Mauser 98 Stock

[KRex]

Looking for a Surplus M98 stock that I Can Play with a Little. I Have a M98 action with a 308 Israeli barrel (Got it checked out by the gunsmith). The stock that came with it is OK but I would like to play with another stock (Add Forend Cap ...). I really don't want to buy an after market one  ... TOO Much $$$. Anybody have a stock lying around they don't need ... $ $20-25 (No Cracks but I intend to re-finish ). I really don't like to deal with e-bay because the people mostly use PayPal and they don't support gun ownership.

Thanks,
Keith S. Rex
U.S. Army Retired

[mannyrock]

Keith,

   Working with mausers can be fun.  But, a cautionary not to you here.

   The mauser action you have was originally designed to fire  the 8mm round, which is a lower pressure round in the 40,0000 psi range.

    Israel, in utter desperation, bought a huge number of these mausers, and put 7.62 Nato barrels on then.  The 7.62 Nato round is a higher pressure round, in the low to mid 50,000 psi range. 

    Note that your barrrel is stamped "7.62" and not .308 Winchester.  The .308 Winchester is a much higher pressure round than the 7.62 Nato, and has a SAAMI spec of 66,000 psi!!!  (This is 20,000 psi higher than the cartridge that this rifle was designed for.)  The rifle you have was simply not designed to handle this type of pressure, and you should note that many of the rifles were worn out surplus to begin with.

   So, I caution you not to shoot the .308 Winchester round in your rifle, and if you decide to shoot 7.62 Nato, you should be sure that they are low pressure rounds.  Lots of the surplus Nato rounds that are around were loaded "hot" to work well in automatic weapons, and particularly those  coming out of South America.

  Check Numrich Arms (GunParts Inc.) for a surplus stock.  You may also check
Saamco and Sarco.

Best Regards,

Mannyrock
 

[Part 77]

If your rifle passes a gunsmith's inspection, fire away.
The Model 98 Mauser in 8mm Mauser (8 x 57mm JS) was designed for pressures approaching 50,000 cup. This is a European standard. US manufactred 8mm Mauser cartridges are low power versions of the European loading. US industry concerns over shooters using JS type ammo in the weak (and tighter bored) Model 1888 action causes the limit to be unusually low-37,000 cup.
A properly headspaced Model 98 chambered in 7.62 NATO which has been checked by a bona-fide gunsmith can be sfaely fired.
Sporterized Model 98 actions in all manner of chamberings have been safely set back and used in chamberings equal to the .308 Winchester SAAMI specs.
7.62 NATO surplus ammunition can be loaded hot for MG use. Be aware of that.
According to this: http://www.saami.org/Publications/206.pdf
page 16 and 21: .308 win max CUP= 52,000 and max PSI= 62,000

If you go to www.saami.org/publications/ you can find the pdf files which list pressures in CUP and PSI for basically all pistol, rifle, and shotgun loads.
__________________

[mcwoodduck]

I would look at the second bin at fajens website.
I can not find it right now.
But they are in Southern CA.
Maybe Bing.com

[mannyrock]

Part 77,

   I read somewhere last year that the spec for .308 Winchester was being raised from 62,000 psi to 66,000 psi. 

    Either way, when you are dealing with a used 98 military action, that may have been made during the slave-labor times of the Nazi manufacturing, and has been used in two wars, it is highly imprudent in my opinion to be firing rounds through it that are each equivalent in power to a "proof-round."  You are begging for trouble.

   Even people who start out with a really excellent military actions have experienced "set-back" of headspace after shooting only 800 to 1,000 rounds of .308 Winchester.   

   I guess another question is what the gunsmith for the poster did to check-out the old military action.  Did he test the heat treatment?  Did he run a hardness test?  Did he run a magnaflux test?  Or, did he just run a headspace gauge through it.   This makes a big different.

   Of course, everyone is free to make his own decisions, but I would not risk losing my eyesight (or worse) just so I could fire high pressure hunting rounds like the .308 Winchester through a beat up military rifle with a 7.62 Nato barrel.

Mannyrock

[mrussel]

Keith,

   Working with mausers can be fun.  But, a cautionary not to you here.

   The mauser action you have was originally designed to fire  the 8mm round, which is a lower pressure round in the 40,0000 psi range.

    Israel, in utter desperation, bought a huge number of these mausers, and put 7.62 Nato barrels on then.  The 7.62 Nato round is a higher pressure round, in the low to mid 50,000 psi range.  

    Note that your barrrel is stamped "7.62" and not .308 Winchester.  The .308 Winchester is a much higher pressure round than the 7.62 Nato, and has a SAAMI spec of 66,000 psi!!!  (This is 20,000 psi higher than the cartridge that this rifle was designed for.)  The rifle you have was simply not designed to handle this type of pressure, and you should note that many of the rifles were worn out surplus to begin with.

   So, I caution you not to shoot the .308 Winchester round in your rifle, and if you decide to shoot 7.62 Nato, you should be sure that they are low pressure rounds.  Lots of the surplus Nato rounds that are around were loaded "hot" to work well in automatic weapons, and particularly those  coming out of South America.

  Check Numrich Arms (GunParts Inc.) for a surplus stock.  You may also check
Saamco and Sarco.

Best Regards,

Mannyrock
 

 My books say the 8mm Mauser has a maximum pressure of 57000 for the higher pressure cartridges and 45000 for the older lower pressure ones (old like late 1800s). I think your going by SAAMI specs which are considered "anemic" by most and in fact are 35000psi for the 8mm Mauser. While I normally would say that SAAMI is the ultimate authority and you ignore their specs at your own risk,the Mauser is a european weapon and I would trust their specs. They low pressure SAAMI cartridges are made to make it safe to fire a the larger 8mm cartridges in the older smaller bore 8mm barrels.(I believe its designated J for a 318 barrel and JS for a 323 barrel) A REAL 8mm Mauser is very similar to a 30-06. Some say its just a hair shy,by most of my reloading manuals show it about the same or at least so close in power as to make the difference undetectable. Ill go with the consensus though and say that an 8mm Mauser is almost as powerful as a 30-06. As far as I know,its OK to re-barrel a 8mm with a 30-06 barrel  or bore out the chamber to a 8mm-06 (Which is a 30-06 cartridge necked up to 8mm. I question the usefulness of the latter based on what you get over how much it costs,but I have never heard anyone say it wasn't safe) In fact,there is a cartridge called 8mm-06 AI which is a little more powerful than the 8mm-06 and Ive never heard anyone suggest that IT wasn't safe either.

 Im not going to speak to the issues of a 308 in a Mauser as I have not looked into it,mine is an 8mm as it was made by the Turks. What I do know however is that the ammo mine was made for was loaded nice and hot to only 3000 PSI short of a 30-06. While I don't know whether the extra pressure of the 308 will be a problem,but I see my books list 308 loads around 61000 PSI which is very close to the 60000PSI of a 30-06 and about 7% or so higher than the pressures in a 30-06. If your worried,hand load for it and don't use any loads with pressures above 57k.

[eye shot]

My North American School of Fireams states. Relative Strength, Mauser Actions. Those recievers manufactured during WW1 are softer than those made after 1924, and if used for modern, high- intensity cartidges should be re-heat treated. This is especially true for KAR actions marked "Er-furt." 98 actions made between 1924 and 1942 were "proofed to a chamber pressure of about 100,000 psi. I have a 1936 and wouldn't worry about fireing a .308 in that action.

[Swampman]

Sometimes I see mil-surp Mauser socks on eBay.

[cronkite]

I have two, one is off a turk, and the other is off a standard 98, pm me your address and you can have them for shipping cost.

[mauser98us]

Standard hardness testing on 98's not alway a reliable way to do it. Mausers were carburized,or in layman's terms heat treated. This gives them a hard shell and the insides are softer. The case hardening does not pentrate to the core. The early heat treated springfields were treated all the way in. They were recalled due to brittleness,hence the warning on low numbered springfields being unsafe.

[Swampman]

I wonder if a 798 Remington stock would fit with a little work?  Stockys has them.

http://www.stockysstocks.com/servlet/the-440/Mauser-98-Large-Ring/Detail

[KRex]

I actually Lucked out and purchased a Two(2) stocks  for the price of One (1). I kepted the synthetic stock and worked on  the Wood one. I'm going to sell it on the general classifieds section ... Take a Look because a Dressed it up with Hand-Rubbed Finish. Didn't want to break the Classified/Forum Rules so I'll put the pictures there ... Right after this so give it a Little while ...
Hopefully Everyone had a Happy New Year and there weren't too many "Self-Enduced" painfull Head Aches this morning.

KRex

[mrbigtexan]

I wonder if a 798 Remington stock would fit with a little work?  Stockys has them.

http://www.stockysstocks.com/servlet/the-440/Mauser-98-Large-Ring/Detail

yes, they will fit with a little work. mostly around the military trigger guard. mine did'nt need any work around the action.

[WSM264]

As far as pressures are concerned you need to compare apples to apples.
PSI and CUP are 2 different things. 
You will be fine if your 98 has the 3rd locking lug (large ring).  I have seen small rings with a 308 barrel on them and I would not shoot them.