More Mauser Ideas.

[charlie brown]

I just had a thought, after reading through the recent Outdoor Life (or Field and Stream, whichever David Petzal did the gear review on). Anyway, I saw the .325 WSM in their in the gear review. Would it be possible to take a Czech VZ 24 (which I have, along with a complete Yugo 24/47) action, have the bolt face opened to accept the .534" diameter cases, cut the barrel back, rechamber, re-crown, re-thread, and place back in the action, or would there be enough metal to do this? Or would it just make more sense to have the whole thing re-built with an 8mm barrel and chambered in the 325? I am not sure if that would work or not. I know my uncle had a Mauser chambered into 338 Win Mag, and took a Spanish 7x57, left the original barrel, replaced the stock, put a different safety on it, bent the bolt, and drilled and tapped it for a scope. That rifle does look quite nice, even with the original barrel on it. Your thoughts would be great!! I keep getting new thoughts pop into my head every day, the clock is always ticking

[johnch]

Feed rails will need to be altered to allow for feeding and the mag may need to blocked for length.
Pressure differances between the two cart. is a lot ,I would ask a GOOD gunsmith.

Johnch

[Roskoe]

I don't know of anyone who has done this yet. The entire family of WSM cartridges has some unique feeding issues - problem is that, in the process of figuring out just how to do this, you could screw up a couple of actions. You would certainly need a WSM magazine box and follower. You could duplicate the rail width/profile of a Winchester Model 70 in one of the WSM factory calibers. Bolt face and extractor are pretty basic. Then the issue would be whether the controlled feed extractor on the Mauser would be compatible with the somewhat steep feed angle necessary to chamber on of these short, fat cases.

Personally, I wouldn't do it. Just buy a factory gun, or re-barrel an existing .270 or .300 WSM.

[charlie brown]

I didn't at first think about the steep angle and the controlled feed, along with the width of the cartridge for the magazine. Oh, well, just a thought anyway.

[Vapodog]

Your thoughts would be great!! I keep getting new thoughts pop into my head every day, the clock is always ticking

The '98 mauser and it's variants have been turned into justabout everything from actual .222 rifles to (that I know of) .404 Jeffery and possibly bigger stuff.
I'd venture to say absolutely anything can be done with one given enough MONEY......and this is where the wrinkle is.....can it be done?????....GUARANTEED...given enough money someone will do it. Is it financially advisable?.....certainly not for me.....maybe it is for you.....but you need to decide that. I'd venture to say that anyone can buy a new M-70 or other popular bolt action for less than the cost of a good alteration of a Mauser'98.

[charlie brown]

ORIGINAL: Vapodog

The '98 mauser and it's variants have been turned into justabout everything from actual .222 rifles to (that I know of) .404 Jeffery and possibly bigger stuff.
I'd venture to say absolutely anything can be done with one given enough MONEY......and this is where the wrinkle is.....can it be done?????....GUARANTEED...given enough money someone will do it. Is it financially advisable?.....certainly not for me.....maybe it is for you.....but you need to decide that. I'd venture to say that anyone can buy a new M-70 or other popular bolt action for less than the cost of a good alteration of a Mauser'98.

Yeah, cost started to come into play when the mention of the feed rails, mag box, and all that happy stuff. I keep seeing these new things come out, and it just gets my wheels turning like none other, lol. I have talked to a couple of gunsmiths, and they have quoted me around $800 or so to take this action I have sitting here and turning it into a feasible shooter. This would be no fancy work, just putting the barrel on, doing the necessary modifications to the action, truing eveything, blueing the rifle and action, and drilling and tapping for mounts. I also saw something in the Cabela's shooting magazine for 2005, page 65 that is a Mauser Conversion Bolt handle, which may or not be cheaper or easier than having it bent, but who knows. I also got to thinking of a larger diameter cartridge with a shorter barrel (approx 20" or so) in something like the 358 Winchester and a good set of Williams Peep sights. That would make a good gun for packing in tight spots where shots would be close. My other thought, and most practical so far, would be having a barrel put on in 6.5x55 for deer and antelope and such.

[charlie brown]

Also, for the Yugo 24/47 I have. It is stamped on the barrel by a company from New York, which I believe imported the rifle. I can't remember the name right now, as I am at work. I am sure this basically illiminates any value the gun had at all (collector's value), so I was thinking of just having the bolt bent, and a Williams Peep sight installed and leaving everything else as is on that gun, and working up a decent hunting load for it. How hard is it to install peep sights on these guns? I would obviously have a smith do it, but am meaning as far as what the cost would be as compared to other services.

[Slamfire]

The Williams sights aren't very expensive, and $20 will probably cover the non clickable peep. The problem is gunsmiths out west think $30 a hole is a fair deal for drillin' and tappin'. Specify No. 8 screws, don't settle for the 6's.

[Vapodog]

ORIGINAL: Slamfire

The Williams sights aren't very expensive, and $20 will probably cover the non clickable peep. The problem is gunsmiths out west think $30 a hole is a fair deal for drillin' and tappin'. Specify No. 8 screws, don't settle for the 6's.

This is true.....but can you do it yourself?.....Actually the cost of attaching iron sights can run more than the cost of installing a scope. Anyone that thinks the gunsmith is gouging them should go into the business.....it's a real education folks.