Having seen previous "in progress" posts by others on this forum (I especially liked Ardent's double rifle!), I decided to do a photo journal of one of my own projects from start to finish, on the chance that others might enjoy seeing it progress. I started with a very poor example of a wartime Mauser, which had been scrubbed of every meaningful marking. Not a single part matched, the stock was split and repaired by bubba several times before being soaked in what appeared to be motor oil, and the barrel, which once was chambered in 8mm Mauser, had a bore and chamber that was so pitted and devoid of rifling that it couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from INSIDE the barn. This beast was in serious need of an overhaul, and it was a decision to try to restore it to its former military glory, or to make a truly custom rifle for myself. I decided that having a mauser that couldn't shoot didn't make sense (I actually found the thought offensive), and neither did rebarreling an old warhorse with another military barrel. I went the custom route.
This is the basic action, before being completely disassembled:
Here are most of the raw parts before beginning the project. I obtained the FN bolt shroud, the commercial follower, the allen-head action bolts, and the Timney trigger from Western Gun Parts. The bottom metal was ordered from Del Selins right here on CGN, and I ordered a laminated stock from Richards Microfit. The Barrel is a 26" Heym hammer-forged chromoly from Bits of Pieces in BC. It came pre-threaded and short-chambered in 9.3x64mm Brenneke.
I started out by obtaining a Parker-Hale Mauser bolt and fitting it to the action. Here I am filing the bolt handle recess:
And the bolt fitted:
I next attacked the charging hump on the receiver bridge. Here it is before:
And after hitting it with the file:
Then some rough polishing to finish it up:
Next, I decided to do some minor custom touches, and I decided to modify the bolt release. I filed and checkered a thumb-piece:
Then I soldered it to the bolt release:
And all cleaned up and polished:
Back on the action:
This work took me several months to accomplish, and I had a fair bit more work to take it to the finish line, and the range. I'll post more photos and descriptions later, as I get time. I hear my little ones calling me. Cheers!
Erik.
This is the basic action, before being completely disassembled:
Here are most of the raw parts before beginning the project. I obtained the FN bolt shroud, the commercial follower, the allen-head action bolts, and the Timney trigger from Western Gun Parts. The bottom metal was ordered from Del Selins right here on CGN, and I ordered a laminated stock from Richards Microfit. The Barrel is a 26" Heym hammer-forged chromoly from Bits of Pieces in BC. It came pre-threaded and short-chambered in 9.3x64mm Brenneke.
I started out by obtaining a Parker-Hale Mauser bolt and fitting it to the action. Here I am filing the bolt handle recess:
And the bolt fitted:
I next attacked the charging hump on the receiver bridge. Here it is before:
And after hitting it with the file:
Then some rough polishing to finish it up:
Next, I decided to do some minor custom touches, and I decided to modify the bolt release. I filed and checkered a thumb-piece:
Then I soldered it to the bolt release:
And all cleaned up and polished:
Back on the action:
This work took me several months to accomplish, and I had a fair bit more work to take it to the finish line, and the range. I'll post more photos and descriptions later, as I get time. I hear my little ones calling me. Cheers!
Erik.
