$20 plus shipping [quadruple the reduction charge]
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In each case they had to go talk to the machinist.
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I am necking down 30-06 brass.
270 brass necked down is too long for my 6.5-06 A Square reamer, and would have to be trimmed.
I could not get the Nos 142 gr long range to work, but the 120 gr Nos bal tip have averaged 0.92" 5 shots @100y
3.34" 120 gr nos bal tip moly 50.7 gr IMR-4166 3197 fps chrono 24" barrel 8" twist 5R #3 barrel
 
Depends on what you want to pay and whether you plan on using it to hunt or target shooting. Also depends on whether you reload for the more expensive rounds.

Decent generic and decent name brand short chambered Mauser barrels (<2 moa) are available for 98 actions in whatever caliber you want from Brownells or Midway and would be cheaper than having it rebored for a larger caliber for under three hundred dollars. Barrel blanks are available from quality makers in whatever profile you like and as much potential accuracy as you would like. I suspect unless you had a master work on reboring the existing barrel to a larger caliber, that a) it would cost a lot of money and b) probably be inferior in accuracy to a new barrel in the cartridge you like. However, you might have access to someone like Clark where that would not apply

Around here, generic rebarreling and headspacing a new barrel with a customer supplied barrel and action runs about $150 and up depending on the degree of lathe work and chamber work done and this guy is swamped.

That being said, Mauser 98's by their very nature trade off benchrest accuracy for rock solid reliability so it requires a lot of handwork to accurize than perhaps a more modern design such as Remington 700, Savage, etc. Zastava which made the m70 for Daly also has the rep fwiw for sometimes being a bit rougher than a comparable CZ or FN action and requiring a bit more handwork.

For some other perspectives, you might try floating what you want at MauserCentral forums as those guys are primarily interested in sporter Mausers and have some good insights on the platform (not that you don't get that here from a lot of the posters above)
 
Around here, generic rebarreling and headspacing a new barrel with a customer supplied barrel and action runs about $150 and up depending on the degree of lathe work and chamber work done and this guy is swamped.

I'll bet he is if the work is half decent. Are we talking pre-threaded short chambered barrels with finished muzzles?

We start at $300 to cut & crown, then thread, chamber, install, set headspace and lap lugs. Nobody is bringing us nearly finished barrels to install.
 
I'll bet he is if the work is half decent. Are we talking pre-threaded short chambered barrels with finished muzzles?

We start at $300 to cut & crown, then thread, chamber, install, set headspace and lap lugs. Nobody is bringing us nearly finished barrels to install.

Yeah, prefinished Mauser short chambered barrels with nothing done to the crown, no sight work, no lap lugging, etc. but simply reaming and headspacing the barrel/bolt. Cost $200 for a Springfield 03a3 installation of a new old stock barrel with the sight bases already installed to the timing mark. Their business is a family business with three generations of gunsmiths and an old paid for location and you often have a pretty long wait for some services.
 
150 for "drop" in barrels here. I haven't had my local smith do a profiled blank yet, but he quoted right around 300 for the work last i asked. So seems to be about going rate.
 
20 years ago Randy Ketchum, of Lynnwood Guns, charged $35 to cut threads, $35 + reamer rental to cut chamber and headspace, $35 to weld a bolt handle.
He paid taxes on $30k/year.
He died of cancer 4 years ago.
If I had life to do over, I would have more kids and spend more money at Randy's shop.
 
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