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Mauser Info

3K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  Rex in OTZ 
#1 ·
Have a small ring mauser action & a NOS unchambered .30 barrel. I want a low pressure .30 caliber round. Am thinking
the old .30 Rem, pressure wise it a .30-30 duplicate. Brass is available and reamers. The old 7MM rim dia is .474 the .30 Rem rim is .421. Will the extractor work or can it be made to work? Thanks Idealford 70 (Howie):tango_face_surprise
 
#2 · (Edited)
Some material could be welded on the lip of the extractor and cleaned up.....but you would have to keep the rest of the extractor cool enough not to change the temper. I recall a description of inserting and attaching...maybe by brazing or silver soldering...a reducing ring on a mauser bolt face for a smaller cartridge rim. I believe the reference is Gunsmithing by Roy Dunlap.

Going to a smaller diameter case may also cause magazine feeding problems.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Which small ring mauser do you have? There some small ring M98 and commercial mausers that could handle .308 pressures.

I have a Mexican M98 small ring with a .308 barrel. IIRC there were some Turkish M98 small rings and Polish M98 small rings as well as modern Husquvarna small rings.

Spain rebarreled some M93 mausers with .308 barrels to shoot 7.62 CETME cartridges which weren't as hot as 7.62 NATO rounds.


7.62×51mm CETME - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.62×51mm_CETME

Overview
Description
Weapons
The 7.62×51mm CETME round is a variant of the 7.62×51mm NATO rifle cartridge with a plastic-cored lead bullet and a reduced propellant charge. The 7.62×51mm CETME is otherwise identical to the NATO standard. It was produced as a joint venture by the Spanish Government design and development establishment known as CETME (Centro de Estudios Técnicos de Materiales Especiales, or "Center for Technical Studies of Special Materials") and the German arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch.artridges.
 
#4 ·
M134Troll, Yes I suspected changing the extractor a problem. The .300 Savage .470 would work on the extractor, but feeding problems?
The information I have found is that .300 Sav, .250 Sav, .257 Roberts & 7 MM Mauser should be safe in these actions at normal or below pressure loads. I think i lean toward the .300 as I have the .30 12 twist barrel. Load the .300 to .30-30 pressures. Howie
 
#5 ·
If you could pick up a couple of .300 Savage rounds, try them in the receiver without a barrel. That might tell you if the bolt will pick up a round from the magazine. You could also try to make a barrel stub out of brown paper packaging tape wrapped around a dowel or .300 case....wrap enough tape so the resulting cylinder will just grab the action threads and screw it into the action ring. Then try to feed .300 rounds. At least two.

I don't recall ever seeing action rail or magazine follower dimensions published. I do know that there are different shapes/sizes of Mauser magazine followers because I had to replace the follower on a 1909 Argentine M98 action in order to get the second 6.5 x 57 rounds to feed. Don't know if the '09 follower was original or not. Again, the Roy Dunlop Gunsmithing book might have some wisdom on the matter. Or ask the gunsmith you plan to do the chamber and headspace work on your .30 caliber barrel.
 
#7 · (Edited)
.300 Savage rim is .473" so the bolt face should be OK.

Jerry Kuhnhausen's book The Mauser Bolt Actions, A Shop Manual has a discussion on magazine followers and receiver rails with some dimensions, page 104. Also a note that rail adjustment is generally not needed unless a cartridge larger than the original military cartridges is contemplated.

Kuhnhausen says M93/95 rear magazine rail opening should not exceed .590-.600". Parallel rail opening should be .585 to .590".

Standard M93/95 followers might bind with the .300 Savage cartridge because the shoulder is wider than the 7 x 57 shoulder but the left side of the follower might be relieved a bit and work.

Spanish M1916 followers for the rifles converted to 7.62 CETME, also a wider shoulder than 7 x 57, appear to have a narrower follower guide rail than other small ring followers. 7.62CETME followers might be available from SARCO or Numrich.

You should be able to figure out if there is an action rail/follower/follower rail problem with the .300 and your small ring without fooling around with the ersatz barrel/chamber.

Good luck!
 
#9 ·
Did some web crawling, Googled "convert small ring to .300 savage".

Found several references to successful small ring rebarreling to .300 Savage. Apparently Brownells offered small ring barrels in .300 Savage at one time. Did not see any mention of feeding issues.

As you can see, I think you have an interesting project. I have a Kimber(yes , Kimber sporterized some Mausers back in the day) small ring Mexican Mauser(originally 7 x 57) conversion in .280 but the magazine is too short for 140 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips unless I file them down. And a Ruger 30-06 barrel which might be cut off a bit, turned down to the .980" small ring thread diameter and chambered for a shorter .30 caliber cartridge. Too many irons in the fire to pursue that at the moment.
 
#10 ·
Mauser Info.

M Troll 134, Yes I have the Kuhnhausen shop manual. Also done a lot of internet cruising. I am a retired machinist & plan to do the threads, chamber & headspace myself with help of the manual. Have rechambered a few rimed rifle barrels, this mauser should be a challenge with barrel setback & head spacing. My plan is to make a threaded barrel end 55 deg threads for practice (never cut 55 deg. threads) Drill a hole thru it about 7/16", screw it in place and try feeding the .300 dummies. I have another .300, so will make up some blank cartridges for the project. I appreciate all the info & ideas and will keep you informed. Howie
 
#11 ·
I once built a 22-250 on a 98 small ring mauser. It took installing a block into the magazine and a shorter follower and spring. I bought the follower and spring from Numrich. They were initially for a 243 on a MKX action.

I would just do the 308 and load it light. I would also try it and see how it feeds before I altered anything with the follower or spring. There is a good chance that you will be fine.
 
#12 ·
If you can find a shot out Remington M700 barrel for cheap at your local gun shop, you can avoid the trouble of drilling a hole in your test stub. The M700 barrel, and others, has a large enough shank to turn down to .980 IIRC small ring Mauser diameter.

Please keep us posted on your project.
 
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