Mauser love limits

bearhunter said:
They all shoot well with heavy 156-160 grain bullets. They all have the same 1-7.6 twist rate.

Those heavy bullets were what that twist rate was incorporated for in the design.
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I guess I didn't explain myself very well. Supposedly the German built rifles didn't perform as well accuracywise with the lighter bullets, however the Swedish built M96s shot both better than the German built M96s.
 
Brutus said:
I guess I didn't explain myself very well. Supposedly the German built rifles didn't perform as well accuracywise with the lighter bullets, however the Swedish built M96s shot both better than the German built M96s.
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I've had issues with lighter bullets, such as the 90 grain, flat base, hollow points and the 105 grain bullets of the same shape and construction not shooting well in these rifles.

I think it's the construction of the lighter bullets, coupled with the excessive resulting ''freebore'' that caused the issues you're describing.
 
well Mausers

I've hand a few over the years, sold the last of them over a decade ago.

now I only have commercial mausers, a Zavasta in 458WM and then 2 Santa Barbra actions, ParkerHale Safari that was rebarreled in 8x63, and an unmarked rife in 308.
 
bearhunter said:
I've had issues with lighter bullets, such as the 90 grain, flat base, hollow points and the 105 grain bullets of the same shape and construction not shooting well in these rifles.

I think it's the construction of the lighter bullets, coupled with the excessive resulting ''freebore'' that caused the issues you're describing.
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Thank you sir.
Needed real input here.
 
woodchopper said:
well Mausers

I've hand a few over the years, sold the last of them over a decade ago.

now I only have commercial mausers, a Zavasta in 458WM and then 2 Santa Barbra actions, ParkerHale Safari that was rebarreled in 8x63, and an unmarked rife in 308.
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I've got several ex military issue 98 actions that I have picked up at gun shows, yard sales, online etc. They used to be very common.

Now you see the odd one and Bubba has often turned them into ugly paper weights, suitable for their parts.

Many of my favorite hunting rifles, chambered for the 7x57, 8x57, 338-08, 30-06, 280 Remington and the 8.15x46R single shot etc.

All of them other than the 8.15x46R were put together by myself.

I really like 98 Mauser actions because they can be very verstatile for the cartridges I prefer to use.

That being said, they do lack the sophistication of many of the modern actions being made today, in and out of North America.

They aren't everyone's idea of the ideal action.

My rifles all shoot well. Actually better than I'm capable of shooting them, with loads they like of course.

All of my sporter 98s with surplus barrels were NOS that were hand picked from dozens of surplus in the white barrels for being on mean spec and consistently uniform for their entire length. Uniformity was judged by pushing a lubed tight patch down the bores and if there were any loose or tight spots, the barrel was rejected. No rocket science there. Once several barrels were selected, they were slugged and only those on mean spec were chosen. Any with visible defects were rejected.

Mauserwerke went through a lot of trials to find which barrel profiles were best for harmonics and would shoot well for weight/length.

The commercial 98 types with barrels or custom barrels also shoot well. Even some of the cheaper commercial barrel blanks will shoot well, if they're consistent and their bores on on mean spec. When I turn the profiles, my dimensions are very close to those of the surplus military barrels but of course, without the steps and polished.

These actions are not as smooth as those without controlled round feed or guide ribs but they are absolutely reliable when properly maintained and after market triggers or even a lovely double set trigger is installed.

After market stocks from many different sources are available for these actions.

You need to be careful though. If you're going to build a rifle on one of these actions, you need to make sure you know which length action you have.

There are two different lengths. Then of course there is the commercial "magnum length" action for rounds like Weatherby cartridges.

I also have a few complete milsurp 98 Mauser and variants.

Mausers are addicting.

I also have the M38 Swede Mauser which is pristine after an FTR with all match#. I recently sold the M96 in similar condition.

I have one M96 Husqvarna date 1948 that Bubba had gotten ahold of and it's now chambered for the 6mm Remington. The bolt has been altered to #### on opening and it has a very nice Timney trigger. Very accurate rifle.
 
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Have a few 98's in different calibres and yes they are addicting. Last one was a Turk, what an odd ball. Picked up a bare action, no bolt. Turned out to be intermediate, large outer small inner and 85 thou longer even though it was 98 trigger guard assembly. Took off and on 2 years to put together. Now a 7x57 with 28" stepped barrel, still working on a load. Labor of love and frustration but fun, interesting and a lot learned.
 
blazinbilly said:
Have a few 98's in different calibres and yes they are addicting. Last one was a Turk, what an odd ball. Picked up a bare action, no bolt. Turned out to be intermediate, large outer small inner and 85 thou longer even though it was 98 trigger guard assembly. Took off and on 2 years to put together. Now a 7x57 with 28" stepped barrel, still working on a load. Labor of love and frustration but fun, interesting and a lot learned.
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Cant beat 47 grains of imr 4350 with the 140g in my experience
 
kjohn said:
Some of the Oberndorf M96 built in 1900 were serialed 1-5000, and were a special order. Some were serialed much higher and were part of the normal military inventory. Telling which is which is simply looking at the serial number. All 96's from Sweden inventories are nice old rifles.
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Mine is 53###
 
I have a Danzig factory sporter 96 in 6.5x55. Only Irons on it. Easy to shoot to 200 though, great sight picture. Tempted to get a scope on it. But I have a husky 1640 in 6.5x55 that has made the urge go away.
 
homophobe - I am not sure that Danzig Arsenal ever made m96, nor did they typically chamber to 6.5x55, but I suppose anything is possible - perhaps what you have is a Danzig marked Small Ring receiver that a previous owner has screwed on a Swede m96 barrel? Is much "mix and match" that can be easily done with Mausers - I fitted a barrel from a Paraguay Mauser chambered for 7.65 Argentine barrel to a Chilean Small Ring receiver - does not mean Chile ever used 7.65 cartridge - but with some effort, and a "breeching washer", I got that pre-used barrel to headspace properly. I have owned several m93, m94, m95 and m96 rifles - I think much of their parts are about drop-in interchangeable - I do know when I received it, that Chilean receiver had Swede marked trigger and sear - worked perfectly.
 
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Meroh said:
Mine is 53###
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Are you sure about the serial number? 53,000 doesn’t fit in the special order - too high, and also doesn’t fit in the regular service rifle range - too low. Maybe I’m out to lunch. If someone knows better, please jump in..
 
Philthy1 you are spot on, just got back from the range, 46.5 grains H4350 and 139 hornadys 5 shots just under 1". Only 31 rounds through it now to find another project.
 
Maybe it's just me, the earlier #### on close mausers run even smoother than the #### on open 98s. Stir the pot a little...

I'd like to see that 458x2". Thats pretty cool.
 
Nice thing with being left handed, helps keep the buying limited.
Though I did receintly purchase a RH M98 Husqvarna sporter :D
Pretty much the only left handed true mauser is a zastava. Might not be the most polished rifle out there, needs a bit of smoothing and polishing to run nice.
 
MilitaryCollectorMark said:
Nice thing with being left handed, helps keep the buying limited.
Though I did receintly purchase a RH M98 Husqvarna sporter :D
Pretty much the only left handed true mauser is a zastava. Might not be the most polished rifle out there, needs a bit of smoothing and polishing to run nice.
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Only issue I had with my right hander was a bit too much wood at the tang, dragging on the bolt. A few strokes with a file to open the tang grove up and the bolt just glides. Only a few hundred rounds through it varrying from my 85 gr varmint loads to 156 gr LRN. Like my M96, at 100 yards, all loads shoot to virtually the same point of aim. M38 shoots well, but the shorter barrel gives different point of impact depending on loads.
 
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