98 Mauser rechamber

[littlejack]

A few years back I bought one of the Egyptian Mausers that showed up on the market, at a gun show. It/they are the BO model, which means "without markings". It had never been issued and was in pristine condition. Probably should have left it in its original condition, but had it sporterized. I had the gunsmith re-chamber it to 8mm-06 AI. It shoots a 200 grain bullet at an honest clocked 2800+ fps. My go to bullet is the 200 grain Nosler partition. The rifle will shoot 1.25" at 100 yards, if I do my part. It will also shoot the Hornaday 195 grain sp very well. I had some Norma 196 grain that I bought here on the Swappin and Selling site. They shot under 1" consistently.
Brass is very easy to make. This AI cartridge case and its parent case ( 30-06) both headspace on the same datum line, on the shoulder. So, all one has to do is prime and powder a 30-06 case, seat a bullet where you want it and fire form.
Recoil (to me) is very tolerable. Great cartridge.
Regards
Jack

[tanstafl10]

Son,
I told you these guys know their stuff......
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This was a fun read!
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Fellas, Thanks for all the good info.
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DAD

[koger]

I am thinking of building another Mauser sporter, have done way over 100 in my life, last one I did for myself, was on a unissued FN 7x57 barrel, I did everything I knew to accurize it, and it shot anything form 120gr handloads to 200gr factory, into 3/4" groups, hot or cold, dirty or clean. Made a mistake of pricing stupid high to a hunting pardner, he took it, and it will go with him to the grave, great little sporter I built in the old commercial fashion

[Earlwb]

I sporterized my Mauser many years ago. It is still chambered for the 8x57mm cartridge. But it is a good round to shoot or hunt with anyway. Not much sense changing it. But I could though. It looks as good as any of the more modern hunting bolt action rifles.

I also converted a Japanese Arisaka to use the .22-250 Ackley Improved cartridge too. I still have my first sporterized rifle a Saimese Mauser. It still uses the 8mm Saimese round and I have to load the ammo for it. But I think it makes a good hunting rifle too. More recently I sporterized my Chinese 7.62x54R rifle as well. But I left it using the original cartridge as it is a good one as well.

But nowadays, it may be cheaper to just buy a nice bolt action rifle or semi-auto for that matter. If you have a gunsmith do it for you, it might get pretty expensive. But I still like doing stuff like that myself though.

But your thoughts on going with .308 is good, that is a nice cartridge. Easy to get ammo for it too.

[littlejack]

Earlwb.
You are correct about the 8mm cartridge. It is a fine cartridge as is. It will do anything the 30-06 will do. Personally, I think is superior over the 308.
As for the cost of a gunsmith to sporterize a rifle? A definite yes. Nowadays it is very expensive. I guess it all boils down to how bad a person wants a particular rifle and cartridge. If customized to what you want, it will be a lot cheaper to buy a factory rifle in the factory chambering, unless the person is capable of doing the work themselves.
I believe that I had that Egyption Mauser sporterized in 2002. At that time the dies for the 8mm-06 AI cartridge cost me 119.00 plus shipping from RCBS.
Just sayin.
Regards
Jack

[map55b]

What length 98 do you have? What do you want to use it for? Do you hand load or looking for easy to find ammo? I've done 270 in a full length 98. 7x57, 22-250 and 308 in a Mexican 1910, 35 Whelen in a Yugo 24, 45-70 in a Siamese and so on.

[aspangler]

I am currently working on my third 98 conversion. This one now has a 1" machine gun barrel chambered in 8x57. Slug measures .321.bore x .325 groove. 21" long and headspace is .0025".Going to order a Richard's Microfit stock for it. Nothing at all wrong with the 8mm. I have three of them. twoo are in the original stocks. Try it. you'll like it.

[rwadley]

I am currently working on my third 98 conversion. This one now has a 1" machine gun barrel chambered in 8x57. Slug measures .321.bore x .325 groove. 21" long and headspace is .0025".Going to order a Richard's Microfit stock for it. Nothing at all wrong with the 8mm. I have three of them. twoo are in the original stocks. Try it. you'll like it.

When you get this going, you should start a thread. I have been interested in how those barrels shoot.

[Diver07]

All good suggestions s. I'm going to have to do some real comparisons on ballistics and such.

[Diver07]

Not sure on length. I'd have to measure it. Unfortunately due to work I did not get to retrieve it from the gunsmith yet. When I do...I'll post pics and some details. General idea...mid to long range, hunting, coyote sized and up. Yes I hand load. Have a decent amount of components for the 8mm already. Need to increase my stock of casings.

[Diver07]

Okay, think I've narrowed it to 8mm, 25-06, 6.5 creedmore, or 6.5x47 Lapua.leaning toward .25-06...I'm hearing it's gaining momentum in LE and military.

[HangFireW8]

I'd advise not doing it. Sporterizing a Mauser is like buying a boat, there is always something else that needs to be bought, repaired, upgraded, etc. If you're concerned about the cost of reloading components, the Mauser sporter game isn't for you. I'd recommend selling the Mauser to fund something economical you could use, such as a Ruger American bolt action in .308 Winchester.

Well... I would advise against paying someone to do it all. You'll quickly have $700 into a $275 rifle.

Taking your time, gathering parts on sale and closeout, doing as much work yourself as possible (stock, trigger, sights), and after a while, you'll have $400 into a $250 rifle. That's not so bad.

As for the cost of reloading components, if you cast your own boolits and stick with a 308, x57, or '06 family cartridge, it's really not a problem.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I'd advise not doing it. Sporterizing a Mauser is like buying a boat, there is always something else that needs to be bought, repaired, upgraded, etc. If you're concerned about the cost of reloading components, the Mauser sporter game isn't for you. I'd recommend selling the Mauser to fund something economical you could use, such as a Ruger American bolt action in .308 Winchester.

My thoughts exactly, if the rifle is in original condition, even with a worn barrel, it could go well toward covering the cost of a Ruger American Rifle. The cost of an American is probably not much different to a re-barreling anyway. The reason us old farts re-barrelled and re-chambered milsurp rifles was because they wasn't much else available. There is plenty of great rifles out there now.

I'd g slowly with 308 on a mauser as well. I've had four Israelis over the years, one was a nightmare feeding wise, two were fair and one was good. They all shot alright.

[Tenbender]

I have a 257 Roberts Ackley imp. 40. Great deer round and can be loaded down , I use 90 gr hp, for ground hogs or coyote's. I shoot Nosler 115 gr partition for deer. It shoots to fast for any other bullet on deer. The bullet will break up. I built this one back in 2001.
Someone posted about a 22 250 Ack. Imp. I had one and a stock 22 250 would out shoot it. Lost money on that build.

[Diver07]

Part of the idea with this project isn't about buying a out of the box rifle because their available...its more of a "can I do it?" project. Yes, I'll do what I can myself. What it can't do I'll pay for as i can aford it. And I know it wont be cheap in that end. But I'm looking to gain the experience and in the end, if all goes well, be able to say "yeah I spent some money...but I did that. And it shoots. It shoots great."

[MostlyLeverGuns]

With a 98 Mauser (military 8mm)I have found the .308 or .243 may or may not feed smoothly with feed rails unchanged. I like the 8mm, lots of power, still relatively cheap surplus ammo around, easy to reload. Prvi brass available right now. The 8mm is at least as capable as the .30-06 on big stuff. I have used the 200 grain Partition on elk, works very well. It is not fussy or hard to find accurate cast bullet loads. In an emergency, the .308 might be easier to find cases or ammunition, but it is easy to reform and shorten 30-06, 270, 280 to 8mm Mauser (7.9 x 57). Although I shoot the .308 a lot from my Savage 99's, with a bolt gun I would pick the 8mm over the .308 or .30-06. I have a loaded 8mm Mauser 98 with a good barrel and Lyman 57 sight behind my shop door - just because. Shaw barrels are inexpensive , available in 8mm and shoot very well.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I always fancied an 8mm/06. A part of your hunting history and a pretty good round to boot.

[map55b]

Amen Diver07! This is exactly why you should do this project, then with what knowledge you gain do another with a bit more complexity or uniqueness. I've build about 10 now. Started with just a basic sporter with a 7x57 Mexican 1910, scope mount, stock, trigger and bent bolt now I'm building a single shot from scratch. Have fun, learn and keep building, Just Because!

[Diver07]

Thanks for summing it up..."just because".

[Diver07]

Really narrowing it down to 25-06 due to not wanting to get into the complexity of shorter rounds such as .308. Although I'm liking the creedmore, this will most likely be the first of many builds and will be keeping it simple. I'll expand on the consecutive ones.