Kyle

Cool, could you post a photo? Is it a single shot or did you manage to make shells work with the magazine and feed reliably?

I'd like to attach my own sights to my Gew 88 sporter project but I don't have the skills necessary to make my own like you did and there aren't any sold for it. Do you think it would be possible to use a bubba solution and use something like an appropriately sized nut soldered on as the rear peep site?

Nice looking sights. What did you do for the front sight?

I'm working on a short barreled rifle project and it currently doesn't have any sights. I plan on using this rifle as a short barreled brush gun so I'd like to have sights that are quick and easy to line up and that I could make myself and solder on or something. Any ideas on how I could make and attach sights on the rifle?

I'm just wondering what the advantages of a bend bolt are to a rifle with a straight bolt are. On nearly every commercial and sporter rifle I've seen the bolt is bent or curved as if to allow the mounting of a scope even if the rifle has a LER scope or iron sites. Is there some advantage to having a curved bolt rather then a straight military style one that sticks straight out? If I'm building a rifle with the intent of using either iron sites or a forward mounted scope would there be any reason for me to consider bending the bolt down or would it make more sense just to leave it as is?

The rifle is not really that bad (like some of the really stiff Mosin bolts) but I feel it could be better. Can you walk me through this process? What kind of results did you get when you used this method?

I measured with a caliper and found that it is indeed wide enough to cut new LR mauser threads. I don't know how much extra metal there should be in the chamber area though. This particular barrel seems pretty thick (I've read that the Rem. 700 mag barrels come thicker then those in standard calibers). Even if I was to cut off the old shank and rethread for the mauser action the beginning of the barrel would still be thicker then the 30-06 stepped military barrel the action currently wears is. The barrel was cheap enough so I guess I'll give it a try, if I mess up it won't be a huge loss. Can anyone please give me the exact information on what I need to thread to in order to fit the large-ring 98 action? I do have a mauser barrel but if anyone had the exact specs already it would be easier. Thanks

I have two 8x57 projects in the works but I did want to use this action to build a magnum, if for nothing else but to have one. I know barrel length can effect velocity so I'm curious which of the mentioned barrel/caliber combinations would make the most effective long range hunting gun.

I'm working on a mauser project and right now I'm stuck between two different choices. I'm working on a couple different rifles but I do want one magnum for any long range hunting I may do. I'm considering both the 7mm Rem Mag and the .300 Win Mag. I already have a 7mm Rem Mag barrel that is about 23 inches long and is stainless steel but I can pick up a .300 WM barrel rather cheaply as well and sell the 7mm RM barrel. The .300 WM barrel is about 25.5 inches long and has a matte finish but both are in very good condition. I'm not sure if I should use the 7mm Rem Mag barrel or sell it and get the .300 WM barrel. I know the ballistics for long range shooting favor the 7mm RM over the .300 WM but I'm not sure how large an effect the shorter barrel will have. So what should I do to end up with the best long range hunting rifle: stick with the 7mm RM in a 23" stainless steel barrel or sell it and go with the 25" blued barrel in .300 WM? I'll probably use this rifle to hunt whitetail deer at long range and maybe some black bear but there is a chance I'll go on a trip for elk or pronghorn in the future so I'd like to have a capable rifle.

I now know that a Rem 700 barrel can be rethreaded to fit a SR like a Turk M38 but that the threaded section can't be re-threaded to fit a LR action. My question is, why can't you just cut off the threaded section and rethread a new section to fit a large ring mauser action? Even if you lost 2" at most of barrel length you'd still have at least a 24" barrel if you started with a 26" barrel I'd imagine. Is there anything wrong with this solution or would this just need to be reamed out and then it would be ready to go on a LR mauser?

I plan on finishing with a tung oil based finish. I've probably try filling with dust from the stock mixed with a little wood glue. I'm thinking that because it is the same wood it will look close to the same when finished.

Does anyone have methods to polish the chamber in order to make their action smoother? I'd love to end up with a very buttery action and a very smooth bolt cycle but I'd thought I'd ask before I decide to do anything that could remove material from the inside of the action.

I'm working a sporterizing a military stock and I'm hoping it will look nice and not like a hack job when I finish. The rifle has a spot on the bottom of the buttstock where the sling parts originally went and I'm not sure how to fill that hole so it will look nice and blend in with the rest of the stock perfectly. Any suggestions on filling this spot so it blends in perfectly with the stock?

Has anyone chambered a Mauser in 300 Weatherby Magnum? I'm thinking of building one but I'm not sure if the cartridge is to long for the 98 action.

I really like what you did with the rifle. The stock looks very nice! How long is the barrel you put on it?

I found a barrel blank that I think would be a good choice. At 25 1/4in it is about the length I want and it is also a heavy barrel like I wanted. It's also affordable. .30 Cal barrel blank So if I got this blank and a chamber reamer for .300 Win Mag I'll be set, right? If I understand correctly I'll have to put a crown on the barrel, ream out the chamber and then thread to fit the 98 Mauser. Where can I get a chamber reamer for it?

I also saw that but I'm don't really like the idea of a 22in barrel in 300 Win Mag. I think I'd like a longer barrel, maybe 26in, on this rifle.

Thanks guys. I've decided to go ahead and do it the right way after hearing your reasoning. "And why ask the question if you are insistent on doing it anyway and igone others warnings?" Bob, I'm asking the question and trying to understand both sides before I make my final decision. The only reason I was persistent about the barrel bushing was because I wasn't really satisfied with the reasons not to do it and I was just trying to get a better understanding of why I shouldn't do it. If I just read the first post that said it probably isn't a good idea and made my decision off that then what would I have learned?

The A&B barrels from Midway are cheap but if you look at their selection you'll see that they don't have the calibers I'm interested in. I'd like a Mauser in .300 Win Mag which is by no means a rare cartridge but they don't even have that. So unless there is somewhere else I could get a nice barrel in a caliber I'd like I would be saving much more then $30 or $40. On that thread it seems the only people concerned about it as far as safety, accuracy, etc are people who have never tried it themselves. A least a couple people in that thread have done it and where pleased with the results and one guy even said he got the idea from P.O. Ackley. Apparently the early A&B barrels where even sold like that and they haven't had any problems.

I found a link to another forum where someone has apparently done this with good results. See here barrel thread conversion I work at a metal shop so if I could do it at work for free it might be worth it. I don't know where I could get a good barrel in .300 WM for under $100 so it may be a good option to use a Rem 700 barrel instead.

I've heard that it is possible to make a threaded bushing and adapt a barrel with small threads to fit a large ring receiver. Has anyone ever heard of something like this? I'd like to be able to use a Winchester 70 or Remington 700 barrel on my large ring 98 action if it is possible. Can it be done?

The reason I figure this rifle would be a good choice for a short barrel is because I would not be able to take full advantage of a longer barrel. This is a very old action (built in 1890) and higher end loads for 8mm Mauser are quite a bit higher then the maximum recommended loads for this action. I plan on using fairly moderate loads with a heavy bullet (maybe 200 grain?). Since this rifle will be used to hunt in thick woods where only relatively close shots are needed I think this gun would perform excellently with an 18in barrel since a slightly lower muzzle velocity and a little less accuracy probably won't be a factor at those ranges. With light and moderate loads recoil and muzzle blast won't be as big an issue and and a large bullet (even if it isn't moving all that fast) will be more then powerful enough at those ranges for whitetail deer and black bear.

That is one of the reasons why I wanted another 2" taken off. The stock is so short that it is probably only about 10in past the end of the magazine leaving enough wood to easily grip the rifle but it doesn't go nearly as far as the wood on most sporters with 22-24in barrels. I think it would actually look more proportional with an 18in barrel then with a 20in barrel.

I think I may compromise and go with an 18in barrel. I plan on building another sporter in the same caliber with a 22-24in barrel and I think having one at 20in would be sort of redundant. I think it will be pretty well balanced with an 18in barrel as the stock is also really short (it was already a poorly sportered milsurp stock so I had to shorten it further). I think an 18in barrel would make a handy little rifle for hunting from a tree stand or in thick brush which is hard to maneuver threw especially with a long barrel and for quick shots when you kick up a deer. If nothing else I think it would be fun to shoot with all the cheap 8mm surplus ammo available and the tough kick and big fireball would impress my friends! What do you guys think, I know you don't recommend under 20in barrel but would 18in be ok in your opinion?

Thanks guys. I'll probably just get a .308 or 30-06 barrel and put that on for now until I get everything else ready and convert it to .308 Norma Mag. Has anyone ever heard of the .30-338? Someone recommended I look at that cartridge but I don't really know how it is any different.