Mauser project

Swilly · January 15, 2014, 01:39 AM

Hello all. This is my first post and I just wanted to show you all a pic of my nearly complete Mauser. A lot of the questions I had I found answers to searching the forum here. This started out as a 1942 k kale with a bad bore and cracked stock that had been forgotten in my closet for the past 8 years. About all I have left is to drill and tap and cut the dovetail for the sights and park it.

tahoe2 · January 15, 2014, 02:07 AM

Lookin good so far, have you used a thumb-hole stock before this? Curious as I have never tried one,
What bore pill is she pushin now? Did you pick your glass yet?
Pics and range reports to follow for sure! right?

Goatwhiskers · January 15, 2014, 08:24 AM

Question: what are ya gonna do about that bolt handle? GW

Swilly · January 15, 2014, 11:38 AM

This is my first experience with a thumb hole stock. It is a Boyd's and it was very close to being a drop in except for opening up the barrel channel. My only complaint is that with my hand naturally grasping the grip, the trigger is just a fuzz too far forward. I plan on replacing the military trigger when in can and may thin the grip if the problem persists. It has a 22.5" green mountain barrel chambered in .45acp. The plan is to shoot up on the cheap until I get bored and rechamber it for 450 Bushmaster. No glass on this one.... It will be getting a lyman 57smet rear and 17 front. I may eventually forge the bolt handle but it will clear iron sights so I am not too worried. By the way, the barrel I got was one of green mountain's gunsmith special raw blanks. I was impressed with the quality. Fantastic bore with barely an inkling of reamer marks. I will follow up with a range report for sure. Funny how the simple prospect of a Rhineland conversion kit gets blown up...

Swilly · January 16, 2014, 02:16 PM

So, a couple nights ago I bedded the action and the first inch of the barrel. I used plumbers putty in lieu of not being able to find playdoh and bedded it with J-B weld using redding imperial sizing wax as a release agent with great results. There was only one small void near the extraction port on the right side. This morning I put 5 rounds through it with a 5 gallon pail as a target. Ofcourse I don't have any sights mounted yet, but was able to hit the pail at 30yds 3 times. After sights are on it I will definitely be setting up my chronograph. I had assumed that factory Winchester white box ammunition at 835 fps would be losing speed out of a 22.5 in barrel but they certainly seem faster than they leave the 5 in barrel on my 1911. This weekend I hope to find time to build the magazine adapter as single feeding the .45 ammunition sucks. The rear sight will be ordered tomorrow and after it is mounted I will figure out what height front sight I will need to order. It is noticeably louder than a .22 rim fire but recoil is comparable.

Swilly · January 27, 2014, 10:24 PM

Well, I received my rear sight in the mail last week and got it mounted over the weekend. I was somewhat worried that with the barrel being a straight 1.25" that the rear sight would have to use up a lot of the available elevation just to use the shortest lyman front aperture sight. Just to see I rigged up an adjustable temporary front sight to play with. Seems to me the short lyman 17 sight should do just fine.

Dixie Gunsmithing · January 27, 2014, 10:57 PM

You don't see many thunbholes around here. However, I do remember reading about them possibly coming up in the governments hitlist about a year back. I guess they thought because it looked different, it was just too dangerous LOL.

Anyhow, they supposed to help if you need to scoot the cheek forward on the stock to take sight. I would also say that they will stiffen the grip area, and may keep them from cracking easy.

Swilly · February 9, 2014, 05:58 PM

Finally got the front sight dovetail cut last night and pushed in the front sight. Put on my snowshoes and placed a target at 50yds this morning. All was going well after firing a few shots and making a couple adjustments but they kinda started flying all over the place and then I noticed that the rear sight slide is loose in the base! The tension on the elevation screw retaining button keeps it kind of tight but it wiggles around like crazy making it impossible to hold a zero. I will call the distributor I bought it from tomorrow but I can forsee having to send it back to lyman.

Swilly · March 16, 2014, 07:52 PM

Got my rear sight all fixed up nice and snug and in the meantime my good friend liked the .45 acp conversion so well that he got a green mountain 45 blank for his rem 700 target rifle and chambered it just for fun. Today I set up my chronograph and shot a few groups with the mauser. Best group was 1 1/4 inch at 40yds. Avg velocity with winchester ammunition was 863 fps from my 23 1/2 inch barrel. Box lists 850 fps from 5" barrel. Also tried an experiment with some hand loads of 255gr lee cast over 8.5 gr of 2400 which shot for crap with velocity all over the place. I will be trying some different powders, in fact I am having someone pick up a can of bullseye as I type.

January 15, 2014, 02:07 AM	#2
tahoe2 Senior Member Join Date: August 13, 2011 Location: Seattle area Posts: 661	Welcome Aboard Swilly Lookin good so far, have you used a thumb-hole stock before this? Curious as I have never tried one, What bore pill is she pushin now? Did you pick your glass yet? Pics and range reports to follow for sure! right?

January 16, 2014, 02:16 PM	#5
Swilly Member Join Date: January 14, 2014 Location: Central, WI Posts: 18	First firing after fitting the stock So, a couple nights ago I bedded the action and the first inch of the barrel. I used plumbers putty in lieu of not being able to find playdoh and bedded it with J-B weld using redding imperial sizing wax as a release agent with great results. There was only one small void near the extraction port on the right side. This morning I put 5 rounds through it with a 5 gallon pail as a target. Ofcourse I don't have any sights mounted yet, but was able to hit the pail at 30yds 3 times. After sights are on it I will definitely be setting up my chronograph. I had assumed that factory Winchester white box ammunition at 835 fps would be losing speed out of a 22.5 in barrel but they certainly seem faster than they leave the 5 in barrel on my 1911. This weekend I hope to find time to build the magazine adapter as single feeding the .45 ammunition sucks. The rear sight will be ordered tomorrow and after it is mounted I will figure out what height front sight I will need to order. It is noticeably louder than a .22 rim fire but recoil is comparable.

January 27, 2014, 10:24 PM	#6
Swilly Member Join Date: January 14, 2014 Location: Central, WI Posts: 18	Rear sight mounted... Well, I received my rear sight in the mail last week and got it mounted over the weekend. I was somewhat worried that with the barrel being a straight 1.25" that the rear sight would have to use up a lot of the available elevation just to use the shortest lyman front aperture sight. Just to see I rigged up an adjustable temporary front sight to play with. Seems to me the short lyman 17 sight should do just fine.

January 15, 2014, 08:24 AM	#3
Goatwhiskers Senior Member Join Date: April 8, 2009 Location: Batchelor, La. Posts: 579	Question: what are ya gonna do about that bolt handle? GW

January 15, 2014, 11:38 AM	#4
Swilly Member Join Date: January 14, 2014 Location: Central, WI Posts: 18	This is my first experience with a thumb hole stock. It is a Boyd's and it was very close to being a drop in except for opening up the barrel channel. My only complaint is that with my hand naturally grasping the grip, the trigger is just a fuzz too far forward. I plan on replacing the military trigger when in can and may thin the grip if the problem persists. It has a 22.5" green mountain barrel chambered in .45acp. The plan is to shoot up on the cheap until I get bored and rechamber it for 450 Bushmaster. No glass on this one.... It will be getting a lyman 57smet rear and 17 front. I may eventually forge the bolt handle but it will clear iron sights so I am not too worried. By the way, the barrel I got was one of green mountain's gunsmith special raw blanks. I was impressed with the quality. Fantastic bore with barely an inkling of reamer marks. I will follow up with a range report for sure. Funny how the simple prospect of a Rhineland conversion kit gets blown up...

January 27, 2014, 10:57 PM	#7
Dixie Gunsmithing Moderator Emeritus Join Date: April 27, 2013 Location: Ohio Posts: 1,923	You don't see many thunbholes around here. However, I do remember reading about them possibly coming up in the governments hitlist about a year back. I guess they thought because it looked different, it was just too dangerous LOL. Anyhow, they supposed to help if you need to scoot the cheek forward on the stock to take sight. I would also say that they will stiffen the grip area, and may keep them from cracking easy.