Does anybody here feel that rebarreling a Swedish Model 96/38 variant to 30/06 would present any pressure problems?
Just curious about the abilities of the swedish action ... I still have several without barrels and was just starting to daydream about what projects they would be good for.
All input welcome.

I'm no expert, but as I understand it, the first mausers that were strong enough to safely handle the 30-06 and cartridges of similar pressure were the 98 Mausers... They have an additional safety lug that the 96 does not possess..

I think its plenty doable, though the action is a bit short for the 30-06.
People shoot .308 ( a higher pressurecartridge than the 30-06)through spanish mauser 95s which are made with far inferior metallurgy than the Swedish and German 96s (the german 96s were all made of Swedish steel)
Plenty of german made m93 mausers have been rechambered for 8x57 for Turkey- the 8x57 has about the same pressure rating as the 30-06.

A mauser 98 is a bit beefier- it has a slightly thicker receiver at the ring, but once again, m96s were made with superior steel than a lot of them- especially yugoslavian and spanish mauser 98s.

The third safety lug doesn't really do anything.Its a nice thought, but if you have a bolt that is so brittle that the large locking lugs shear off, that much smaller safety lug isn't going to do much. The real big improvements in the mauser 98 has to do with the gas handling- mauser 96s vent gasses into the magazine well, while mauser 98s vent it out of the side of the receiver and have a gas shield on the bolt shroud to channel debris and gasse away from the face. Most modern rifles have neither safety lugs nor gas shields. The last and probably most drastic improvement of the mauser 98 is the cocking on openeing of the bolt- it takes a lot more design consideration and machining to make a rifle that cocks on opening than rifles that cock on closing.

I've seen pictures of the aftermath of some bozo who took up reloading and figured that if a powder is safe for pistols that it should be safe for rifles too. He filled 6.5x55 cases to theneck with bullseye. Predictably, the first round fired destroyed his rifle. The action was twisted, the bolt was sprung upward (once again , a safety lug wouldn't have done much) and the stock was shattered around the magazine well from the gasses venting. The shooter walked away with minor cuts to his handsand forearms.

That is an absolute no-no. Gunsmiths have knownsince the 30-06 was introducednot to chamber a 96 in the cartridge.

If its pressure and not length that you are concerned with, it seems that noone has told gunsmiths in Sweden or at Kimber about it

Hey Briman,

It's kinda because of the Kimber sporters from several years back that I'm raising this question. I have purchased a 6.5 X 55 barrel that was sporterized by Kimber, basically it was turned just enough to remove the 2 military steps from it's 23.? length and then it was bobbed to 22".

Well since I bought that barrel, I'm starting to see others. So far I haven't seen any of the 7mm/08's, but I did run across a 30/06 advertised as sporterized by Kimber. I've e-mailed the seller to find out if it is for a small ring or not, but I'm guessing it is, and if so I was just doing some info scrounging to make sure it would be advisable and safe to do on a 96 action.
If my favorite gunsmith in Saginaw, Michigan answers me that it's good to go I will definitey make a bid on the barrel.
But until then, I still welcome any and all input.
Thanks all so far
John

It is an absolute NO NO. The 96 was not built to withstand those pressures on a every day basis. Many were chambered to 308 which is a NO NO as well and trouble resulted.

Have you ever heard of a m96 that failed after being chambered in 308?

The swedes built a lot of sporters on small ring rifles chambered in 93.x62, 8x57 etc etc....
The Czechs even built small ring 98s chambered in 8x57. Maybe there's something I'm missing, but a small ring 98 shouldn't be any stronger than a small ring 94,95, or 96 with everything else being equal.


Here would be the best reason not to chamber a M96 in 30-06, the photo is of a factory winchester whitebox 147gr fmj snuggled up in a Mauser 94 action (the M94 and M96 actions are identical) notice how the tip projects past the feed ramp.

I thought I'd report back what my favorite gunsmith's action and barrel man told me today on the phone.
He said they do not advise using the 30/06 chambering in the 96 actions because of pressure issues. He admitted that there are some 96 actions out there up to the task, but more often than not one encroaches on the pressure limits of the 96 action so it is not recommended to go with the 30/06 OR the 308.
I asked if it was also then out of the question for the 7mm/08 round in the 96 action, figuring he'd say "Don't do it" since it is the same case as the 308 that is not recommended. Interestingly enough he claimed that the 7mm/08 in the 96 action was fine.
I think that may be the direction I go, if I can just find a nice 7mm/08 small ring barrel now!
Thanks to all for the replies and advice. I always find it best to hear a variety of views and experiences since it enhances my overall knowledge much more than relying on one answer.

I'd be very interested in hearing what his reasoning was behind this theory since both the 308 and 7mm-08 have maximum SAAMI chamber pressure limits of over 60,000 psi. The .308 being 62,000 and the 7mm-08 being 61,000.

If anything the 30-06 would be a better choice considering it's maximum SAAMI chamber pressure is less than both the other twoat 60,000 psi.

The 6.5 cartridge it was designed to safely handle is only loaded to a maximum of 45,000 psi. This would be an increase of about 27% in pressure to get to the 7mm-08 or .308 levels.Think about loading your modern .270 boltrifle to about 89,000 psiWhich is about a 27% increase over it's maximum 65,000psiand asking it to handle this extra pressure on a regular basis.