1896 mauser in 358 win. caliber

[jaystuw]

On gunbroker Sometime ago, I seem to recall seeing a completely average m1896 swedish mauser infantry rifle (not sporterized) That was bored and chambered for the 358 winchester cartridge. Is my memory correct ? I don't know.But the more I think about it, the more i'd like to have a unsporterized large bore m96. (does sound kind of fun with cast bullets). Could a conversion like that be done without a lot of boltface, extractor or magazine work? maybe just a rebore and rechamber? John

[RustyReel]

I have not checked the cartridge specs, but I don't think the 51mm length of the 358 will clean out the chamber of the 55mm length of the 6.5x55.

[Reg]

And the pressure's of the 358 are at the least very top end, if not over the recommended of the 96 action.
Go with the 35 Remington. Safe and a great performer in any of the earlier small rings.

[Larry Gibson]

Could a conversion like that be done without a lot of boltface, extractor or magazine work? maybe just a rebore and rechamber?

Yes. Probably no action work needed and a rebore or rebarrel is easily done.

Some M96s were chambered in 9 & 9.3x57 cartridges and imported a few years back. However, they were sporters but still had stepped barrels. Could be one of those redressed back to military trim?

Larry Gibson

[copperlake]

I have thought of this very thing for 25 years and am going to do it, especially after my recent experiments. I will do some modifications to make the gas handling problem less. Pressure wise, the .358 is there with the .308 WIN and 6mm REM. I have in mind a ultralite plastic stocked open sighted thing, parkerized.

Being a inveterate GunBroker lurker, I'd say Gibson is correct. What you saw was a 9mm or 9.3mm, most likely.

[jaystuw]

Hey guys, thanks for the info and tips! Now I want to go with the 35 remington,(thanks reg) no pressure problems and have dies and brass. ( got a remington m30 in 35rem cal, how neat is that!) So, likely no (or minor) action work, just need to check cartridge dimensions to make sure the re chamber won't be complicated. rebore, and i am in business. I am thinking cost maybe $300 ? And need to figure out which is my least collectable m96 to use. john

[RustyReel]

I don't think the 35 Rem will clean out the original chamber either. I'll second the 9x57 or 9.3x57 suggestion above. Actually, for about your $300 budget you can buy a Husky 9.3x57 Mauser based on the M96 action. Bit more for a nicer one. Of course, these are commercial sporters........but neat little rifles.

[pietro]

I'd search around the web for a take-off 9.3x57 Small Ring Mauser bbl (only), & switch the bbl out.



.

[Reg]

Not sure if I would mess with the old military barrel anyway as far as a re bore goes.
Consider all the cost factors. Last 35. Remington I made up on a 91 Mau, I got a new A&B barrel from Midway that had the contour I wanted and the shank came out to fit a large ring Mau. in 35 Whelen. No problem. Cut everything back and re fitted to the 91 and chambered in the 35 Rem. Whole operation took less than 4 hours and I am not real fast at barrel fitting.
With the 200 gn. Hornady RN's it shoots into 1 1/4" @ 100 yds, about as good as I can shoot anything like that.
Honestly think I would go that route. I think you will wind up with a better barrel ( the A&B barrels Midway sells are a excellent barrel for the money ) and might wind up saving a few bux in the process.
Let us know how it turns out.

[Uncle Grinch]

Not sure if it makes much difference, especially with the extractor, but the 6.5x55 rim diameter is .476. The standard .308 family is .473, while the 35 Rem is smaller at .460. So you may have issues with a military action designed for ..476 rims when using a .460 cartridge.

Just food for thought....

[Reg]

Not sure if it makes much difference, especially with the extractor, but the 6.5x55 rim diameter is .476. The standard .308 family is .473, while the 35 Rem is smaller at .460. So you may have issues with a military action designed for ..476 rims when using a .460 cartridge.

Just food for thought....

You are talking .016, they work just fine.

[gidgaf]

That's one of the (many!) things that made me a bit quizzical.
There's the 6mm-06, the 7mm-06, the 8mm-06, and the 35 whelen. Based on the 06.
Since we're doing our own thang anyway, why not make a 35 whelen out of a 308 cartridge?
Everything else is the same. We already have all the right tools for this.
It's a shorter cartridge, and it'd be better for a short action mauser.
Even the barrel is still the same- just the chamber is a mite shorter.

[waksupi]

That's one of the (many!) things that made me a bit quizzical.
There's the 6mm-06, the 7mm-06, the 8mm-06, and the 35 whelen. Based on the 06.
Since we're doing our own thang anyway, why not make a 35 whelen out of a 308 cartridge?
Everything else is the same. We already have all the right tools for this.
It's a shorter cartridge, and it'd be better for a short action mauser.
Even the barrel is still the same- just the chamber is a mite shorter.

Been done. It's called the .358 Winchester. An all time favorite with shooters here.

[gidgaf]

I know.
I, uh, was being facetious.
I actually like the 35 Remington, as it's a nice light load that knocks things down.
But that 358 sure makes it easy to do. Everything fits. Everything works.

[jaystuw]

I have seen the 9.3 m/m husky sporters on gunbroker. (i am a huge fan of pre-war commercial and simi custom sporters) and have always thought they were an excellent value for the money. With the swedish mauser conversion I want to do something different. I am something like the guys I read about years ago in a gun magazine article. It was about custom s@w pistols and the time, effort and expense these fellows would go thru to get just the exact odd and interesting pistol they wanted. Meny times they really didn't have a valid reason to justifie all the money they spent on these pistols . They just wanted one that way. It is much the same with me. Ever since I saw that rifle, i have wanted one. a original m96 infantry rifle in a american 35 cal. cartridge! I have never had custom work done before. But you guys are at least as envolved in the hobby as i am and have tried it. Was it worth it to you? john

[zymguy]

Who ended up building the 358 win ? I just bought one with a 1/14 twist.

[Texas by God]

I'm guessing here but the .358 rebore of the m96 6.5 would result in a long throated .358? I doubt the 96 would have trouble with the pressure. Norma loads the 9.3x57mm and Norma factory loads in any caliber are not "conservative". My .02

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[Uncle Grinch]

I too wanted a 35 Rem on a 96 Swede action, but man those Swedes have gone sky high in price and I didn’t want to mess up a good milsurp. When I saw a SR Mauser Barrel in 35 Rem offered up on another site, I PM’d the user and he suggested using the 93 Spanish Mauser instead. I picked on of these up a lot cheaper than a Swede and now I’m waiting on my 35 Rem SR Mauser to show up at my front door!

[Texas by God]

Buckshot has some 94 Brazil SR actions in the S&S.

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[zymguy]

looks like 358 win is .003 smaller head than a 6.5x 55 . Do you think i can use stripper clips to load it ?