working on a mauser blank receiver

[waverace]

:banghead:, I have picked up a few of the Parker Hale large ring Mauser clone castings to build rifles from and I started on the first one today, after a short time on the mill and a little more time filing I got a 98 bolt to fit perfectly so I next went to cleaning up the front of the receiver and to think about threading except there's a problem ....all the mandrels that are available or that you would normally make to hold a receiver in the lathe use the threads to hold the receiver onto the mandrel this receiver is not yet threaded so ...

does anyone have an idea on how to chuck the receiver up in a lathe ? I have 3,4,and 6 jaw chucks , bare face plates if that would yield an answer and I could make any kind of mandrel , I tried one already but it didn't hold it central enough . the shape is too irregular to simply chuck up even in the 4 jaw .
The only other thought is to do everything vertically in the mill but that seems like a disaster waiting to happen , I did the bolt lug faces that way but boring the thread true to the bore is probably not going to work on my setup .

Any advice or tips would be appreciated , thanks

 

[rcmodel]

I didn't even know they made Parker Hale large ring Mauser 'clone castings'!

Where the heck did you find them at?

Any idea of the mystery metal, or how to heat treat them??

That would have to be the biggest question I would have to be able to answer before worrying about threading or finishing the first one!

rc

 

[Jim K]

Can you make a tool that will fit into the bolt lug raceways and hold the receiver that way to machine the front hole? For threading, Mauser receiver taps are available from Brownells but they are not cheap; my old catalog shows the large ring Mauser tap at $134. If you plan to sell the rifles, I assume you have a manufacturer's license.

Jim

 

[rcmodel]

If you plan to shoot it, I assume you have good heat treating facilities?

And good medical insurance too!

rc

 

[waverace]

I got them from old western scrounger , they had a sale on before Christmas for $30 each, sale might still be on steel is English EN9 same as SAE 1055 here in the states so carbon steel that if cold quenched is tough enough for anything that I want to put through it , they are original parker hale m98 castings that they used themselves to make rifles before they went belly up and got bought out by the not so great Gibbs rifle company , before that however they had the copyrights and tooling from Zastava in Yugoslavia who as far as I know turned out some pretty good Mausers in their time , I am not an FFL just a hobby gunsmith , I have built a few bolt guns and several AR 15s and so far have had no fatalities , I am a great believer in measure twice cut once then check the specs again , heat treating will be a new thing for me and I will learn that as diligently as I have everything else ,other than the few things I have done as a welder fabricator for farm equipment and the like , I am now a machinist for an aerospace company so I am pretty good at holding my tolerances and getting things right .
After some playing around I found that a split shaft with cones similar to a bicycle bearing hub will work for what I need to do for now until I find a better way , I simply trap the receiver between the cones and put a bolt through to stop any torsional twist still open to ideas though.

]=>)\\\\\(<=

PS I will be repurposing Remington 700 barrels so I will most likely get the tap for those , not cheap but less hassle than interior threading on the lathe

 

[waverace]

this post should show the receivers and the set up that I ended up with

 

[Edarnold]

I remember these casting being around at least five years ago, sounds like the Scrounger picked up a bunch and now is trying to make some shelf space. I expect the castings to be OK of themselves, the problem is going to be when you heat-treat. Over and above getting right temperature, I think you will have to make a fixture to keep the receivers straight during heating and cool-down. The middle part of a Mauser receiver is highly asymmetrical, with the thick left wall and thin right rail, which is an invitation to warping. Anyway, you are to be commended for taking on a daunting task, good luck!

 

[waverace]

Thank you , that makes sense maybe a solid plate attached along the bottom with a mandrel through the raceways attached with through screws to that and slow heat up ,have yet to determine the exact temperature but will find that out before hand , I am keeping my eye out for a kiln until then preferably with a temperature gauge .
Heat treating will be more for long term wear properties anyway ,the metal itself does not need to be that hard for a receiver as most of the pressure is taken up in the chamber and through the bolt lugs in fact the receiver itself should not be too hard as this will cause cracks when it cant stretch to accommodate the pressure wave, the draw down after hardening is actually more critical than the hardening itself .

 

[Zeke/PA]

I wouldn't touch this project with a 10 foot pole !
A casting? Metal unknown?
Maybe I'm missing something here.

 

[BBBBill]

Ruger uses castings. Cast steel is not unsafe when used appropriately. Parker Hale built some serviceable rifles on these actions. Certainly caution is advised in ensuring that you follow correct procedures to end up with a safe final product, but there's no need to dismiss it out of hand.

 

[DT Guy]

Metal unknown? Read post #5, where the specific alloy and US equivalent is stated.

 

[waverace]

That's fine if he doesn't want to touch them , then all the more for me

 

[Zeke/PA]

Ruger uses castings. Cast steel is not unsafe when used appropriately. Parker Hale built some serviceable rifles on these actions. Certainly caution is advised in ensuring that you follow correct procedures to end up with a safe final product, but there's no need to dismiss it out of hand.

Bill Ruger was one of the first to use the Investment Casting process in the introduction of the super single shot Ruger # 1.
I really don't know too much about any other manufactures using this process.

 

[Jim K]

I don't know, but I suspect those receivers are forgings, not castings.

Jim

 

[25cschaefer]

They are castings, good castings at that, but they are way too much work unless you want to be able to say that you made it. One can pic up a trashed Mauser 98 for $100-$150 complete with nifty pits or a Husqvarna, FN or any number of nice complete guns in the $300 range (including Parker Hales). These may be $30 but when you add in the 20-40 hrs of machine time, they are quite expensive. They are a fun project but not really a cheap way of getting a Mauserish gun.

There is nothing wrong with cast bolt actions, Montana Rifle Company sells nice cast Winchestery rifles, and not knowing the metal name/number is really not that big of a deal, the original Mauser 98s weren't made out of great steal and they were just case hardened.

Machine it, case color it, barrel it, stock it, be happy

 

[waverace]

barrel threads done

Been a while since I last picked these up but I now have 2 with bolts fitted and threaded for Remington 700 barrels

 

[fguffey]

I have 4 receivers that are similar, there is a slight differenced. My Mauser? receivers use 30A3 bolts. They were advertised as Parker Hale. Parker Hale did have a receiver that used a larger shank than the Mauser.

F. Guffey

 

[waverace]

As far as I am aware there are two versions that were made, one that takes springfield bolts and one that takes k98 bolts ,mine are the Mauser variety.
The main difference on mine are the bolt stop areas, they have no tangs for the bolt stop screw so I will have to get creative there.
These are going to end up complete custom hybrids anyway, part mauser ,part remington and part homebuilt I see it as a challenge to get something put together that actually works.

 

[fguffey]

As far as I am aware there are two versions that were made, one that takes springfield bolts and one that takes k98 bolts

And if arrangements were not made for the bolt stop on the one with the Springfield bolt good luck on finding one. And then there was the bolt, everything looked good until the firing pin assemble was installed.

F. Guffey

 

[Landfish]

Hello all,

Waverace, I'm delighted I found your thread. I bought one of these castings myself and will probably get more. On the one post for the lathe, I wondered about a Action Blueprinting Rig? It would only allow work on the face and the interior however. Aside that, I'm thinking in terms of a Rotary table on the Mill.
I too have an Aerospace background, I worked around Cecil Field & NE Florida. Mostly sub contracts with Raytheon in the early 90's. I moved to VA and a damn Press Brake bit my right hand. Ending my career in 2001. 18 surgeries and a lifetime of pain later... I'm getting a shop together and have competed several Gunsmithing Courses.
I have a Leblond Lathe with a taper attachment. Some jackass stold my DRO for it.
Then, I have a Bridgeport Mill. One of the models with that monstrous power feed box beside the table. Im in need of a Rotary Phase Converter as both are 3 phase monsters. They'll do great work with all the stabilizing size they offer. The lathe is 3900lbs!
I'm glad I found this thread and I hope you'll update us on your progress. I wasn't too concerned with heat treatment as all the force is in bolt trust instead of any gas force opposing the action. It has made me think about case/primer/boltface failures and how to vent the gas in a safe manner. I would think elasticity is more important than hardness in the action. As you pointed out; wear is the biggest concern along the lug races.

I have gathered blueprints to build a 1885 Hi Wall and a 1911. I plan to completely build each of those save the barrels. Hopefully, I'll have everything operational by late Spring. Then I'll apply for my FFL, I'm concerned about that thing Obama pushed thru last term that imposes nearly a $2,000 fee for anyone modifying a firearm in any manner whatsoever. My hope is, and with the support Republicans receive from every area of the Firearm Industry with the full weight of the NRA. Something should be done to unravel or strike what Obama did. I'm still waiting and hoping, wondering why nothing's happened to date. I'm on SSA after my injury and it would all but wipe out any chance to sustain a small shop like I've planned. Enough to make me sick, I assure you!
If so, I'll have to keep my work personal and I've invested a fortune of my income into a hobby.

I'm in Roanoke, VA and it's a pleasure to meet you all. I look forward to information and tips we can share. I have a nice little library building on firearm work. If I can possibly help to anyone? I'd be delighted to do just that.

 

[Jim K]

"...thing Obama pushed thru last term that imposes nearly a $2,000 fee for anyone modifying a firearm in any manner whatsoever ..."

Never heard of that one. Any more info?

Jim

 

[boom boom]

Jim K, I b

"...thing Obama pushed thru last term that imposes nearly a $2,000 fee for anyone modifying a firearm in any manner whatsoever ..."

Never heard of that one. Any more info?

Jim

I believe that is a reference to the late Obama administration memorandum that gunsmiths and manufactures must obtain State Dept. licensing and follow reporting requirements under the Small Arms Treaty that the U.S. adheres to (not sure if we ratified it) whether or not they intend to export. Even simple thing such as changing a barrel, trueing receivers, dovetailing new sights, rechambering, etc. which "fundamentally alters" a firearm would qualify. I think that those licenses start at around $2K. Just basically a way to thin out small gunsmith operations. The THR has a thread dating around starting around summer or fall of 2016.