7.62x39 Mauser project

Casull

Casull

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Hi all,
I am just laying out my next project. I decided awhile ago it would be a 7.62x39 bolt gun to shoot some surplus ammo. I ordered a reamer from Pacific tool and Gauge and just got my new reamer. It's a very nice removable pilot reamer with gauges. Now for the variables;
I have a few actions available but my decision is down to a 96 Mauser or a 98 Mauser. I have a few of each on hand, no preference there. I will try each for feed before I go any further and see if there is an edge for either.
Next is the choice of barrel. I know I will use a .308" bore, I've seen this done and it works well even with the .311" ammo. But now the contour, weight and length are variables. At this point I am thinking about a 20" "stiff" barrel. Medium heavy or slightly more. Here I have to say the purpose will be walking around and plinking. Gophers and coyote and wolves. It might hunt larger game but it's not required. I don't want it to heat up too quickly nor do I want to carry around an axle weight barrel. I am not thinking I need anything longer than 20" either.
Sights; I am leaning toward the idea now of a low to medium powered scope and no sights at all. It's not a serious hunting rifle so backup sights are not much of an issue. I normally like a good set of sights, but am not leaning toward them on this rifle.
Trigger; If the factory trigger does not clean up well enough, I will likely find a Timney to install.
Safety; I have a Beuhler low profile or two around that will work with a scope or I might go with one on the trigger if I end up using a Timney.
Stock; I am not sure here. I am leaning toward ordering a Boyd's. A medium light weight especially if I go with a lighter barrel. There is also the idea of making the stock medium heavy and using the stiff barrel idea which would be somewhat heavier. What good synthetics are available for the 96 or 98 Mauser. Any preferences here? The rifle metal will all be blued I suppose so I am leaning more toward a wood or wood look stock. Any wood sporters available for a 96 Mauser or even nice military. I might be able to get Why_Not? to help me bed the stock in the end. Or maybe floating is the way to go?
Finish; No idea here but blued. Any reasonable options?
Brake; I have been making a few muzzle brakes lately and could probably come up with a small brake for it, but I am thinking it will have none at all. Ideas here?
A nice recoil pad is always worthwhile even on this small caliber rifle.
Anything else anyone thinking of? Any tips, hints, suggestions? I am not in a rush, I expect to do it over the winter. I have enough parts now to start building. Anyone see anything I am missing or has anyone else done this project already, and if so, what is your experience of it?
Thanks for any help,
Rob
 
I've done this before with a prechambered barrel. Numrich or one of those outfits has a mag conversion kit that feeds well but you'll need to figure out a better ejection system if you want it to work as a repeater.
 
I built one on a Stevens 200 a while back. It's got a 20" medium heavy barrel, .308 bore, a 10" twist (for the explosiveness with varmint bullets), and a richards microfit stock.

I put a 'ppc' extractor in - it's just a slightly longer extractor than stock. This will extract the bullets from the chamber, but not eject them. Some bolt-face work is clearly called for - but I don't think I'll bother, I don't really care about that too much. They also feed fine from the magazine, so there's no worries there.

It shoots .311 surplus stuff just fine, but it's not a whole lot more accurate than with an SKS, maybe 4" groups. With handloads, however, it's much MUCH improved, averaging 0.6" 5-shot groups. This is using the .308 VMax bullets Hornady makes at a little under 2500fps. It's hard to find a powder that's fast enough to produce top speeds before the case gets too full, before hitting a pressure wall. There's a big difference between H110, H4227 and H4198.

The Stevens 200 is very lightweight at around 6.5 lbs, putting a 2" shorter barrel on it reduces that a bit further. With the crap-ass stevens stock, this is a gun that you wouldn't mind carrying around all day it's so light.

I haven't shot anything with it yet, nor have I done any serious load work for it. I've read an article on the subject that advocates using moderate charges of Blue Dot at ~2100fps for very silent operation - the blue dot having completely burned in the barrel.

I was disappointed with the accuracy of the surplus ammo. It's very sporadic, sometimes putting 3 holes on top of each other, then throwing flyers. Handloads don't do this, so I'm inclined to think that the surplus ammo isn't very consistent - not that it was ever intended for precision use.

It's a fun little gun, but not all that useful, really
 
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7.62x39 Bolt Gun

I have a Ruger 77 Mark II in this calibre and like it for casual shooting. If you are building a bolt gun and doing your own reaming, I have always thought a "Ackley Improved" version would be a natural but I have never heard of or seen one. The 7.62x39 case just seems to scream out for an improved version, sort of like how most 303 British's want to be 303 Epps. Good luck with your project.
 
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