Mauser 98 in .30-'06: should it have a crossbolt?

[Steven66]

...because of the smallish recoil lug? I'm putting it in a black walnut stock. I am planning to glass bed the front of the receiver and first 2" - 3" of the barrel, but I see sporters both with and without crossbolts. I was thinking about glassing in a metal plate behind the recoil lug if I don't use a crossbolt.

[pietro]

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The only reason to crossbolt a Mauser 98 would be if it's put into a very thin/lightweight wood stock.

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[swheeler]

I would say not necessary with a good bedding job on the receiver/ recoil lug. Andy that is a pretty stock on the Browning, inside of the receiver rails/ bolt raceways still in the white on it?

[Larry Gibson]

"I am planning to glass bed the front of the receiver and first 2" - 3" of the barrel,"

If done correctly the cross bolt is not needed.

[Rich/WIS]

Good insurance on a rifle with heavy recoil. Remember the military rifles were designed for hard use and likely some serious abuse as well. Adding the crossbolts was an easy way to strengthen the stock.

[Texas by God]

I didn't need one on my custom Amberg 1917 .358 Norma Magnum. The Acraglas was sufficient.

[Wolfer]

No crossbolt on my VZ24 in 338 win mag. Glass bedded, no issues.

[waksupi]

Not really needed. If you are using a highly figured piece of wood it may be appropriate, as they are inherently weaker, especially walnut..

[Steven66]

By the time this thread runs dry the OP will have built the rifle, taken it on 30 hunts, shot out the bore and rebored it to 9.3x64 !:popcorn:

I wish! Jim Robert ("The Boltman") is reworking the handle to a classic pear-shaped one, which I hope will be done next month. I have to drill a piece of Brownell's 3/8" dovetail stock so I can get a Williams Guide peep to fit. Then shorten the Butler Creek stock 'bout an inch, put the Bold trigger on, cast some NOE 180 grainers and see how it shoots.

I like the idea of the 30 hunts, though!

[swheeler]

I wish! Jim Robert ("The Boltman") is reworking the handle to a classic pear-shaped one, which I hope will be done next month. I have to drill a piece of Brownell's 3/8" dovetail stock so I can get a Williams Guide peep to fit. Then shorten the Butler Creek stock 'bout an inch, put the Bold trigger on, cast some NOE 180 grainers and see how it shoots.

I like the idea of the 30 hunts, though!

Learn something new every day, didn't know Butler Creek made walnut stocks! Nephew still has one I put on a 98 maybe 25 years ago but it was black synthetic.

[Steven66]

Learn something new every day, didn't know Butler Creek made walnut stocks! Nephew still has one I put on a 98 maybe 25 years ago but it was black synthetic.

Sorry, didn't make that clear. The Butler Creek stock I have is black synthetic. It's just a temporary fix; I'm making a pattern stock from the walnut stock that came with the rifle. The original stock is pretty awful, so no loss there.

[shootrj2003]

I always liked the look of those crossbolts that were tastefully engraved and visible ,though not essential on a 30/06 they add some class if done well ,always thought they looked better than the ones hidden by a dowel(,hidden?) Even thought of just embedding the bolt heads as a" faux "designer effect!(just joking!) But I do like the look and it can't hurt( unless you screw it up)

[Mk42gunner]

My problem with installing recoil cross bolts in rifle stocks is locating them precisely. In my mind, if the recoil lug on the action doesn't bear on the cross bolt, it does no good and might as well not be there. A cross bolt between the magazine and trigger cutout, to prevent spreading, doesn't need to be as precisely located.

Since I have doubts about locating the important one, I have never wasted a stock by drilling unneeded holes that may not do anything good. I do however sink a piece of metal in the bedding behind the recoil lug that is a bit wider than the magazine opening in the stock, but hidden by the top lines of the stock.

My .35 Whelen on a K98k hasn't split yet, although it only has a few hundred rounds through it.

Robert

[LAGS]

I have built stocks for Mauser 98 actions in 30-06 , 35 Whelens , 25-06 , .308 , and many other calibers without any Cross Bolts and most rifles were Glass Bedded .
None have ever had a problem.
On old Mil Surp Sporterized stocks , I took out the metal Cross Bolt.
Drilled the stock with a 5/8" drill bit , then Glued in a wooden dowel to act as the cross Bolt.
The dowel was then inletted and the action was glass Bedded.
On some rifles I even Added a second Dowel at the rear of the action on stocks that had cracking already at the rear Tang just to beef things up.

[roysha]

I didn't need one on my custom Amberg 1917 .358 Norma Magnum. The Acraglas was sufficient.

Interestingly, I built a 358 Norma on a 1917 Kornbusch action at gunsmith school in 1968. I used a blank of rather plain "French" walnut and didn't even glass bed it. Probably shot a couple rounds through it before I sold it. I never noticed any upsetting of the recoil lug area. When I shipped the rifle to the new owner, I removed the metal from the stock to make a more compact package so got a good last look at the recoil lug area.

Although the 358 Norma is a cartridge I really like, the recoil was more than I wanted to deal with.

[Texas by God]

Roysha- we quickly developed "Texas loads" for the .358 Norma after shooting Norma factory loads. It downloaded nicely to more polite levels.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[shootrj2003]

I just finished the crossbolts installation on my Mauser 30/06,never did one before and no one will tell you how to do the Mauser crossbolts,until your done ,then you have all kinds of teachers! but I like the look,halfway through I almost wished I did not start the job but I bulled my way through and with luck and epoxy bedding it looks pretty good. Up at a lot

Ppl

[gwpercle]

With the advent of glass bedded actions the classy looking cross bolt fell into dis-use .
Glass bedding spreads the recoil forces out over a much wide area so they were not really needed in 30-06 class cartridges unless a very slim , trim lightweight stock was being made or the owner just liked the cool way the cross bolt looks.
Gary

[murf205]

266407 Yes and no. When I bought this old Wards Mauser sporter, it looked like it was inletted with a hatchet! The wood had a hairline crack in the trigger area cut out so I glassed the recoil lug and the first inch or so of the barrel. Since I knew that I was going to cut off some of the hideous stock, I installed 2 cross screws a la Remington 700 and sanded them smooth. Probably didn't HAVE to have them but I couldn't get that crack off my mind. My theory was to restock the old gun with a piece of straight grain walnut but it shoots 220 gr Hornady's into an inch @ 100yds and kinda warmed me to the old girl. Probably because I an notoriously cheap and only have $125 in the gun. Inspect your stock before you start.