Is there a thread or discussion on the various Mauser actions and which ones are suitable for 375 HH and above builds. I know "nothing" about Mausers and see actions that are "k 98", ones thar are DWM 1909 Argentine, "standard 98" , Yugoslavian Mausers, Turkish M38, Spanish, Yougo model 48, Chilean Mausers etc etc and can not find a good source for information on the differences etc .......And if these Mauser actions are used to build,, say a 375 H&H what modifications must be done for reliable feeding and chambering and magazine feeding ?? Do bolt faces have to be opened up ? At what stage is to much metal removed possibly weaking the action ? Can 3 position "Winchester "/Gentry style safety be installed on these actions ? I see lots of info on Mausers and lots of big bore rifles on "old" Mauser actions but have no idea how to evaluate one. Please give a bit of help/direction on how to decipher all the Mauser info.
Welcome to M98 fan club!
I think this subject is covered in many topics on the this forum, but I am not sure that this actual question is covered separately.
I will provide some partial answers.
Action lenght, magnum or medium?
First to look is the length of action.
It should be either magnum length action, to properly take DG cartridges, or medium lenght with some compromises.
Magnum lengt action to my knowledge, nobody produces anymore for reasonable money.
The first one to look, is new German DWM Mauser 98, which now goes for 14k.
Next down by price are Brno rifles on second hand market: ZKK 602 or CZ 550.
So magnum lenght is either new for 14K or above, or second hand Brno rifles.
Magnum lenght action being covered above, we are going to next option, medium lenght.
Medium lenght action options, and restrictions:
New rifes: Winchester M70, zastava M70, Voere (Austria), comes to mind. But Voere does produce up to 9.3x62 only. And ruger (but for ruger, some argue it is not proper CRF system)
Generally speaking medium action will have smaller magazine capacity, down to three rounds or less.
Magnum length (and wide) action will have 5 or up to 6 rounds in magazine of 375 H&H size cartridge.
Most common calibers for medium length m98 action, for DG:
- 458 win mag, designed to fit medium length action with cartridge LOA 3.34 inch.
- 375 H&H, although not designed for medium action, it is most popular caliber which motivates factories to "upgrade" the medium lenght action, with some "adjustments" and compromises.
- 375 Ruger (in ruger line of rifles)
- 416 Remington magnum (available in winchester m70)
About actions and lengths and related details to take care about.
Some factories made war time Mausers on short medium action. For example, Zastava made M48 (K98 clone), on 5 mm shorter action from original design. In the same time, they produce m70 hunting rifle on standard medium length action and can chamber 458 WM and 375 HH.
So, if going in direction of customizing some mil surp rifle, pay attention to this detail. Do not build it on shorter medium action. Which other factories built k98 clone on shorter medium length action I do not know, but zastava probably is not the only one.
Below is photo from older gun digest annual magazine, on older type winchester m70 rifle, you can see the differences between 30-06 and 375 H&H, and how it was designed to fit longer cartridge on same action lenght.
Winchester type safety:
Can be installed.
Brno rifles:
ZKK 602 and CZ 550 are different then most mauser clones. But those safeties are made by company AHR (American Hunting rifles - do the google)
Other rifles:
Other M98 clones are similar to original design, and there is number of factories which produce WInchester style safety. You can google around. Try google "recknagel" to give just one example, for a start.
NON DG calibers.
If you want a rifle up to 9.3x62, you can safely look for CRF rifle, on medium length action, and it will be fine for customizing from mil surp action, or take a look at some of new factory productions
