Stuck 98 Mauser barrel any ideas?

[Texas by God]

That 09 DWM will be a great .35 Whelen. And more svelte than a 1917 for sure.��

[Hardcast416taylor]

The last 1917 Winchester Enfield that I took the barrel off from, about 15 years back, required and resisted about everything but a priest saying a benediction over it to get it loose. In the end it was a freezing then heating plus the 24" pipe wrench with a 36" `cheater` on it to make that long awaited `POP` sound. Today it is a .338/06 that is a nail driver.Robert

[swheeler]

Attachment 212925Got it! It froze hard here last night so I just left it in the barrel vice and added a pipe wrench on the other side of the vice as slip insurance. Built a pipe cheater that would accept at 5' rock bar. Gave the receiver ring a little heat and sucked up the action wrench. Got the bar on gave it a pull and dropped a 8lb hammer on the wrench handle. Let loose with a pop and I landed in a pile with a rock bar on my lap.

I see when it was drilled and tapped they drilled right into the receiver locking lug, quite common anymore on everything, used to be mostly Springfields.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Many gunsmith-rebarrelled Mauser 98s, and possibly some military ones, have a barrel tightened up on the front face of the receiver. A shallow cut into the barrel, as close to the receiver as you can get, will loosen that, just like it will almost everything else. Do it close enough to the receiver, and you can even set the barrel back a thread and use it on another rifle.

More of them, though, tighten up with the rear face of the barrel on the internal stop-ring of the 98, and there is no way you can relieve the pressure there. If the useful techniques we have heard here don't work, you can cut off the barrel close to the front of the receiver, and drill or counterbore it out, ideally just meeting the crests of the threads so that the remaining metal can be pulled out like a triangular-wire coilspring. Or you can counterbore it as close as possible, then use a Dremel tool and carbide burr, or similar, to cut down to the thread crests in two or three places. If you left a little of the old barrel standing proud of the receiver, you should be able to drive the pieces far enough inward with a hammer and soft metal punch to get them out.

[swheeler]

Attachment 212925Got it! It froze hard here last night so I just left it in the barrel vice and added a pipe wrench on the other side of the vice as slip insurance. Built a pipe cheater that would accept at 5' rock bar. Gave the receiver ring a little heat and sucked up the action wrench. Got the bar on gave it a pull and dropped a 8lb hammer on the wrench handle. Let loose with a pop and I landed in a pile with a rock bar on my lap.

This is the correct location of front base holes on receiver ring(look where yours is drilled), I just drilled and tapped this last Friday

[firebyprolong]

The armorer who put this one together could read a mic and that's for sure. Both the shoulder and the breach were in full contact and are bright and smooth,I'd bet 95% thread contact as well. I need to chuck up my blank and knock just a touch off the thread hight. I slopped her up with anti- seize to check the fit and can't spin it more than 3/4 s on with hand pressure. As to the drill and tap you know it's in the wrong spot I know it's in the wrong spot but the guy that slapped two piece weaver bases on it didn't. The same guy did the bolt forging according to the guy I got the donor rifle from. At least he was careful enough to get them on square and drill and tap nice straight and square bottom hole just deep enough to accommodate a mount screw, with a threads all the way to the bottom. They are perfect holes other than one being over the lug. It's gonna take a little fitting to get a one piece mount to fit but easy is boring.

[swheeler]

I'm seeing more and more mausers drilled wrong, used to just be Springfields and I thought I knew why, now I'm wondering. I'm guessing it was drilled and tapped using a BSquare (or clone) jig, but the Special Notes on Argentine mausers front rec ring was over looked and the line "or the mount holes will be located too far to the rear." applies. Good luck on your build, you'll like the Whelen.

[firebyprolong]

I sure wasn't trying to be rude or dismissive in that last post swheeler, and I hope it wasn't taken that way. That was ment to be humorous and nothing else. Sometimes I forget that folks can't see the smile behind the written word.
I just thought it odd that someone would do everything right except for the base location. It really is quite nice job other than that one glaring detail and the use of the cheapest junk based weaver made at the time. I need to do some checking and order a few bases. I'd like to go with a steel one piece but would settle for two if my hole spaceing works. If no matter what I have modify holes in a base I'll just go with a one piece. I have a mill, I can make it work.

[justashooter]

a well assembled '98 will have pressure at shoulder and at breach face. most are tight at shoulder only. relieving with a cut-off wheel usually gets the most stuck barrels to back out. cutting the barrel off is creating a different kind of serious problem.

[KenT7021]

I quit using cheater bars on action wrenches many years ago.I use the Brownell's action wrench with a home made barrel vise.The Brownell's wrench has a short heavy handle which is perfect.I hit the end of the handle as hard as possible with a home made HEAVY brass hammer.Most actions come right off the barrel.If the barrel slips in the barrel vise I use a pipe wrench in addition to the barrel vise.This is only possible if you're not trying to safe the barrel.

[swheeler]

I sure wasn't trying to be rude or dismissive in that last post swheeler, and I hope it wasn't taken that way. That was ment to be humorous and nothing else. Sometimes I forget that folks can't see the smile behind the written word.
I just thought it odd that someone would do everything right except for the base location. It really is quite nice job other than that one glaring detail and the use of the cheapest junk based weaver made at the time. I need to do some checking and order a few bases. I'd like to go with a steel one piece but would settle for two if my hole spaceing works. If no matter what I have modify holes in a base I'll just go with a one piece. I have a mill, I can make it work.

No offence taken, we're good. I've spotted a half dozen or so on here over the years and all were mausers, the pawn shops show or have shown 50% or better of all sporterized Springfields to be drilled that way, the BSquare jig comes with two top plates stamped M and S, mauser and Springfield. The directions list the exceptions and how to use correctly, 09 ARG, Mexican, and Arisaka are listed IIRC. Rem, Win, Savage all miss drilling into them I know one local gunsmith will not rebarrel if drilled so.

[Mauser 98K]

b4 you start hacking on the thing. does the barrel bottom out on the face of the receiver or does it bottom out inside the action. i have seen them both ways. if it bottoms out inside the action then hacksaw will get you nowhere.

but you need one of these..





most action wrenches go inside the chamber. while this works sometimes, a lot of the time the wrench is just not strong enough. i have twisted the crappy inside action wrenches b4 i came up with this one that the action plugs into...

[Texas by God]

He removed it on post #17. That action wrench of yours looks great. My home made one does not!

[firebyprolong]

I went ahead a few years ago and bought a brownells action wench when I didn't have a lathe. Since I've become better equipped I've built a few sets of jaws for it. After 5 years I figure it's paid for itself a couple of times. Mauser I'd say you built yourself a dandy wrench there.

[john.k]

There is a very easy way to make tools for action and barrel,and that is with the low melting Cerro metals....one type has sufficient strength to use in press tool making,yet still melts at low temp....One type was even used in short run car panel press dies....Cerromatrix?.....simply make up a mold box,cardboard and silastic is ok,and cast around the part to be held....The more irregular the shape,the better.

[Texas by God]

john.k, that's a great idea and that's how Briley makes fixtures to install their custom choke tubes on various shotguns.