Mauser sporter project advice needed

[Polaris]

Am currently working on a sporter project on a Turk mauser. I've fired the basic rifle in original military configuration and it shows good accuracy potential, headspace is good and action is nice and slick. I've got my bolt guy lined up, low scope safety, and got a nice walnut thumbhole to sand and finish.

The problem I have is that darn long turk barrel. Can I effectively shorten and recrown this barrel with basic shop tools? Fancy specialized tools are not in my budget. Am also interested in opinions on what barrel length I should go with. The rifle is staying 8x57mm and will be a short to mid range woods rifle for primarily deer, possibly also moose. It will be fitted with a low-mag euro-style scope to keep it compact, but I don't want a super short whippy carbine with all the extra muzzle blast. I want it to feel like a classic sporter. Also looking for finishing tips. I did my last stock with straight linseed oil and it looks nice but the grain doesn't really pop as much as I'd like. I've heard using a filler or stain can help with that but I know nothing about them. This is a really sweet piece of american walnut so I want to do it justice.

 

[Guest]

I'll offer my thoughts on the barrel - I'm not qualified to speak to the stock finishing.

I think you'd be best suited in getting a gunsmith to cut the barrel for you. It will end up cut straight and with a clean crown that way, and those are two things you want in the end. This isn't something you want to take the sawzall to, and if you want to crown it, you're going to spend nearly as much on the tools to crown it as you will getting the smith to do it for you.

As for length - I've got a 24" barreled 8x57 in a Remington 700 Classic, and I can't find a thing wrong with that barrel length. I certainly wouldn't go shorter than 22" if you're thinking "classic sporter" lengths, and in reality, 24" is easy to handle and offers the ability to put some 180gr bullets out of the muzzle running a very useful and respectable 2600-2700fps, depending on the strength of the action. That makes the rifle into a 250yd point blank range piece, and will give you the ability to "hold on hair" out to 300yds or so. Very nice gun, and very workable for shorter ranges.

Good luck with the build. Keep us posted.

 

[elkeater2]

Polaris,
I've got an old Mauser that I've tweaked several times over the years. When us garage types go to shortening our own barrels or other creative money savers, the guys on here call that giving it the "Bubba treatment" :grin: Even so, there are ways to get it done that will make some people cringe.
You asked if normal shop tools could be used, and you can, sort of:
I shortened a barrel, and didn't know squat about 17 degree match crowns or any of that stuff at the time. I had access to a large surface grinder and a band saw. Whacked the barrel off, then made a jig out of wood to hold the barrel muzzle as square as possible to the disc surface on the surface grinder. Then I slowly rotated the barrel while only making light contact with the disc. Did that until the surface was smooth and measured up as square to the centerline as possible. Then I took valve grinding compound and a large round headed brass machine screw. Chucked that into a drill and ran it against the bore opening until I could see an even sort of countersink line, probably about 1/32". It shot better than it ever had before, 1" groups.

For the stock,the Tru-oil products from Birchwood Casey work pretty good for lots of people. If you want to stain, do it before filling and let the stain really dry good before sealing. The B-C Sealer filler dries fast and is shiny, but gets sanded back off to the pores. I suggest buying their kit and just follow the directions. Don't be in too big a hurry, and let the actual Tru-oil dry thoroughly between coats. I put it on in light thin coats. Thick coats can get gummy and take a long time to dry.

Hope that helps! elkeater2

 

[1Shot]

elkeater2 has given you some good advise. Let me reiterate his caution. True Oil is a great HARD finish but do put it on with very light coats. Depending on the humidity, 12 hrs between coats is the minimum drying time I would suggest. It is best to hang the stock by a wire to let it dry. Lightly 000 steel wool and make sure all dust or wool shavings are removed before you put on another coat. The more coats you put on the deeper the looking through glass to the wood effect is. Do not steel wool the last coat unless you want a satin finish.

It depends on the wood but if it has good grain and the wood is a lighter walnut you can take a dark walnut stain and put it on and then with burlap rub it off quickly. It usually will make the grain darker than the wood so it stands out more. Do this before you seal the wood or apply any finish.

I also would not go any shorter than 22" on the barrel. I have found that most of the military 8X57JS caliber rifles like heaver bullets 180 to 200 grains best. So a 24" barrel would be about perfect in my thinking. For deer the 180 Nosler ballistic tip should fill the bill nicely. The 200 gr Nosler AccuBond should fill the bill for heaver game.

 

[Guy Miner]

I've never cut and crowned a barrel, but it doesn't seem too difficult. Then again, a good smith doesn't charge much for that service either.

I like the stock finishing tips you've received so far. Funny thing about Tru-Oil, I finished one stock with it, seven coats I think, using steel wool between coats. Left it as a satin finish. Within a couple of years of shooting and hunting with the rifle, it had smoothed out to a very nice glossy finish, just from handling. I do like Tru-Oil.

Should you tire of the old Mauser safety & trigger, Timney makes a good replacement unit.

Enjoy your project, we're looking forward to photos of it completed!

Guy

 

[Polaris]

Sounds like good stuff. I think I will spring for the tru-oil kit this time. Compared to the price I paid for the walnut, this kit is cheap. My BLO stock looks nice but it is definately satin. I think I'll first cut a small amount off the barrel and try a practice crown on the section removed and see how it turns out. If I'm satisfied I can cut the rifle to 24 1/4 and try the real crown. If it shoots well, I'll stop there, if not I can always go the gunsmith route. I've got a very nice centering drill press at my friends so I should be able to use a ball grinder to rough out the crown at aprox. 20 deg. concave and finish with the valve grinding compound as above. Will def post pix of this one when finished, it will be beautiful.

Now I just need to decide on mannlicher or "American" bolt handle.

 

[elkeater2]

Cutting off a short section to practice on is a great idea. I normally don't think that far ahead, congratulations :grin: You have an advantage with that versatile drill press for sure. Sounds like you're getting set up pretty good. Some bolt handles get "bent", but most get cut off and a new or modified one welded on. I put a low scope safety on, and eventually the Timney trigger. Hated to see the scope base hole drilled right through that pretty "AMBERG 1917", but it had to go there. Good luck!!

 

[cloverleaf]

Midway USA has a link to recrowning a barrel. You might want to look at that for some ideas. Seems to me the tough part is getting your cut square to the bore all the way across.

 

[JD338]

I would think a 22" barrel would be quite handy for a 8mm Mauser. If it were me, I would have a gunsmith cut and recrown the barrel.

JD338

 

[ldg397]

I just refinished a remington 1100 stock and I used the birchwood casey filler/sealer and tru oil. I had a gunsmith give the tip on using a different stain. He told me to go to woodcrafters and buy a bottle concentrated stain. It is like a 10 oz bottle of stain and it is 20$ but you mix a few drops with denatured alcohol. I think I used 15 drops in like 5 oz of alcohol. The beauty of mixing with denatured alcohol was when the stain goes on and dries with a streak or some imperfection you don't like you just wipe it again and the alcohol just re-wets the stain and allows it to dry again. I thought it was way too expensive but I trusted him and it made the staining really easy. I would also suggest using a chemical stripper instead of sanding the finish off, the heavy sanding required to remove finish damages the fibers of the wood and will affect your finish. After the stripper I started at 200, then 400 and then finished with 600. Then 2 or 3 coats of filler and 0000 steel wool between each coat and then 10 coats of tru oil real thin 0000 steel wool between each. It takes you less than a week to do this you did it wrong.

 

[SJB358]

That sounds like a great job, but man, where are the pictures! Scotty

 

[ldg397]

One other tip, finish stripper melts plastic. I had to buy a new grip cap because the original ended up as a pile of gooo.

I still need to do the forend. It was in great shape but the stock was trashed, cloudy, oil stained and beat up. I just thought I would just give it a try because it couldn't get any worse. If I failed I could just buy a new stock to match the forend. It turned out great and but now I have to do the forend.

I used a tooth brush with the chemical stripper to get everything out of the checkering. I taped off all the checkering before I started with sanding and filling. I took the tape off and stained it and then put the tape back on for the first 8 coats of tru oil. So the checkering only has the two final coats of tru oil and stain. Using this technique the checkering is still very crisp and useful.

 

[DrMike]

That stock does look nice. It may stimulate me to work on some of my old rifles.

 

[ldg397]

I found the stain concentrate. It is called "Transtint" Medium Brown; It is only 2 oz for $19 but judging from what I used you could easily do 15 stocks with it depending on how dark you want them. I have never been able to stain anything that turned out well, but after doing it this way I will never go back.

 

[SJB358]

Super 7, Transtint is great stuff. Another good stain is Generals wipe on gel stains. Much better quLity than Minwax. Minwax is good but the General products Are a little more user friendly. Scotty

 

[elkeater2]

Fiebing's alcohol based leather dye is all I use on cedar arrow shafts. Never tried it on a gunstock, but I know it works good for less than $19 a bottle for sure....
ee2

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

I would go with a 23 or 24 inch barrel. The 8x57 isnt going to benefit from a 26 nor will it be handicapped from a 22 but the 23-24 margin has always balanced the best for me in any bolt-action rifle be it factory sporter or military conversion. The 8x57 is a very under rated cartridge in this country. It is the 30-06 of Europe as popular as the 303 British is in the farthest reaches of the current and former British Empire. I have found the 150 grain bullets fun for plinking and coyotes but a serious load for big game hunting to reside between 180 and 220 grains in this cartridge. Enjoy your rifle, sounds like a fun project!