Sporterizing a military rifle, the old fashioned way.
A construction article by Mickey Mauzer
Obligatory Political Statement
I was always fascinated by the artistry of those who took steel and wood and crafted fine sporting rifles
So I bought a few books and acquired a Mauser 98 action, a laminated stock blank, a few needed parts (like a
good trigger and magazine), a few wood chisels and went to work.
ALL work was done by hand
except for a little Dremel touch-up work, the initial barrel channel routing in the stock and some lathe
work.
Action:
The classic Mauser 98: Produced all over from the 1890's through WWII. Chambered in 8x57JS, this
caliber is roughly equivalent to the 30-'06 in foot-pounds of energy. 175-200 grains of lead at 3200-2800
feet per second. Not a bad hunting round at all for North American game.
The barrel was removed to cut the military steps down on the lathe. I was told by many people that cutting the steps out would ruin the barrels accuracy. This is not true if you cut slow and don't stress the barrel. Much of the final cutting was actually done with a file covered with oiled emery cloth. This was followed by polishing and blueing. There's now a zillion barrels available for this action, from pricey to economy, in chrome moly, stainless, ported... you name it. If you buy a cheap barrel you'll pay as much for the finish reamers anyway. Either way, it's still a cheap way to make a great sporter.
The action was reshaped by hand filing, polished and blued. Stripper clip slots in bridge were removed for
appearance and to make the bridge parallel to the receiver ring for scope mounts. Barrel and action were
re-headspaced on reassembly. I made the headspace gauges on the lathe too.
Stock:
A Remington laminated blank was bought from surplus,(Gun Parts, NY) 2 1/8" thick and 34" inches long.
Plain Walnut would have been easier to work but who knew. This was cheap enough that if I ruined it I
wouldn't have anything to cry about. The next one will a be real nice piece of Walnut or Myrtle.
Although the final inletting was tight enough that full contact was achieved, a thin layer of glassbed epoxy
resin was used to fill any voids.
Wood finish is 22 coats of hand rubbed Minwax Antique Oil Finish.
It's not as shiny as it looks, it's more of a bright eggshell surface and will never crack or chip like
polyurethane.
After tweaking the barrel inletting and working up a good load this gun now shoots
under 1/3" (.310") best groups at 100 yards, with a clean barrel of course.
Total time to complete this project was about 2 years, working on and off.
Total cost including a nice
collection of chisels and other tools was as follows.
$65 for barreled action
$60 Tools and other parts.
$35 Stock blank
$20 Sandpaper, finish, blueing & misc.
If you're tired of building amplifiers and power supplies this might be a nice project for you to try. I
will now rebarrel another for .308 Match and it will become my high power silhouette rifle.
Important Legal Note:
Don't forget, under the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), you MUST stamp the barrel with the CARTIRDGE type it uses.
See Federal Firearms Regulations for further reading. You are responsible for knowing and following these regulations when performing actions which may affect compliance. They are good to know in any event. I have often heard many misinterpreted regulations around the gun range. Their is no excuse for this and it will certainly be of little value in your defense should you find yourself charged with the innocent violation of such regulations.
Disclaimer: I assume no responsibility for any loss, damage, injury or other occurance which may arise from using any of the information contained in these pages. It is your responsibility to practice safe habits when handling and using firearms of any kind. Many of these Mauser rifles, particularly those made nearer the end of the war, were known to have
poor heat treating of the receiver, or used lower grades of steel. While some books on gunsmithing advocate the use of such actions for magnum calibers I would be reluctant to venture into these higher power cartridges in this action. Even with standard calibers one must excercise great caution when test firing a newly refitted action. If you choose to build a rifle using this or any older action you are strongly advised to buy a good book on gunsmithing and understand the practices throughly. I would reccomend "Gunsmithing" by Roy Dunlap as a good starting point. It is an excellent reference which would be a valuable addition to the library of anyone who appreciates classic firearms.
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