I have 1903 and 1938 model Turkish Mausers, and they are big on the
outside, like an 1898, and have small threaded barels, like a Swede.
The book to I like best on sporterizing Mausers is by R.A. Walsh:
"Mauser M98 & M96 How to Build Your Favorite Custom Rifle"
Wherein he acknowledges that barrels are sold for the 98 and 96 with
only the .250 Savage, 6.5mm, 7x57, and 35 Remington going to the small
threaded small ring 96. He then goes on to say that despite this
timidity of barrel suppliers, the the 96 is OK with 25-06 up to 61,000
psi. The fact that Turks are large ring with small threads, lumps it in
with the 96's for pre threaded barrel availability.
Buy Walsh's book at Brownell's Stock No. 968-565-120
http://www.brownells.com/Index.html
If you buy on line, you should try to qualify for wholesale prices. I
told the
Brownell's website that I am 'The Clark Magnuson College of
Gunsmithing". This
makes the book cost $22 and not $32.50. If you call Brownell's on the
phone, the
girls will suggest you get wholesale, the computer is not as price
friendly.
We did the bolt bending. Our bent bolts do not
interfere with heat treatment on the bolt, and are very strong. However,
it
looks rough when first completed, and must be finished with a die
grinder or
Dremel tool. We made a heat sink with buttressing threads for the bolt
and put
heat paste on the bolt. One guy heats it with the torch, while the other
guy
hits it with the sledge hammer.
R.A.Walsh in the book "Mauser M98 & M96 How to Build Your Favorite
Custom Rifle" says that one should only convert Mausers with mismatched
serial numbers. The rest should be kept for collecting.
He also recommends installing a Timney Trigger with adjustable "pull,
travel, and creep". He recommends 2.5 pounds or less for target and
varmit rifles, 4 pounds for hunting, and 6 to 8 pounds for dangerous
game.
Triggers are on available at Midway.
Brownell's has Timney Triggers:
http://www.brownells.com/Product/index.asp
MAUSER 98,HUSQVARNA, BRNO, YUGOSLAV, H&R 300, COMMERCIAL MAUSERS
883-100-298
M98-FN-SP Sportsman Trigger
$43.60
$29.07
883-200-298
M98-FN-F Featherweight Trigger w/o Safety
$65.25
$43.50
883-500-298
M98-FN-FD Featherweight Deluxe Trigger
$79.65
$53.10
I have not bought an after market trigger yet, but rather deferred the
problem to the Fred Flintstone school of home gunsmithing :
I did a trigger job on a re barreled and scoped 98 Mauser this weekend:
1) an hour to reshape the part of the trigger that cams off the receiver
to make the trigger single stage instead of 2 stage [easier to pull now
~ 2.5 pounds]
2) an hour make a horse shoe shaped spacer to sit between the sear and
the receiver to reduce the hold off. [creep]
3) an hour to cut a nail to sit inside the trigger spring to reduce the
over travel.
4) 10 minutes to find a small spring to sit between the trigger and
receiver to pull the trigger back so it will not be floppy with so
little take up.
I took it to the range and got a .700" 3 shot group. [That is VERY good,
for me]
To disassemble, put the action in an action wrench and the barrel in a
barrel vice. Turn counter clockwise.
Both tools are available for about ~$40 each, more at Brownell's. [Some
of us make our own]
http://www.midwayusa.com/
At $18 delivered, this is my favorite Mauser Scope Mount, it is steel
and one
piece:
http://www.midwayusa.com/online/prod...eItemID=149266
These guys can fit with no grinding on the charging hump [except the
1903 Turk].
I recommend the Wheeler scope mount fixture [unless you have a milling
machine
to locate the holes] $47
I think that for 6-48 taps, Midway is a good place to buy. $15
For that really hard Swedish steel the tap magic cutting oil helps.
http://www.midwayusa.com/online/prod...49+***+666+***
For $20 the two piece steel and $4 for the two piece aluminum are my
second
favorite:
http://www.brownells.com/
I buy the 6-48 screws at Brownell's too.
I bought Walsh's book on sporterizing Mausers at Brownell's.
The Kuhnhausen book on Mausers sucks.
The idea is to get the bolt bent without changing the heat treat [past
straw color] at the cocking cam on the bolt body. To this end I put
Welder's paste in the bolt body. Also, I put a home made brass
buttressing thread heat sink screwed into the bolt body. I have never
had the cocking cam get even warm to the touch, let alone straw color.
The heat treat change is the only reason for not bending the bolts given
in Kuenhausen. He seems to suffer from "Heat Treat Psychosis". Or, as
someone else put it, " Keunhausen is like a snipe hunt, at some point
you stop following the instructions and realize someone is playing a
joke on you."
When I comes to Moisin Nagants, I am TIG welding on either bolts made
from scratch, bolt blanks from Brownell's, or mostly the original bolt
knob with a bolt extender welded between the knob and body. This process
seems to heat up the bolt body, but 91/30s are all soft anyway, right?
In any case after welding of forging, a bolt will look much better after
it is shaped with a die grinder.
Clark