'Stupid' question about older Mauser's and steel quality?

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kayaker1

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Hi all,

I haven't owned a Mauser (98 or FN style) actioned rifle for years and have always had a strong interest in them, so time to add another one (I miss my old Musgrave 98 in .30-06!)

Steel can't get stronger with age so the 'stupid' question is this: How much life would a 60-70 year old action have left in it. I am speaking specifically of a Husqvarna M98 or FN style that is in good condition. I am drawn to these classics.

Would these be as strong as they once were? I am not a metallurgist or chemist so perhaps someone on the forum who knows better can advise. I wouldn't push these but still want to load full power loads safely (lets say 55kpsi in .30-06/8x57/9.3 etc).

Thanks
 
If the particular action in question was originally heat treated correctly and no one has screwed that up for some reason, it will be fine.
 
Steel doesn't get stronger with age, but it also doesn't lose strength with age, either. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
As the others said, if you're operating normally, you'll be fine. Mauser rounds are typically lower pressure. That being said, the 98 action can handle quite a bit more. If you're talking 55k psi, now you're talking modern ammunition such as the .308. The 98 can handle that all day long, if of course the rifle hasn't been abuse.
Myself, I keep my pressures low in all my rifles, both modern and milsurps to prolong life my brass, as I reload and punch paper max out to 200 yrds. Of course, for hunting, crank up the loads to safe pressures for depending on the animal to harvest, usual distance and weight of the projectile.
 
Most of the 98s were well made. The hitch comes in with the really early ones. Before the 1920s. Heat treatment was done by human eyeballs and under varying light conditions. Every person that did the evaluation, had a different opinion.

Many of these rifles will have a small dimple on the receiver ring, somewhere below the stock line. This will indicate surface hardness on the Brinell hardness scale. The only issue with this method is that it only tells you the surface hardness, not how far it does or doesn't penetrate towards the core.

The core needs to be soft to allow for stress relief. If it's to hard, the metal will be brittle and subject to impact breakage etc.

Some Swede Mausers I've worked on, had very hard receivers and some have had very soft receivers. Especially the early models. The rifles made from the mid thirties to the end of production are very uniform in hardness.

The Swedes, also used different additives in the steel they used in their rifles. Not really sure what they added, maybe a higher manganese or nickel content.

The Indian government did something similar when they started making tougher steel billets and bolts for their 2A No1 rifles, which they made up for the 7.62x51 cartridge.

98 actions need to be looked at closely. They are excellent candidates for a very nice, very reliable hunting rifle but, depending on who made them, when they were made or under what type of conditions they were made, makes for many variables.

If they are being used for cartridges that are similar to the original 7.92x57 pressures, IMHO there isn't much to be worried about. If you are keeping the original bbl, same again.

It's only when people do foolish things like mill down the top of the receiver ring that I get worried.

I also worry about magnum conversions.

When push comes to shove, I wouldn't buy a 98 military action to convert or do a build on, if it is as made for military purposes. It's cheaper to buy a new rifle in the end and in many cases, the new Winchester, Remington, Tikka etc is what you're really looking for.
 
Thanks guys,
The rifle in question would be a Husky commercial sporter with a M98 or FN action.

I have a read bits and pieces about the certain 98's (and 98 clones/variants) that were not well made, including German production in 1944/45 (IIRC) as WW2 came to an end. I have shot and handled a number of sporter Mausers, some that started life as commercial rilfes, others assembled from milsurp rifles. Many have been for cartridges like .375H&H, .300H&H and 8x68S built on VZ-24's and DWM Argentine 09's.

I know Roy Weatherby had some issues with his .300's in FN actions but believe that had more to do with removing steel on the feedramp to accomdate the longer OAL and in so doing dimishining the lower lug butress. This also being an issue with some H&H's where too much steel was removed (I think Frank DeHaas had a photo of this in one of his books).

My interest is also largely more of gunnut learning more and of course doing some buyers research! I do love the older sporter Mausers but their increasing age is something I was curious about.

Good thread!
 
A couple of great reference sources can be found in Brownells book department, I would strongly recommend Jerry Kuhnhausen "The Mauser Bolt Actions" A shop manual. And P.O.Ackleys " Shooters Handbook" volumes one and two. Both books make a great read as much information can be found on mauser action strengths and weaknesses. David.
 
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