Just wondering... My son's first deer season will be next fall.  We're building AK's together - I know, completely different - but if it isn't WAY too involved I'm thinking about starting this project.  A gun we build together will be more meaningful than him remembering a trip to the gunstore to buy a Remington.

Is it something that we can piece together and maybe take to a gunsmith for some small finishing work?  Is it an expensive proposition, or could I build a nice rifle for $400 or under?

Caliber: I'm thinking .308 or 7mm-08.

That $400 sounds a bit low to me.

It's doable at home but investing in the tools just to do one rifle is not cheap.

Dennis Jenkins

Quoted: Just wondering... My son's first deer season will be next fall.  We're building AK's together - I know, completely different - but if it isn't WAY too involved I'm thinking about starting this project.  A gun we build together will be more meaningful than him remembering a trip to the gunstore to buy a Remington. Is it something that we can piece together and maybe take to a gunsmith for some small finishing work?  Is it an expensive proposition, or could I build a nice rifle for $400 or under? Caliber: I'm thinking .308 or 7mm-08.

It depends....
If you just want a "Bubba" job, a Mauser can have the stock reshaped.
If you want a scope... then you will have to either forge the bolt or have one welded on that would clear a scope (either one takes skill so that you do not ruin the temper on the important areas of the bolt  such as the locking lugs and cocking cam notch).  Then you will have to drill and tap the receiver and fit a low scope safety as a bare minimum. If building from a bare receiver, then you will either need a lathe for headspacing the barrel, or buy one short chambered and chamber it yourself. Plus buying tools such as a barrel vise and action wrench, drill and tap jig, etc.
Sometimes .308 and 7mm-08 are tough to get to feed through a Mauser. 8mm Mauser, 7mm Mauser, and 30/06 should feed without too much work.  (30/06 may be a little long to fit in the magazine).
Basically, it does not make financial sense to buy the equipment to  do just one Mauser.
Check your IM

It depends on how custom you want to get.  You can rent reamers online, and deals on Mauser stocks and barrels are pretty common.  Check out the Military Firearms Restoration Corner for more info.  

Quoted: Is it something that we can piece together and maybe take to a gunsmith for some small finishing work?  Is it an expensive proposition, or could I build a nice rifle for $400 or under?

Not really a DIYer kind of thing.  You'll need to drill and tap the receiver and that means to do it right you'll need a jig and a drill press.  You'll also need to forge the bolt -- which means a torch and a set of bending blocks and a bolt heak sink.  You might find a barrel that's short chambered that you can finish headspace with a pull through reamer, but at the minimum you'll need a barrel vise and action wrench ( and probably a lathe before you're done).  Though the .308 uses the same .473 case head as the 8x57, 7x57, etc., I think you'll find that the case body is a bit less tapered and therefore wider than the parent cartridge for which the action was made.  That means you might have the unenviable task of opening up the receiver rails to ensure that the magazine feeds properly.

The safety will need to be replaced, so your choices are to go with a Timney trigger with side safety or a Buehler style flip safety.  You'll probably want to lose the trigger ( which means a Timney Sportsman trigger or something more $$$ ) and you can sporterize the existing stock, but you'll probably want a sporter stock in walnut, laminate, or synthetic.

Bottom line is that if you add up the costs of the tools and parts, you can buy a M700 or M70 at Walmart for about half or less than you'd have in a sporter.  If you're dying to have a 98 Mauser and life won't be complete without it, I'd look into one of the Charles Daly imports that probably sells for about the same money as you mentioned in your post...

OK, looks like I'm going to stick with buying a Remington.  I have a Mauser 24/47 on the way for me to hunt with... and if the smaller cartridges have trouble chambering, it doesn't make sense to build one for a kid's gun.  Thanks guys...

Take it from a Mauser Guy, old Mausers are money pits.

Piece of cake!





But there are tools that are needed..

ETA: With the Mauser 98 actions your limited to anything with a boltface size of 30-06 or larger. A 300 Win mag is dead simple to do.

If done correctly they can be sub MOA guns.

The K98 Mausers can be built up, there are also two after market mfr's of new mauser receivers. The M48 Yugos have a short action and there has to be a notch cut in the barrel for the extractor so they don't lend themselves to custom builds. Look into the Savage rifles as well. Pretty good value, known for accuracy.


ETA, don't know how old you son is but also consider the single shot models, that way you can keep the ammo in your pocket for safety.

Quoted: Piece of cake!

damn.....i like that one a LOT!

Quoted: Quoted: Piece of cake! www.rrgunworks.com/Images/257r.jpg damn.....i like that one a LOT!

That is a .257 Roberts on a Spanish 96.

tagged

I think it would be a great project, if done safely - to have a "new" shooter build their own.  They would know how the thing functioned, down the nth level.  A field strip and reassemble during the hunt would become second nature.

Have you got a receiver at this point?  Are you planning to scope it, or stick with irons?

I've been looking at the "Tools" section in the Equipment Exchange, thinking of throwing some of my Mauser tools and reference materials on there for rental.

Potentially I could rent:

scope drill/tap jig
lug lapping tool
bolt face squaring tool
receiver barrel thread tap
action mandrel for front ring truing ona lathe(and I use it to surface grind the receiver rings)
Kuhnhausen's Manual

You'd still need:
- a barrel - potentially you could pick up a used one on Ebay(I bought two chrome moly Douglas 30 caliber barrels, brand new on www.accuratereloading.com a few weeks back for $125 for both)
- most likely a trigger, although you could run the military trigger I suppose
- some sort of safety to modify the military flag safety, I prefer the Win 70 2 position type myself(for about $100)
- a stock(unless you modify the military stock)
- chamber reamer/t-handle/headspace gauges(for a short chambered barrel)

Would be a great project, I think, if you've got the tools and equipment available to do it.

I talked to my cousin who knows a guy who does a lot of his own gun work... even making his own barrels from blanks.  He's going to talk to him and see if it's a good idea for me to try this.

I'm not looking for a competition tackdriver, just something on par with current production rifles - nothing special (except for the time we put into it).

Receiver: I was thinking about either a Turk Mauser, or buy an action from Brownells or something.