Clark

I don't push on chamber reamers with the live center. I push with a Morse taper to Jacobs taper arbor that I have bought and faced for this purpose. They cost $4 here, but are often on sale: http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INPDFF?PMPAGE=346 I should correct myself, and say, I don't do that for rifles. With pistols, I don't care. I even put pistol reamers in the tailstock chuck.

I have a fixture like that I got 6 years ago. I have done ~50 Mausers on it and a few Arisakas and other things. I have also drilled and tapped on the milling machine. The fixture is much easier. Harder to make a mistake with that fixture. If the tapping gets hard, get a sharper tap. Don't break one off in a receiver.

The bores are .2985" instead of .3000", or .0015" tight for a solid pilot reamer. I pounded a pin gauge in and pounded it out with a cleaning rod. I was a real pain, but it worked. If you are going to rechamber, you might consider a floating pilot, and get a .298" pilot bushing.

Andrew Pridham has got a web site that compares some 8mm cartridges: http://www.8x63swedish.pridham.ca/specs.html

I took two VZ24s to Randy Ketchum, and for $100 I was going to get a short 6mmBR length and a long 338Lapua length. I got most of the short one right away. He says the long one is almost finished. I need to call him. I have not bought the 6mmBR reamer or the 338L reamer yet. I need to buy my own TIG welder and quit leaning on my brother and Randy.

I am a big fan of the 1903-1905 manufacture Turks from Paul Mauser's Oberndorff operation. It's great for me to see the pictures of them getting recycled [sporterized] in this thread:) Keep us posted.

I converted a VZ24 to 300 Win mag, and it was not that hard. I milled out the mag well for 3.34" cartridges tipping over. I took some off the extractor hook. I took some off the bolt face. I took some off the feed lips. One mistake I made was getting it to feed with 220 gr round nose, which I have zillions of, so I made dummies. The problem later was the gap between the mag well and the feed ramp, due to thick after market stock, was ok with round nose, but could hang up a Barnes tripple shock pointy tip. All in all it was a fun project, and I even got a 300WM reamer. The .223 conversion of Mausers was a real pain for me in comparison especially the extractor

I read with interest, as I have 300WM and 7mmRM Rem700 take off barrels and 1903 Turkish Mauser actions. I think they are strong enough, but maybe not long enough. If I cut at the ramp in front, it undermines the bottom lug race. 1938 K.Kale type Turks may be long enough. In 1999 BIG5 started selling VZ24s for $70 on sale. I knew those actions were better than the Turks, and I think the 300 Win Mag deserves the better action.

Your welding pics make you easier to forgive.

Guest? Darned new brouser!

This guy says he can deliver for $47: http://cgi.ebay.com/Mauser-98-Large-Ring-B...itemZ7225893226 He might be able to deliever what he has made 1,000 times, but he can't repsond to an email with enough reading comprehension to converge on an arangement for him to do custom work.

One could meke a switch barrel Mauser just as easily as one makes a switch barrel Sav 110. The Savage guy would have to have a barrel vise and a barrel nut wrench. The Mauser guy would have to have a barrel vise and an action wrench. That would be about the same amount of money and about the same amount of time. Were you thinking of this guy's post? post about 30 years of barrel switching

If I put my reamer in .898" deep, I get 45 auto, .960" deep and I get 460 Rowland, and 1.198" deep I get 45 Win mag. The 45acp and 460 Rowland get 1700 fps at 50 kpsi and the 45 Win mag gets 2200. 100 yards down range, the 45 Win mag is doing 1700 fps, so the 45 Win mag has essentially 100 yards on the 45 acp handloads and 460 Rowland. A 230 gr bullet at 2200 fps is going to kick.

I built this 45acp Mauser in 2000, and it has been lots of fun. $105 Shilen .452" barrel blank $0 drill and tap $0 bend the bolt $54 at BIG5 for 1903 Turk $20 #45 and #46 scope mount $36 45acp thoater reamer $17 .469" straight fluted reamer ____________________ $232 It will shoot a 4" 20 shot group at 100 meters with 230 gr. Montana Gold full metal jacket, 13 gr. AA#5, 1.275" OAL [460 Rowland load in 45acp brass] I used a .469" reamer, becuase the Lee carbide dies is .467" and the brass springs back .002". The chamber is very close tolerance on the brass. It weighs 17 pounds. Jamie at surplusrifle dot com doctored the photo to get the rust and Brownell's sticker off the barrel image.

There must be plenty of them, or they would not be so cheap at the gun shows. I typically see them at $80 ~ $100 ask price http://texastradingpost.com/militaria/geha.html

PIcture of J Belk draw filing a receiver Another picture of the same Finished shape with engraved bolt handle J. Belk aka Jack Belk is a great gunsmith. He makes Randy Ketchum jealous. Jack sends his work out for engraving. He works for rich customers. Personally, I could care less about appearance, every gun is just an engineering project. But Randy is way ahead of me in pesonal wildcat development, 50BMG construction, 20mm build, etc. So I have to show some respect for a guy like Jack that works on gun apearance, and not make fun of him for his sissy values.

I didn't believe about 98 setback that I read on this forum, but when I got ~ 50 of the 1903 Turks and took the barrels off, ~ 10% have deep bolt lug foot prints in the race in the receiver. I can't do that with hot loads, but someone did it somehow, or it is a screening process for those that are not heat treated. Now every bolt action that I remove the barrel, I check for any indentation in the bolt race in the reeiver.

Here is a K.Kale, fired three idenical rounds in a row with increasing Copper fouling in a rough bore A&B 243 barrel. The K.Kale is fine, but I have not shot is since. [attachmentid=51]

It hurts when I donate money, make thousands of posts, and then get banned without warning. The moral is, "Don't take forums seriously" And "Dennis the Menace" is a funny movie!

I was inspired by Wagner too. I am now using 3/8" welded tubing in the rear and 5/8" tubing in the front. I have made bushings for centering the pillars. I screw the pillars in tight with the bushings, and glass at the same time as the action. That way the pillars are normal [perpendicular] to the receiver. I assemble with the bushings out side the stock, and I like at least .030" clearance between the mag box and the reciever, so the bushings [and gunstock] are sure to cary the compression.

I am an electrical engineer, but I am hoping to do some modeling for Bowflex commercials. picture of me being bitten by a hot handload

with a mill[attachmentid=26]

I leave the bolt handle up as the safety on the Nagant while hunting. And yes, the guys around the campfire make fun of it, especially when drinking. A man needs to be sure of how good that rifle really is, to show up with a gun THAT ugly. Guys who have Les Pauls, Stratocastsers, and Paul Reed Smith Guitars, look down on my made in Japan cheapee Ibanez, but I am sure it is a really good guitar. When I went all in on Junk bonds in 1989, guys laughed at me. Junk bonds were way down and getting a bad rap on the news every night. I had to ignore the trend and know value when I saw it.

I was invited to go elk hunting this year, and I took 11 rifles to the range to see what worked best: 1) VZ24 Mauser, 300 Win mag, 23.75" barrel, 8.5 pounds, 2) 1903 Turk Mauser 8mm 29.5" barrel, 10.5 pounds, 3) 1903 Turk Mauser 8mm 27.5" barrel, 8 pounds 4) Ruger #1 7mm mag 26" barrel, 9.5 pounds, 5) Nagant 7.62x54R, 28.25" barrel, 8.25 pounds, 6) Savage 110 30-06, 22.25" barrel, 7.5 pounds, 7) VZ24 Mauser, 308, 24" barrel, 8 pounds, 8) Savage 99 308, 22" barrel, 7 pounds, 9) JP Saur 98K Mauser 8mm 23.75" barrel, Redfield peep sight 7.5 pounds, 10) VZ24 30-06, 24" barrel, 7 pounds, 11) Pre 64 Win 70 30-06, 24", 9 pounds with 2x7 Redfield, The Nagant won out, and went elk hunting. It has the groups and reliabilty with a 2x7 Leupold, always set on 2X, with the military sling.

When your memory gets bad enough, you can hide your own Easter eggs Here are my notes from the past 5 days: