Mauser 98 safety and scope mounts?

[cleveland48]

Hey guys, I have a 98 mauser that has been rebarreled to 308 win. It has a fajen stock on it, but it isn't notched out for the bolt.  the bolt is just bent like on the original military versions was i guess.  I am looking to have it drilled and tapped for scope mounts, because i have a old weaver fixed 3x scope with a post reticle. I believe it would make a nice looking older rifle for me to keep.  The fajen stock is very nice. My main question is regarding to the safety. I looked at some triggers through midway usa that came with a safety(safety looked similar to the ones on the m700 rifle). If i was to by this trigger w/safety what would they do with the older military safety on my rifle would it still be on there or would they remove it? I really liked the looks of an older looking safety i found. It's called a beuler style safety with a 70 degree throw would this be better? I'd like for it to have the looks of an older sporting style rifle.  Also how hard would it be to notch the stock out so the bolt could be bent where it wouldn't contact the scope when i was bolting it? Thanks for your help guys.

[eye shot]

I have a 1936-98 Polish Radom that has a bent bolt in a Fajen stock. I didn't have to remove any stock for the bolt to close.

[mannyrock]

Cleveland,

    If your rifle is a military model, and it has an original military bent bolt, then you need to understand that the bolt was not bent in order for it to be able to use with a scope.  It was only bent to make the rifle a little easier to carry and deal with.  Point is, you will probably find that after you get your rifle drilled and tapped, and the scope mounted, that the bolt handle hits the scope when you open it, because it has not been bent down far enough.  (This is why people who sporterize military mausers have a gunsmith bend down or cut-reweld the bolt  even further.)

    Now, you may be able to avoid getting the bolt bent further if you mount your scope with really high rings.  But, this generally looks really bad in my opinion, and certainly does not have a classic hunting rifle appearance.  I mean, your scope is really sitting up high off of the rifle.

    So, I would consult a competent gunsmith about this rifle before going further.  You may be starting a project that is alot more expensive than you originally thought.

Regards, Mannyrock

[mannyrock]

Cleve,

  Sorry, I forgot to mention.  Notching the stock deeper is really easy, child's play.  Start with a small round wood file, deepen the notch a little, then follow with a larger round wood file, cutting carefully down until you have gone as deep as the small file went.  Close the bolt and see if it hits the wood.  If so, then just keep repeating this process, going slowly and carefully, until the closed bolt no longer hits the wood.  Then take a small wooden dowel, wrap medium sandpaper around it, and sand the inside of the notch to smooth it up.  Then follow with fine, and then extra fine sand paper.  You will need to leave a little bit of extra clearance, so that when the wood is sealed, finished, and later exposed to moisture, it doesn't swell up and hit the bottom of the bolt.

  Really easy.  Just do it when you have plenty of time, some really good light, and you aren't aggravated.  If you get tired, then just stop, and come back to it the next day. 

Regards, Mannyrock

[cleveland48]

I have taken the mounts and scope that i am planning to put on the rifle on there and hold it with my hands and operating the bolt shows that contacts the scope by about a 1/16 to maybe an 1/8 th of an inch.  This is why I was wondering if the bolt could be slightly bent or reshaped some more, cause it barely contacts this older scope how the bolt is bent now. My biggest concern is with the safety still, have any of you tried the bueller style safety on your mausers?  The rifle will not wear anything larger than medium rings because i do not like high rings because of there looks, and of how far my head has to come off the stock to aim.  This gun is in excellent condition, and has been chambered in 308 as long as i can remember and hunted with alot, I just would like to put this older style scope and safety on it, cause it'll be something different for me and i really enjoy older style rifles.

[Dixie Dude]

There are aftermarket safetys.  Two types that I know of.  One is a simple up down on the right side of the bolt.  It only goes up about 20-25 degrees so it misses the scope.  Up is on and down is fire.  I have two of these on two of my Mausers.  I have seen a 3 position aftermarket safety like the Win model 70 has.  I don't know how much they cost nor do I have a link. 

[mcwoodduck]

There are aftermarket safetys.  Two types that I know of.  One is a simple up down on the right side of the bolt.  It only goes up about 20-25 degrees so it misses the scope.  Up is on and down is fire.  I have two of these on two of my Mausers.  I have seen a 3 position aftermarket safety like the Win model 70 has.  I don't know how much they cost nor do I have a link. 

Brownells has them in their catalog.
If you zap me back I will get you a Part number so you can look it up on line.

[mannyrock]

     The up-down safety, which is a lever that swings up towards the eyepiece of the scope, but stops about 1/8th inch short of it, looks fine and works fine.

     If your bolt handle is hitting the scope by about 1/16th to 1/8th inch, then that is alot.  You don't want to think about trying to grind that much metal off of the bolt handle.

     Just take it to a competent gunsmith, and ask him to properly bend the bolt, being sure to use a heat sink when he does it.  Generally, they have a "jig" or "bending press", and they heat the bolt handle and bend it to a standard angle.  This is easy to do by a competent gunsmith.  It has been routinely done hundreds of thousands of times.  The only issue is the price.   I have seen gunsmiths charge between $60 and $120 to do it.

     I guess that you are finding out that sporterizing a military mauser is alot more expensive than buying a brand new sporting rifle.

Regards, mannyrock

[Dixie Dude]

I think if you are going to sporterize a Mauser, you might as well have it rebored to a 338-06 if it can handle the pressure.  You can also have them rebarreled to any caliber that the bolt can handle in the 8mm Mauser/30-06/308 range.  A less expensive way is to remove the rear iron sight and put a scout mount on it. 

[mrbigtexan]

i have used the bold trigger and a sporter shroud and am very pleased. a gunsmith can forge your bolt handle and polish it back up very easy. i have always used a dremel to sand a notch for the bolt handle.

[Brithunter]

Hmmm well I see lots of negatives posted here and some strange comments and especially about higher mounted scopes  . Now although this is a Swedish Mauser, Husqvarna 46, it has the Mauser safety and it's related issuse with scope use:-


Yes it has high scope mounts fitted. Now can you really say it's not a classic?

The scope is a Bushnell Scopechief 3x. Now I had to modify the blot handle slightly like this:-


I carefully ground a scallop out of the top of the bolt handle in a 6" off hand bench grinder and then cold blued it after polishing with 600 wet and dry paper. The flag saefty does not clear the scope bell but as yet I have not done anything about it. In the drawer is a Mk11 low safety for a Mauser 96 but first I want to acquire another bolt shroud before messing with the one on the rifle.

Sadly the Buehler and Win 70 type safeties are too expensive to consider here.

[Mikey]

Brithunter:  my gunsmith has used the 'scallopping' technique on a couple of my Mausers and although a workable solution it is still a pita.  The bolt handle just barely clears the scope bell and it is not a 'comfortable' solution as I don't have a lot of room to work the bolt with my hand.  The next Mauser I work, or have worked on for me, is going to get a aftermarket bolt handle and the original will be cut off and the new one welded on properly to give me a full 90 degree arch without getting anywhere close to the scope.  I was thinking a 'butterknife' handle like the Mannlichers.....

[squirrellluck]

Don't remember what I paid for mine but if you are going to do more than one consider buying a jig and heat sink. It is very simple to bend and sweep the bolt then use a file to dress it. Polish and done. Wish I knew which box it's in in storage. I got 3 more I need to do. I guess it can wait a while longer

[Brithunter]

I had one replaced on the Swede:-

The safety needs to be altered/converted at some point. The original had just been forged down and was not really suitable.

[bwcweld]

I used a ken farrel scope rail on my military 98.  With medium rings i was able to keep the original bent bolt handle and use the flag style safety.  I was also able to keep my original sights and it cleared a vx3 with 40 mm bell quite easily.  The scope sits at a very natural height even without a raised cheek peice.

[Brithunter]

I used a ken farrel scope rail on my military 98.  With medium rings i was able to keep the original bent bolt handle and use the flag style safety.  I was also able to keep my original sights and it cleared a vx3 with 40 mm bell quite easily.  The scope sits at a very natural height even without a raised cheek peice.

The scope that was on hte 6.5mm Swede was a 7x50, it currently wears an 8x56.

[IOWA DON]

I think you would like a very low mounted scope better. Here's my 1909 Argentine 7x57. Not much wiggle room for the scope or anything. (Leupold base and rings, and a 1.75-6X VXII short tube scope.

[IOWA DON]

xxxx