Which Mauser action for 7.62 conversion

[e5shepss]

Can anyone give me some direction as to which milsurp mauser actions would be suitable to rebarrel as a 7.62 for a sporter or scout rifle?

I am particularly concerned with the feeding of the cartridges from a magazine designed for long action cartridges.

I would like to be able to keep using the stripper clip guide after conversion, so I don't know if a spacer in the rear of the magazine well would be appropriate to make up for the difference in length.

As a side note, before the flames ignite, I have no intention of destroying or bubba-izing a pristine or otherwise collectible weapon.

Thank you for your time and knowledge.

Shep

 

[mustanger98]

Can anyone give me some direction as to which milsurp mauser actions would be suitable to rebarrel as a 7.62 for a sporter or scout rifle?

Well, the Israelis used German K98k Mauser actions... converted those to 7.62mm in military configuration. I'd say it'll work as a sporter too. In fact, I've been thinking of doing a rifle up along this line too.

I am particularly concerned with the feeding of the cartridges from a magazine designed for long action cartridges.

I've heard of this concern too, but I don't recall ever hearing where somebody actually had this problem. I just mentioned the Israelis using 7.62mm in a Mauser long-action as their combat rifle and I didn't hear of them encountering it either.

I would like to be able to keep using the stripper clip guide after conversion, so I don't know if a spacer in the rear of the magazine well would be apprpriate to make up for the difference in length.

Yup. My solution to that is for the rear sight to be a Williams Foolproof with target knobs. It won't block the clip guide. And 7.62mm, .30-06, and 8mm Mauser can/do all use the same Mauser stripper clip.

As a side note, before the flames ignite, I have no intention of destroying or bubba-izing a pristine or otherwise collectible weapon.

Nope, no flame here. If you get on Gunbroker.com, you can sometimes find good Mauser actions or Mauser rifles with which the action is good but the rifle's stock and/or sights have been goofed with. Those would be my choice.

 

[critter]

I have a Chilian Mauser built by Steyr of Austria. They were converted by the Chilian govt in 1961 to 7.62 Nato by a rebarrel job. They have a spacer in FRONT of the mag box and mine feeds, extracts, ejects and functions perfectly. Stripper clips work great in it too. You might look to see if you can find one of these.

These are 'normal' Mauser 98''s-large ring and full length. Now, the Yugo M48's have an 'intermediate' length action (which is only slightly shorter than the full length of the regular 98's). It might be a good candidate also.

 

[Bwana John]

I had a FR-8 in 7.62 nato that was built on a Spanish M98 action. The mag was blocked for the shorter cartridge, and the stripper clip guide still worked perfectly.

 

[Jackal]

I may be slightly off topic here, but why not just buy a Ishapore .308 Enfield ? I have one, and after changing the sights to Mojo aperture and smoothing the trigger, it's very accurate and reliable. Also has that nifty 12rd magazine. The Enfield would be WAY less expensive.

 

[e5shepss]

Thanks very much for the helpful input.

Bwana John, is the block in the rear of the magazine well on yours?

Jackal, I am not familiar with the Ishapore rifle, what type of extractor does the Ishapore use, and are the magazines detachable or fixed? Does it use a stripper clip guide?

Thanks again,

 

[db_tanker]

My Brno 98 has never had a single feed issue from the magazine. No block or anything in there...

NICE thing about this is that you can seat your bullets out as far as you need and not worry about fitting inside the magazine well.


MTCW
D

 

[dfariswheel]

Virtually any large ring Mauser will work well for a .308 conversion.

Back in the 80's the original Springfield Inc imported a quantity of Brazilian 7mm Mauser rifles.
They also had a quantity of new, unused "in the white" FN made .308 Mauser military barrels.

They just removed the 29" 7mm barrels, installed the 24" .308 barrels, shortened the stock, bent the bolt handle, and refinished everything.
There was no magazine filler or block used.

These worked and shot perfectly.

 

[aka108]

Rebarreled a 1909 Argentine to 308 and a beat up K98K to 30-06. No other mechanical mods. Both function fine and are good beater guns. Nothing fancy at all. Junked the upper hand guards, shortened and rounded the forends. Paupers sporters.

 

[44AMP]

Mauser OK

Other than the (rare) Siamese Mauser, any 98 will work ok. I had one , a 1909 I think (30 years ago) barreled in .308 Win, with no spacer in the mag, and it worked quite well. Can't say about the clip guide, I had a scope on mine. Rifle had a long throat, and the unmodified mag allowed loading the 180gr bullets way out, giving a bit more powder room in the case.

Wish I still had that one. hell, I wish I still had most of the guns I've let go during my life. Most. A couple I wouldn't want back if you paid me.

 

[jesse485]

Jackal, I am not familiar with the Ishapore rifle, what type of extractor does the Ishapore use, and are the magazines detachable or fixed? Does it use a stripper clip guide?

Not sure about the extractor, but detachable (most don't remove them save for cleaning), and yes, it does have a stripper clip guide.

 

[.45Guy]

A few years ago I saw quite a few nasty looking 98k's floating around that were done in Israel.

 

[mustanger98]

Something I forgot to mention about those Israeli K98k's... the earlier ones where Germans rebarreled to 7.62, but a few years later, FN made up some short action 98's for Israel in 7.62.