To rebarrel or not.

[aflineman]

I picked up a K98 Mauser last weekend and finally got it to the range yesterday. It has been sporterized in the past, but it was done with an eye to it's heritage (at least i think so). Peep sight, turned and reblued barrel, very nice target trigger. Has also been drilled and tapped for a scope (which it is not wearing at the moment). I am really thinking about getting a light profile .308, 7mm-08 or a .243 barrel for it. Maybe even a 35 Whelen or 338-06.
I have though been looking at just reloading 8mm, and leaving the barrel on. Though the price of the rifle was low enough to have a new barrel/caliber done on it, and have a really nice hunting rifle on the cheap. Decisions, decisions.
Anyone had a Mauser rebarreled from 8mm to something else? Anything I should look out for?







Thanks in  advance.

[parkergunshop]

The cases similar to the original 8x57 chamberings will work best, any of the 30-06 based rounds 25-06, 270 Winchester, 30-06,  338/06, 35 Whelen or the old classic 7x57 which is a better round than the 7mm/08 if you handload.  I have rebarreled for all these rounds with excellent results on 98 actions.
The .308, .243 Winchester and 7mm/08 rounds will work however you may have to work on the magazine and feeding, just put a .308 Winchester barrel on a 1938 Oberendorf action and it feeds as smooth as silk with no alteration at all.  I like the intermediate length actions best for these rounds like the Yugo 48 Mauser or the small ring Mexican actions because feeding is no issue with them.

It appears for the photo that you have 1942 made K98.  What are the other codes on the receiver ring in front of the year made?
By the way, I had rather have a well customized rebarrelled 98 Mauser than any new rifle on the market today. 
 

[Bigeasy]

Since you reload, as long as the caliber meets your power and accuracy requirements for what you hunt, I would leave it as is.  Its a nice, classic rifle.  The 8mm can be loaded close to the performance of the 30-06, and bullet selection is decent.  Then again, it would also be nice stocked in a fancy piece of walnut, say in 35 Whelen.  As Parker said, any long action round based on the 30-06 should work fine.  The below pic is of a similar rifle I sportsterized a long time ago, a 1909 Argentine (98) with the original barrel re bored and chambered to 35 Whelen.
 
Larry

[billy_56081]

9.3x62, 35 whelen or 338-06 ould be my choices in that order.

[freddogs]

I've had mausers rebarreled in 257 Roberts  Ackley Imp., 35 Whelan, 30.06, and 7X57. The only problem I had was when I seated bullets close to the lands on the 35 Whelan I couldn't get them in the magazine. It grouped sub MOA with the bullets close to the lands. I seated the bullets deeper and my groups opened up to 1.5". The Roberts is the most fun to shoot.
A round such as you suggest should work great.

[mauser98us]

I only rebarrel if the orginal chamber has a poor bore. The 8M/M is a tremendous round especially with heavy bullets. If the bore is good , leave her as is.

[gunnut69]

I have to agree with parkerg's' on the mauser design. It's likely the best engineered action one can find. Some were built in difficult times and finish and even some tolerances suffered but a good 98 is as good as it gets..  The 8mm is a fine round but if the bore is poor then I think I'd go with the 338-06.  It's fairly easy to get ammo and gives great power. I'm considering a 338 Fed on an intermediate action just now. The Whelan is also a great choice.. but remember that a 180-200 grain bullet from the 8mm is a powerful game stopper..!

[Mikey]

aflineman:  Since you reload the 8mm, I would leave it if she shoots.  I would get some VihtaVuori powder - N160 I believe, and use that as powder for just about any 195 - 200 gn slug you can find.  Sellier and Bellot make the best European ammo available, PRVI is next, US made ammo is liability conscious and not worth a dang.  Hornady 195 gn and Nosler Accubond 200 gn both shoot to the same hole from my rifle.
 
The velocity of Euro factory loadings (S&B) for the 196 gn cutted soft point slug is right around 2500'/sec.  You can not find a factory 200 gn 06 load that performs like that, you have to handload for it.  The 8mm is a great caliber.  If the rifle ain't broke, don't fix it.  jmtcw.

[Bingo]

    I too like the 8mm idea but would consider a Timny side safty trigger for it. I don't like the military safty on a hunting rifle.

[mannyrock]

 
  Leave it in 8mm.  It is a classic, so why ruin it? Buy some high powered European 8mm hunting loads, and don't waste time handloading for it. 
 
  If you want a .30-06 mauser sporter, just buy a 1950s FN supreme, or 1950s JC Higgens made by FN.  (I saw a Higgens in great shape at a show last Sunday, for $550.  Yonger people just don't care about mausers anymore, so the guns just sit there.)  The vast majority of these are in .30-06 and .270.  They are the finest examples of mauser sporters, remarkable workmanship.
 
  If you decide to rebarrel, do yourself a big favor and stay with the long action cartridges.  It is very common for conversions to have real problems feeding the .308 and .243, and other short rounds.  Sometimes, these feeding problems can never be adequately resolved. You will also have to "block" the mag to take the short rounds.  All of this is an enormous waste of time and money.
 
  And, the 98K action was simply not designed to handle the pressure of a .308 Winchester (SAAMI 66,000 psi) !  Extensive shooting will "grow" headspace and eventually ruin the action or require new headspacing.
 
   Just my experience, fooling with the same type of problems for 40 years.
 
Mannyrock
 

 

[parkergunshop]

Mannyrock,
I feel that the a good well heat treated 98 action is ok for any of the standard non-magnum rounds including the .308 Winchester.  I have a personal .308 Winchester on a small ring German intermediate  length action with a Remington 700 new take off barrel installed.
I do not rebarrel or rechamber them for the H&H cases, I use the 1914 or 1917 Enfields for these.
For example the Enfields have 30 percent more lug shear area and 54 percent more lug bearing area in the receiver than a 98 Mauser, if you stay away from the Eddystones heat treatment is not an issue.   Remington and Winchesters I have tested measure in the Rockwell 40C range.
And they handle the longer rounds without action modifications that weaken the action.
My Mausers are in .257 Ackley Improved, 7x57, 8x57, .308 Winchester and 6 M/M Remington.   I have built rifles in 338/06 and .35 Whelen as the largest rounds on Mausers.
 
 
 
 

[mannyrock]

 
Parker,
 
   Yes I agree.  But, does he have a well made properly heat treated action?  He has a K98, perhaps wartime make, perhaps made in a factory using slave labor while bombs fell overhead.  There is no way to know for sure.  He could pay more money, and have the action checked for cracks with a magnaflux, and have the exterior checked for heat treatment and hardness, but all of this gets really expensive.  All to make an old military rifle into a .308 sporter.  It doesn't seem worth it.
 
   You are right about properly made mausers.  The FN commercial mausers of the 1940s and 1950s were made with the same basic type of metal and heat treatment process as the military mausers, but under extremely well controlled conditions with highly skilled craftsman.  Those actions can handle the high pressure short action rounds.
 
  I guess the question for him will really come down to whether he wants to spend another $600 or so on the rifle, just to end up with a .308, and hope that it ends up feeding smoothly.  Really good mauser gunsmiths, such as yourself, are hard to find these days.
 
  Personally, I would just enjoy the rifle for what it is.  There are plenty of quality .308 mausers out there, for around $500 to $600.
 
Best regards,
 
Mannyrock

[critter44]

Nothing wrong at all with the 8mm Mauser caliber, especially for a reloader.

However, I have 98's rebarreled to .270 Win, 25-06 and .35 Whelen. All easy conversions since they have the same case head size and similar case profiles to the original caliber. Fun projects!

Enjoy whatever you decide.

[KRex]

  That is one Good Looking rifle...
There is nothing wrong with the 8mm and If the Gunsmith gives it a Look ... You can Reload an 8mm on equal to a 30-06. But if you want to Improve it, I know some people that just
 Re-Chamber it for the 8mm-06 and some reloading manuals list loads. RCBS sells Dies and 30-06 Bras can be used once Re-Formed.

[smokehouserex]

 
 
  Hello aflineman:
  I just wanted to add my comments here. Altho I am not a gunsmith as are some of the others here, I am a tinkerer.with Mausers mainly. I have several, vz24's, 1909, spanish93, and 1 K98.
  I got into rebarreling some years ago and converted to various cals., I am a 30-06 person and rebarreled serveral to this as well as 260, 25-06,264Win.Mag. and a SantaBarabra Mag action In 458WinMag.
  After some years of this I went back and rebarreled some spare actions to 8MM as I had serveral really good take-offs laying around. Went to the range the other with one of them and it shot better than some that I had rebarreled to another caliber, I did however requalify the barrels and reface the bolts, just slightly, and lapped the lugs as well as trueing the receiver, the barrels were not matching ser. numbers to the rec. The 8MM is a underrated cartridge here in the US but quite a powerful hunting round.
  Stick with the 8MM  unless you just want another cartridge, there's certainly nothing wrong with that either. Just my opinion as a Mauser Lover and enjoy your Mauser no matter if you rebarrel it or keep it as is. BTW if you want to learn more about Mausers there is a really good book by Olsen IIRC, I don't have it handy right now and another by J. Kuhnhausen  (SP) If you want to learn to work on them. BTW, a good looking rifle too.
  safety first
  HM

[Harry Snippe]

  That is one Good Looking rifle...
There is nothing wrong with the 8mm and If the Gunsmith gives it a Look ... You can Reload an 8mm on equal to a 30-06. But if you want to Improve it, I know some people that just
 Re-Chamber it for the 8mm-06 and some reloading manuals list loads. RCBS sells Dies and 30-06 Bras can be used once Re-Formed.

 
I would agree . If the barrel is good leave it be, add the timmy trigger and buy some dies .
There are some rifles out there that have poor bores and good recievers .One of these might be the start of a new custom gun .How ever - to come up with a good looking custom rifle is more than screwing on a new barrel , so a thousand hard earned dollars might be just a deposit .

[M'issippi Bruce]

I have one of those "poor bore but good action" rifles that I picked up at a pawn shop for the action - I think it will become a 6.5x55 when I accumulate the cash to do so.

It has be a delightful misery trying to decide on which of the various superb calibers to choose - weeded out the ones I already have and ended up with .257 Roberts, 6.5x55, 7x57, .280 Ackley, and 9.3x63. After my son's experience with his swede, I just had to be sold on the 6.5 in as light-weight of a configuration as possible. Maybe I can pass it to a grandchild when he/she is ready - since none are on the way yet, I will have to play with it for a while.

[aflineman]

I have picked up some dies, bullets, and brass for it. Not all to bad to reload for, and shoots really well. No scope yet, and at this point I don't really think that I need one. Not sure it will be my first choice in a hunting rifle, but it is fun from the bench.

[1911crazy]

How hot is the surplus turkish 8mm ammo?  I would think the 98k mauser would handle the 308win round ok.  They build the large ring mausers with 458win mag barrels.  The german 8mm ammo was hot also wasn't it???  If it out preformed our 30-06 it had to be hot. It all depends on the condition of the receiver too.
 
I rebarreled my german 98k to its orginal  8mm mauser and its perfect.  I picked up an excellent czech 8mm barrel and handguard. The $37 barrel from numrich e-gun parts was like brand new inside and out. The headspace is perfect too.  I cleaned the wood stock and put on 10 or so coats of tung oil.  She really looks great with the scope mounted on it too.
 
If you do a recaliber some barrels come with the headspace shallow but some are finished too.  I would think since all these 98 mauser receivers were mostly manufactured on all the same machinery with in tolerances the barrels should all interchange somewhat.