New Mauser 98 Barrel

[jose wales]

I am looking to rebarrel a Spanish 98 and need some help on finding a Barrel. Want a No.4 contour in 280 Remington. Which maker should I go with???? Heard A&B are low end but can't afford to go cheap, But my buget is the main point that has to be delt with. Been looking at Douglas and McGowen, any one used either??? Or would a Turkish Mauser be a better choice for a 280 build???? Use the Spanish for a 6.5X55????

[Clemson]

I have never had a bad Douglas barrel. The people are accomodating, the work is good, response time on even custom requests is very reasonable. If you go with a "finish turned and polished" barrel vs. a rough turned barrel (extra $10), you will get a very nice looking barrel with minimum work required to finish it out.

 

Clemson

[AzRednek]

I am looking to rebarrel a Spanish 98 and need some help on finding a Barrel. Want a No.4 contour in 280 Remington. Which maker should I go with???? Heard A&B are low end but can't afford to go cheap, But my buget is the main point that has to be delt with. Been looking at Douglas and McGowen, any one used either???

 

Jose it has been many years but when I was a hard headed punk back in the 70's I attempted to re-barrel 1950's Spanish 98's. Chances are good you're going to be disappointed. If you insist on going ahead please consider heat treating the action. With Spanish 98's it is a crap shoot. To soft, to hard and brittle or if you're lucky just right, you never know.

 

One I did began headspace problems within a 100 shots with the ultimate doom, receiver set-back. The other pulled the threads and metal out of the receiver as the barrel was being removed. Friend of mine had his Spanish receiver returned to him by McGowen politely refusing the job suggesting he use another 98 action.

[ken98k]

An A&B barrel from midway is more than equal to the quality of a spanish 98.

[pacrat]

Main gripe I've hear about the A&B's isn't that they are inaccurate but that they foul easily. I've only had one, but lapped it before installing and it was fine. BTW it was also a 280 Rem.

 

Lapping a barrel isn't hard to do and only takes about 1/2 hr once you make the lap.

 

JM2c

[ken98k]

Main gripe I've hear about the A&B's isn't that they are inaccurate but that they foul easily. I've only had one, but lapped it before installing and it was fine. BTW it was also a 280 Rem.

 

Lapping a barrel isn't hard to do and only takes about 1/2 hr once you make the lap.

 

JM2c

 

A good method of "break in" also solves fouling problem.

The are probably dozens of formulars for "breaking in a new barrel/rifle but the basic idea is to fire a few shots (3-4) then clean the bore with a bronze brush and patches, then repeat the procsess.

[Spiris]

IMO, A&B barrels do benefit from a proper break in. Here's a portion of their description and break in procedure.

 

"These barrels are made from premium quality 4140 Chrome Moly Steel then precision-reamed, button rifled, short chambered, stress relieved and air gauged to + or - .0002". The chambers are cut a nominal .050" short to allow for establishing correct headspace to a given receiver. The proper break-in procedure requires cleaning after each shot for the first five shots. Then cleaning after every five shots for the next 50 shots."

 

 

Spiris