early mauser action strength question

Claven2 said:
Hi Bill,

Great post! So I guess it should be OK to forge ahead with my .35 Whelen on an Argentine 1909 project? I'm at the point where I've got everything I need to go ahead, but if this receiver is a bad choice, now is the time to know it before I start dropping money on too weak a receiver.

I'm thinking it should be OK given that the Whelen was purposed designed in the 1920's for use in WW1 Gew98 bring-back actions.
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A local guy that I see at the range from time to time showed up a couple weeks ago with a beautiful custom in 338'06 on an '09 Argentine action. His was reheatreated and engraved in the US. It was a thing of beauty built my Martini & Hagn....I'm not a Mauser afficianado but this one had me thinking :shock:
 
Claven2

The .35 Whelen is a wonderful choice for a Mauser action.

I have one built on a early 50's FN(no C-ring) that is an absolute joy to carry and shoot. The barrel is a #2 Douglas Premium, the trigger is a Timney and the stock is walnut. Rust bluing is in it's future.

One of the things I like best about the rifle is the feeding. It is so slick and smooth that one sometimes wonders if the round actually went into the chamber when closing the bolt. Some of this is due to the shape of the case(minimal shoulder) and some is due to the very polished feed ramp/rails.
 
Well at this point I have all the visible military markings on the 1909 trigger guard welded over (TIG) and ready to be ground flush. The Argie 1909 trigger guard is IDEAL for a psorter with its hinged floorplate. I just need to have a serrated button brazed onto the release tang and the exterior polished and it'll be the equal of the $400+ USD mauser steel guards at Brownells. This is one reason why the Argie is so prized by gunsmiths - seriously!

Also got the bbl in from Bits of Pieces. I went with a 26" Montana Rifleman No.3 contour in .35 Whelen. I was a little surprised at the meat of this bbl though. The MR No.3 contour is more like a Douglas No.5 :shock: . The thick bbl is growing on me though and due to the big-ish .358" bore, it isn't that heavy. To do this again though, I'd go with their No. 2 contour. Also am going with a Fischer 2 screw steel grip cap which will be monogramed. Chose a David Gentry 3-pos M98 safety. I went with the less expensive Bold trigger which is basically a Timney featherweight clone, but half the price. Will work fine for the 3lbs pull I want. Pad will be a decelerator.

Things I still have to decide on are:
1) Scope Mounts. I'm undecided whether to go Talley, Warne, or Leupold/Redfield turn-ins. I've considered Gentry, EAW and claw mounts, but the Gentrys looked fragile to me, the EAW's are tough to source in Canada and not much of an improvement ove the Leupolds and the Claw mounts are stupid expensive (think $1000+ for the mounts and rings alone).

2) Open sights. If I do open sights, the front will be either Ruger or NECG banded ramp and the rear will likely be a fixed single leaf on a dovetail base silver soldered and screwed to the bbl. But I still am not 100% sure I'm even going to use sights. If I use Leupold mounts I likely won't use sights since the scope isn;t going to come off without tools. If I use Warne or Talley detachables, I will need sights... decisions, decisions...

3) Checkering - how much and where?

4) Sling swivels - I'll likely go with a recessed screw-base in the rear, but I still have to decide to go either recessed screw-base in the front or bbl band? I guess it will depend on the sights. If I get sights, I'll go band and if I don;t get sights I'll go recessed swivel. I think.

Half the fun of these projects is just thinking about them!
 
I built a custom 35 Whelen 20 years ago in the mid 80s on a Brazilian 1908 action (DWM) supplied sans barrel by International in Montreal. I still use it regularly and handload it to the Whelen's upper safe levels. Solid as a rock to date. VERY happy with it.

With a M1909 donor action to use you won't have to do this, but I just recently reverently laid aside its original military type bottom metal and inleted a nice new drop floor plate modern one.

The weaker Springfield actions were used for many early 35 Whelen customs. I wouldn't do it today but I haven't heard of major issues there with that action - just remarks to go easy on that old warrior steel when handloading. Remember that the 35 Whelen was developed "south of dee border" and became to called "the poor man's magnum".
 
Whelen B said:
I built a custom 35 Whelen 20 years ago in the mid 80s on a Brazilian 1908 action (DWM) supplied sans barrel by International in Montreal. I still use it regularly and handload it to the Whelen's upper safe levels. Solid as a rock to date. VERY happy with it.

With a M1909 donor action to use you won't have to do this, but I just recently reverently laid aside its original military type bottom metal and inleted a nice new drop floor plate modern one.

The weaker Springfield actions were used for many early 35 Whelen customs. I wouldn't do it today but I haven't heard of major issues there with that action - just remarks to go easy on that old warrior steel when handloading. Remember that the 35 Whelen was developed "south of dee border" and became to called "the poor man's magnum".
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Yeah ,the Argie bottom metal is a treasure. I know gunsmiths who scrapped argies just to rob those parts and install them on customer's FN guns back in the 60's and 70's.

As for the Whelen being a "poor man's magnum", well that's true, but there won;t be anything "poor man" about this rifle when it's done! :)
 
I had a Modelo 1909 Argentine once. I bought it to build a custom rifle in the late 80s but changed my mind and sold it. Complete original military rifle in very good shape - I sold it for $160 (bought it for that price too) and I paid for shipping I think. Was I crazy? Guess so.

Yes it had a VERY nice floor plate. I seem to remember that it was a little bit rounded on the bottom - kind of like the under side of an old rotary mag Savage 99 but not quite as rounded. Would be very hunting ergonomic I think.

Sounds like U got some great plans there for this shooter. Post some pics when it's done. Might be a while I know. But everyone on this thread and others would be interested I'm sure.
 
Claven2, this is most embarrasing. :oops:

After reading your posting, we looked into the matter. We appear to have screwed up and sent you a #5 profile! If you'd like to return it at our cost, we can cut some of the meat off. Alternatively, if you would prefer, we will flute the barrel, no charge. If you choose the fluting option, we suggest you send the barrelled action so that we can position the flutes correctly.

Barry.
 
LOL - I knew it seemed like a No.5!

No worries on the fluting, I'm going for a classic european look ;)

Let me think about the recontouring and I'll get back to you. Might leave it as-is. We shall see.
 
OK, talked to BoP on the phone and there was a clerical error and this bbl really is a No.5 profile :wink:

They're going to take it back and reprofile it to No.3 free of charge - thanks guys!
 
Rembo said:
A local guy that I see at the range from time to time showed up a couple weeks ago with a beautiful custom in 338'06 on an '09 Argentine action. His was reheatreated and engraved in the US. It was a thing of beauty built my Martini & Hagn....I'm not a Mauser afficianado but this one had me thinking :shock:
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I’m just wondering how that works re-heat-treating Mauser actions. Apart from re-carburizing the outer surface (which makes the steel more wear resistance more then anything else and thin parts very brittle) there is nothing really you can do to make steel stronger once steel has been formulated.
I would be very weary of re-heat-treating these old action
 
If Martini & Hagn built it, rest assured, it's been properly heat treated for the caliber and built to last. They don't F around at M&H. Their prices reflect that too, unfortunately. :cry:
 
Claven2 said:
OK, talked to BoP on the phone and there was a clerical error and this bbl really is a No.5 profile :wink:

They're going to take it back and reprofile it to No.3 free of charge - thanks guys!
Click to expand...

Well, got the bbl back today. Now I'll have to test out their customer service as there are some additional problems with the bbl as returned. Hope they stand behind their product...
 
OK, off the phone with them just now. They said to send it back again. This time it will likely be OK.

Their customer service seems top notch!
 
I've seen a number of Mauser actions which had experienced set-back. The last one was a FN commercial Parker-Hale action chambered in .270.

What heat-treatment there was was done by eye.

Remember that, it's very important.

D.
 
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