Ron J

I've been building my library and his book is in it. I'm amazed by that kind of stuff. I always thought cherry would make a great stock and getting it from your own tree is all the better. Good luck - should be cool. Ron

That's cool looking. Simple and sweet. On a Mauser, would you use the existing pin / spring routine and just shorten it? Also, great closeup of a well shaped trigger guard. I needed that, thanks.

Nice work, both you and Monty. One big reason I enjoy this forum is the "how to" and "look what I did" stuff by the members. Gives some of us the guts to try these things.

I bought one from Brownells about a month ago. One can be made if you have the stuff you need to install theirs. You have to drill out the floorplate release hole to 3/8 in. Then make a bushing 3/8 O.D. with a hole through it and silver solder it in the floorplate. They supply a catch which is threaded to accept the threaded stem and you contour it to grab the step. If you think this is confusing, you should of seen me trying to figure it out before Meiers sent me the directions which were not included. I did not use it yet and may not. I've got access to a lathe, but what about those who don't? I was going to take the dimensions of the lever itself and send it back, but I never did. Ron

Thanks all - it's on and working. Stiff, but works. With my bad case of CRS, it should only take a dozen or so more on & offs for me to become familiar! Answering these old for you, new for me questions, is really appreciated. Ron

I'm sure this has been hashed 100x's and I even went through the archives with no luck. I'm stuck on how to install this safety in my Turk. Do I have to add another notch in the shaft that goes through the sleeve or do I somehow put the bolt back together in the uncocked position? Or I'm missing something simple. Ron

Nice job for sure. It's these member guns that keep me pluggin away at mine. Totally agree with sonic, nuthin you can buy will give you the same feeling as what you've done with that 93. Way cool that your daughters into it with you.

Yep z1r, you're right. There's a small hump in the recess where the slot in that lug lines up. It's the other recess thats higher than the shiny spot! They both sunk in a bit. Don, my thoughts exactly. Just smoothen the face up a bit. It had contact all the way around with the other barrel.

I assume all metal work, drill & tap, safety replacement..etc should be done before heat treat correct? Another thing I believe z1r posted some time back is that material with a better hardness polishes better. I can vouch for that after many mount and polish specimens I've made for metallurgical exam. Don, I have Wagners page saved. Thanks for the reminder. I've got about 2 square inches of this thing cleaned up. At this rate I should be able to post a progress picture for the holidays. Notice I didn't commit to which holiday!

We're reading each others minds here. These 98's have everything right in design. I see modern heat treat as a final step toward this rifle starting another decades long lifespan, regardless who owns it. Also, I won't be as concerned about removing material while cleaning it up. I'm only using honing stones and sandpaper, but there's a big vertical step on the back face of the front ring thats got to go. I'm dreaming up a device that locates in the threads and laps the inside face the barrel stops on. Kind of an eccentric disc sort of thing. That should compliment facing the front ring on a threaded mandrel and lapping the bolt face off the threads.

Re heat treat is 95% me, 5% Mauser knowledge. 20+ yrs in mfg, exp with various H.T., materials testing and some metallurgy. I'm a Q.A. mgr and inherently lean towards erring on the safe side. From my backround, it seems odd to re-barrel, shoot some type of proof load, check for set back then heat treat if necessary. Gas carburizing is roughly 2X cost of through hardening and 2X the headaches. I have vendors that would do it for nothing, but would not be liable for internal cracks or straightness. $70.00 is really fair for small batch work this critical. I have not made my mind up yet and do value your input. One thing that bothers me is it seems that the area next to the where one of the lugs rests is above the shiny spot. Meaning the shiny area is deeper. Only one though. I have not checked the actual amount with a depth mic yet, but a scriber rides up and down it. Also, I did check hardness on the bolt and the shank is okay. The areas around the lugs, more important, is spotty. Typical of the "pack hardening" methods used many moons ago.

Nice rifle indeed. I would be very proud if my turk ends up like that. Interesting figure in the wood & nice soft finish. Not glossy. I like the use of the original shroud etc. I only like additions that are from that era like Sauer floorplate release levers and such. Your question throws me. Weren't all Kales Turkish? The 1916 gun was a Kale. It had all the same markings as mine except earlier date and serial number. There were boxes of them @ 69.99 each. Back to the Swede and cock on closing stuff. I read some on this forum about changing actions to cock on open. Other than a DGR, how important is that? What suffers from leaving them as is?

Well here's what the Mauser's are going for around Cleveland gun shows. Turks are 69.95 Kales or otherwise. One was much older than mine, like 1915 or so, but looked identical to my 1943 - just as crude. Yugo 24/47 's are anywhere from 169.00 to several hundred. The high ones were excellent looking but were supposedly special runs numbered xx of 1000. A well worn but usable VZ24 was 109.00. Then I picked up something I probably shouldn't have. A Swedish M38 Carl Gustav Stads. Small ring. It cocked on close and had what seemed like a longer cocking piece sticking out the back. It was 6.5 x 55. All the extras were with it and it almost seemed wrong to cut it up. Even the wood was nice. I was drooling over this thing. They want 200.00. If I was to spring for one of these, can they be changed to cock on open? Do these fall into the catagory of "may have to be re-heat treated"? God, that thing was sharp. The talk was that the Yugos are going to dry up soon due to some U.N. thing. All in all the VZ was made nicer than the Kale for 40 more, but saw enough use to just about wear the crest off. The Swede was that one doll you see walking through a crowd that makes you forget where you were going!

Many thanks. This is getting better. I'm having brain farts with the countries. I think my South american statement was supposed to be "Spanish". As I said I have been reading this forum like crazy, even the archives. Lathe work is no problem. My brother recently rebarreled a M70 to .358 Norma and it came out very well. On the Mausers we figure to cut the barrel thds 55 degree rather than tap the receivers to 60. Today I'm off to a gunshow to put prices to these models, but it seems the Turks are the cheapest even with re-heat treat. The barrel is out of my Kale and if I ever figure out posting pictures, I'll post progress. [i]Just until you guys get sick of my questions and throw me off this thing!

Okay I was slow to respond and thank you guys for your help. I did try a couple days ago. Honest. Thank you all for the help. Doble, I put the sight you mentioned in my favorite group, thanks. And Sonic, I live in Cleveland, Ohio. I have been reading everything I can on this forum (great stuff) but now I'm really confused. A 1903 Turk has had threads removed to create the sleeve in front. A K Kale turk is a M38, but the sleeve is integral so a little extra length. A M48 is the Yugo that is advertised in the magazines as Mitchells Mausers? What then is a 24/47? Also what are VZ24's? And what is a gew? Now, everyone says the south american stuff is lousy, but 1909 Argentines, Chileans are okay. I've been told a Brazilian 1908 is desirable, is it? I know this is a bunch of questions to answer, but I'm lost. Another thing is this heat treat issue. I have been around heat treat for 20+ years and if Blanchards will carburize and harden a receiver + bolt for $70.00, that is not terribly high. Carburizing is not simple heat treat and if they don't warp these, they must know their doo-doo trust me. Do they have a website? I googled and got nowhere. I'm thinking a good book or 2 would help out. Recommendations? Van Olsen's and Kuhnhausen's seem to be quoted often.