Mauser Projects

I was fortunate recently in purchasing some Gewehr mauser receivers. I bought two barreled receivers and the seller offered to sell me five more bare receivers for a total of $450. There are two large ring standard action, one large ring "intermediate" action (aka short action), and four small ring actions.

One large ring barreled action is a DWM model 1908 (G98). That action is going to my best friend. The other large ring barreled action is a Turkish T.C. M1938 Kale (G98) that has a small ring barrel on it. The intermediate action is a Turkish 1903 (G98) that was apparently converted to 7.92x57 in or about 1938 hence the cut out at the top of the receiver that allows for a stripper clip. There was no bolt with it so I'll order one soon since it's nearly a full 1/4" shorter than a standard G98. It too was threaded for a small ring barrel.
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This is the short action large ring Turkish 1903 (right) compared to the standard small ring (left) mauser. Notice the strength difference ?

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The small ring receivers are as follows: Modelo 1893 Argentine (7.65x53), an unknown Spanish mauser, a Mexican 1941 Fabrica Nacional De Armas, and an unknown mauser.

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My buddy is considering a 400 Whelen for his DWM action and I am building a 375 Whelen AI on my Turkish 1938 action. I will most likely be sending the Turkish 1903 to be cold/laser welded to repair the conversion. Several will be sent to have the bolts replaced with a longer Obendorf extended handle for scope use. Anything questionable in strength will be sent to Pac-Noir for testing before installing a barrel. I may not keep the small ring actions as I have enough on my hands lol.

I built a Turkish Mauser with a small ring receiver into 25-06.
I just used a 98 replacement barrel and had the threads turned down to the small ring thread.
I also have a 98-22 Mauser that I built to 35 Whelen.
And a couple Yugo 24-47s built to .308.
I had a bunch of other Mausers that I built into custom rifles , but have sold them off over the past 20 years.
I have several Mausers left that I was going to build into custom rifles or restore them to their original style.
But since I have retired I have so many other projects that I just don't have the time to build them.

I built a 30.06 on a GEW 98 with a period 4x Pecar scope and it is a ripper. Cost me $60 all up.

https://i.imgur.com/Xul4hq0l.jpg

@Bad Ass Wallace- That's a nice looking '06 that you have there. I had seriously considered just making mine an '06.

@Lags-After having my 358 built I now know how long, costly, and the amount of work required to have a custom build. I completely understand not having the time to work on them.

I will do something with the 9 surplus Mausers I still have in my safe.
But since I retired , I switched to building Muzzleloaders.
Once I get done with the last 8 of those , I will get back to the Mausers because I still have plenty of extra parts like barrels and bolts plus a few stocks.
I do not build any of this stuff as a business , but just as a hobby.
If friends end up buying a rifle I built and don't shoot it much anymore, I just sell it to them for what I put into it as far as parts costs.

brasshog: You said that you have a Mexican small ring action dated 1941. This is most likely a model 1936 Mexican Mauser, and if so it is actually a small ring version of the 98 Mauser (third safety lug, plus all the 98 gas handling features) The model 1936 Mausers were made at the National Arms Factory (Fabrica Nacional De Armas) and are made from heat treated 4140 chrome-moly steel, not case hardened mild steel. These actions are fully capable of using any modern cartridge based on the 308 or 30-06 case. The bolt for a 1936 Mexican only fits that action, and no others, but many parts for this action are still available. You might want to consider hanging on to that Mexican action because they were much sought after for light weight sporting rifles back in the 1960's up until today. I have one of these and they are somewhat rare nowadays. PM me and I'll let you know where I've found some of the action parts for sale.

That info on the Mexican 1936 is interesting.
I was thinking that a bolt from the shorter Yugo 24/47 would fit that Mexican Mauser.
I am probably wrong.
I have had several chances to but Mexican actions.
But they were all missing the bolt for some reason.

Here is the 1941 action . I am by no means the authority on mausers but I am learning. I figured that they were worth the money that I paid for them at least. The barreled actions were $125 each and the five others were $40 each. Lastly, it looks to me like the "1" was struck over a "0".

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Look inside the rear bridge. Does the receiver have the recess for the third bolt lug? If it has that third bolt lug it's a 98 action.

It does have the recess for the third bolt lug.

Be forwarned about that '38 Turk. I have one here in 30-06 that Is a Beauty.. another...Not so much...it feeds 8X57, no sweat... but, try as I might...It will Not feed 270's...get this...it feeds 308 length best!!!
Any old barrel onto it will tell ya if it Feeds...don't even gotta be tight...yer just seeing if the Round will hop out of the Magazine under the Extractor, and get aimed into the Bore...Good Luck
As an aside...I have an M98, I believe Erfurt, (SP) with a 35 Remington barrel on it... and it works!!! Sometimes even a Blind Squirrel finds a Nut!!!

@Racepress-The 1938 Turk will most likely have a detachable magazine. I'm converting my 358 Win to one because my wide meplate boolits don't like to feed and a single stack mag will most likely cure that. I want to head that issue off at the pass lol

I had several Mausers feed with a problem when I changed the calibers.
I corrected the issue on most by just switching the follower to one from another model of Mausers.
Like on the 1909 Argentine that I re barreled to .35 Whelen.
I switched the follower to one from a German 98 and it fed the rounds great.
Also sometimes switching the magazine spring worked also.

Mauser's generally feed best with Mauser (x57) cartridges. Any of the following: 6mm Remington (a 6x57), 6.5x55 Swedish, 6.5x57 Mauser, 7x57 Mauser, 7.65x53 Mauser, 8x57 Mauser, 9x57 Mauser, and 9.3x57 Mauser, should all be able to feed properly without any (or much) modification to the feed rails and feed ramp. Cartridges based on the 30-06 are long and tapered enough that most of the time they will also feed without issues. Where there can be a problem is with cartridges based on the 308 Winchester case. The 308 has less body taper, is shorter, and is larger in diameter at the case shoulder. Sometimes this can cause feeding problems that might require work on the feed rails. Its a hit or miss proposition. Once I built two 98 model Mauser's in 308 Winchester at the same time. One was a 98-22 that I made for my younger brother, and the other was a VZ-24 that I built for myself. The 98-22 fed smooth as glass without any modifications, but the VZ-24 was jamtastic and required work on both the feed rails, the follower, and the ramp to get it to feed. LAGS is right, sometimes swapping out the follower can fix a problem, but sometimes more work is needed.

Something to be said for a M91 Argentine with its single stack magazine for use as a hunting sporter with cast bullets. Many staggered magazine actions won't feed cast bullets with wide meplats reliably, especially when feeding rounds from the left side of the magazine. The M91 with its single stack mage will feed large meplat bullets w/o problems. For hunting I suggest the original 7.65 Argentine cartridge, the 30x57 or (the best for hunting) the 35x57.

I've been tempted to build a Mauser for years. Fell in love with the pre-WWII era and loved the looks of the Mausers as well as the 7x57 cartridge. Used to go over the gun catalogs when I was younger looking at surplus rifles and Bishop stocks, replacement barrels, sights, etc. For various reasons I never built one.

I also went to my first gun show in over 10 years last month. There was a guy there who had several that he had collected. Two were my ideal, small ring, 7x57, claw mount scopes, and full length mannlicher stocks. Unfortunately they were also priced far out of my finances.

I applaud all of your efforts to give new life to those old actions.

That's a good idea Larry. It's got me thinking about using the RCBS 30-180 FN, powder coated and sized to .312 in the 7.65x53. That would be a deer & pig whacking combination. As a side note, could a 1891 magazine & trigger guard be fitted to a 1893/95 receiver? If the feed rails need to be modified to fit the single stack magazine that's OK. Having a single stack Magazine on the later small ring actions would open up lots of opportunities for some fun gunsmithing projects.

As a side note, could a 1891 magazine & trigger guard be fitted to a 1893/95 receiver?

I have no idea. I find the M91 action to be quite suitable.

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I solved the WFN feed problem in most M98s by getting a couple 3 shot inline magazines from Gibbs. Simply remove the M98 follower, spring and floor plate. The magazine fits in and is "quick detachable also. Feeds WFN bullets slicker than the scum on a Lousianna swamp......

Thanks Larry. I've been thinking about a 9.5x57 Mannlicher-Schoenauer on a '95 Action. The shoulder on that case is wider than on the x57 cases, and a flat nosed bullet would make it Thor's hammer. Yes, single stack magazines feed better, especially with flat nosed bullets, but after thinking about it, the effort of matching an 1891 magazine box to a 93/95 action would probably be about the same as modifying the feed rails and ramp to get it to feed. Might as well do it the old fashioned way. P.S. Nice buck!