Hey Guys. I have a few quick questions. I'm building a custom rifle on a mauser action. How much will a gunsmith charge me to resize my action to make it feed a different caliber? And what do i do about a a magazine. I want a simple internal magazine, if i have a mauser action what else will i need, if anything? The caliber im going with is the good ol 30'06 incase that helps with anything. Thanks im new to this custom rifle stuff so bear with me
some smiths will re size the bolt face free as apart blue printing. if your not familiar to that its just a "trueing up" of the action. i had a remington 700 blue printed by prarie gun works for a tube gun. the rifle itself didnt turn out well but that was more my fault then the smiths. i think it was around $450 but that was back in 2003
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what caliber is it now?
the mag ?, do you wanna do away with the drop open bottom metal and use a rem 700 ADL blind mag?
if its a mauser action and your gonna chamber it in 30/06, why do you want to change the bolt face?
altering the feed ramps is real cheap, but not sure you'll need to
We need more info.
RR
If it is/was chambered for a typical 7mm mauser or 8mm mauser then you shouldn't have to do anything except rebarrel the gun to turn it into a 30-06.
If you just want a simple internal blind magazine then that is just a matter of cutting the mag box off of the hinged floor plate and inletting a stock to fit. But I would leave the hinged floor plate on the gun and modify it so that it is released by a push button or lever rather than having to depress the hidden button with the tip of a bullet.
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Is the 98 in military configuration? If so, you will want to change the safety to a low swing 3 position to clear a scope, probably. Anywhere from 70 to several hundred dollars for that. You will probably want to have it drilled and tapped for a scope mount, plus the bases, scope mounts and scope. The military 2 stage trigger should be replaced for a decent trigger pull. About 70 for a Timney, plus installation.
I would leave the trap door magazine. It is certainly quicker to unload, and safer than running the shells through the action. A new barrel would probably be several hundred dollars plus fitting, then bluing the whole thing. You better check with a smith to find out if the longer 30-06 fits in the mauser action, and if it does, will it with heavier longer bullet weights? What do you have for a stock?
By the time you are done, plan on having the cost of a new gun invested, just for what is discussed. I also have a 98 that I have planned to do this, working through a well known local gunsmith. It was cheaper and much more practical to buy a new Ruger 77 Mk11 in .308, which is an excellent Mauser clone. You could pick at it and do it on the cheap, but it will shoot and look like it too. Inquire with local gunsmiths where you are, and look at their work. Some, like mine, will do it a bit at a time as you can afford it.
I went threw a mauser phase for a while in my life. Dave Boone is correct to say that you can buy a new gun whether it be a ruger or howa or vanguard than you can get the work done for. I still mess with them some as a test thing before I put the money in a real gun but I've got the actions, turned down bolts, stocks and stuff still laying around from those earlier days. You should have no problems with a 98 changing it to an 06, but no mater what you do to it, it will always be a pigs ear (ok let me explain, if you take a pigs ear, put ear rings in it, plate it with gold etc it will always still be a pigs ear and never a silk purse). The other thing that you might look at is the remington 798 (if you can still find one) in 06, it's a mauser action from the ground up
Changing a war surplus Mauser into a 30-06 is pretty easy.
Since you already have your action, the barrel and stock will be your biggest expense.
The labor cost is hard to pin down because it would be totally up to the smith you use.
I would think you could expect labor to be in the $150 - $300 range. Making a few phone calls to the local gunsmith shops could save you a bunch of money.
building a custom rifle
what's it chambered for right now?
