Drilling Non Original Gas Ports

[Thor]

I've run this question by in other forums and not gotten much response. Question has arisen on another thread here, but rather than hijack the thread, I figure we need to talk about it in a new thread.

 

Reading posts on gas ports prompted me to check my Mausers. All of my Swedes have a small port (.110") at the 2 oclock position with the bolt closed. Two have no port on bottom. The rest have a .110" port on bottom, and one has a second hole .200". Does anybody know the history of the Swedes to know when they started putting the bottom port in, and how the one got the second port. It is not the newest, in fact it is 1916 with 3 rifles newer than it, including a 1943 Husqvarna.

 

Secondly, I have a 1891 Loewe action, presently with a Swede barrel on it. There is NO gas port anywhere.

 

Could a machinist safely mill a port hole in the rifles with no hole, and maybe even drill a second hole. I doubt I have a bit that would touch it, so would not do this myself. In examining the 98's, there are two oblong gas ports and both are sizable. So properly done, ports should not weaken the bolt. I'm thinking of at least two .110" ports and possibly .200".

 

Has anybody done it?

[Guest Guest_MorgansBoss_*]

I've run this question by in other forums and not gotten much response. Question has arisen on another thread here, but rather than hijack the thread, I figure we need to talk about it in a new thread.

 

Reading posts on gas ports prompted me to check my Mausers. All of my Swedes have a small port (.110") at the 2 oclock position with the bolt closed. Two have no port on bottom. The rest have a .110" port on bottom, and one has a second hole .200". Does anybody know the history of the Swedes to know when they started putting the bottom port in, and how the one got the second port. It is not the newest, in fact it is 1916 with 3 rifles newer than it, including a 1943 Husqvarna.

 

Secondly, I have a 1891 Loewe action, presently with a Swede barrel on it. There is NO gas port anywhere.

 

Could a machinist safely mill a port hole in the rifles with no hole, and maybe even drill a second hole. I doubt I have a bit that would touch it, so would not do this myself. In examining the 98's, there are two oblong gas ports and both are sizable. So properly done, ports should not weaken the bolt. I'm thinking of at least two .110" ports and possibly .200".

 

Has anybody done it?

Can it be done? Yup. Has it been done? Yup. Is it done? Again, yup. I prefer the ports be two to four times the size of the FP hole. This allows for considerable expansion room to promote venting in the direction you want it to go. Many Spanish M93's are found with a port through the left receiver ring but I prefer the bottom of the bolt as in M98's.

[Doble Troble]

Thor,

 

I bet you do have a bit that will do it (assuming you have a bit). Just start small, use lots of cutting fluid, and go slow. Make sure to start with a punch mark and a centering bit.

 

Assuming that you: (1) wear shooting glasses; (2) check headspace; (3) properly adjust reloading dies and; (4) use < 40K psi loads in the old Mausers, I'd be more concerned about the possibility of meteor impact. But it's always fun to modify.

[ken98k]

Thanks guys, These answer my porting question the m-93 thread.

Kenny