Siamese Mauser Cartridge follower help!

[brstevns]

Posting for my cousin, he has a Siamese Mauser in 45/70 that someone has replaced the cartridge follower with a 98 Mauser 8 m/m one, to say the least it will not feed correctly. Is there a different military guide or follower that will work? Does anyone make or alter a guide to fit? Any thought as to what he can do?

[flounderman]

I have the same problem but mine is a 348. I was thinking of trying a 6.5 jap follower. they seem to be wider as I remember.

[brstevns]

I had thought of that as well, but have not found out if anyone has given it a try. Let me know if it works for you.

[pietro]

Your cousin most likely has a bigger problem than that.

It may be that when the rifle was rebarreled for the .45/70 cartridge no work was done to the magazine to allow it to feed the straight walled .45/70 catridge.
The original 8x52mmR Siamese Mauser cartridge, although rimmed like a .45/70, was a bottleneck cartridge and the magazine was optimised to feed it.

The straight .45/70, especially with a flat point bullet, is a challenge in a box magazine - even though it has the correct slant for a rimmed cartridge.

Adapting the magazine for the .45/70 would be as much of an art as a science, and perhaps the conversion of the magazine was either not done or not done properly.
You could try different bullet profiles and avoid flat point bullets, but if that doesn't work you'll need an experienced smith to work out these kinks & make it feed. Not every gunsmith has worked on a Siamese Mauser.


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[brstevns]

You may be correct, but he does know the wrong follower is in it. Thinking this is t he best place to start. When (Shaw) rebarreled this action for him they phoned him and told him the follower was not correct.

[StrawHat]

If ER Shaw did the action work, it likely is properly done. They did one for me back in the 70s and I have since got a second one from them. Both have worked fine.

As for your follower, I know of no source for a Siamese follower. I am looking for an unaltered one as I prefer my bolts to stay back after ejecting the last round.

[brstevns]

E.R. Shaw did the work in the early 90's . Like you said there are no followers to be found. someone should make a run of these , they would make a bundle.

[flounderman]

I saw a follower in a siamese that the spring was hinged, instead of bent like a normal mauser. there were coil springs on each little hinge. never saw another like it

[brstevns]

I saw a follower in a siamese that the spring was hinged, instead of bent like a normal mauser. there were coil springs on each little hinge. never saw another like it

Must have been one a custom gunsmith made up. I would have loved to see a picture of it.
I still think a 6.5 Arisaka follower could be reworked or maybe a follower from a 303 British.

[OlManDow]

How abut the sheet metal follower from a 303 British Enfield Magazine? It is distinctly wider than a Mauser follower, and intended for rimmed cases.

[brstevns]

How abut the sheet metal follower from a 303 British Enfield Magazine? It is distinctly wider than a Mauser follower, and intended for rimmed cases.

If anyone has tried this I would like to hear how it worked out.

[Artful]

http://valval.pro.tc/Siamese-Mauser-Follower.html
http://www.us-rd.com/sitebuilder/images/mauser1A-449x600.jpg
http://picturearchive.gunauction.com/8699164645/5962256/3e1651c482361d72bdc62f6303035a92.jpg

[jed]

The follower has been a problem with mine also. I cleaned it and put jb weld on it and filed it to help it feed better, but still it lacks reliability for hunting situations. Also will a new horizotal 98 mauser safety work on the siamese?

[AviatorTroy]

Wow the mine's chambered in 30-40 krag and the follower doesn't work worth a damn in it either. I never have gotten it to work right and I thought bubba from the origina conversion might have had something to do with it. Looks like this is very common after all.

[madsenshooter]

The follower/spring and even the floorplate from an Arisaka type 38 can be modified to work on the Siamese, oh, you're talking 45/70. Found pics online once, but can't find my way back to it now. Found it, floorplate pics anyway.

http://www.hoosiergunworks.com/catalog/siamese_floorplate_conversion.html

[flounderman]

I haven't tried arisaka but thought it might work. I saw one once that was made with hinges in the spring and wound springs in the hinges. the spring is the problem because of the slant magazine. I got mine without floorplate, spring and follower and cut a 98 floorplate and used a regular spring and follower of some kind. It fills the hole but doesn't work right. I think it feeds except for the last one in the magazine.

[MBTcustom]

What about converting it to a box magazine? I have run into this same issue with a Jap Arisaka, (rebarreled to 358 Winchester) in that it wont feed short boolits. It does fine with the longer ones, but it just doesn't like the short ones.
I have been kicking around the idea of using a browning box magazine or perhaps one of those kwik-klip conversions to get an answer I can live with.
Just a thought.