[caver101]

OK Mele, Now that you are the big man with the FFL what would you charge (if you are interested) to re-barrel an action (if I can find the dang 7mm mauser action) just like the one you did? I can handle the sandblasting, gun-kote, stock fitting work - just not the barrel and headspace stuff.

Another thing......where in the heck can I find a Turkish Mauser in 7mm???? Looked everywhere..........can only find something in 8mm?? Is there a specific name to this rifle or model number? Any online stores? Anything??????

Is anyone else going to attempt a project like this? OR have some of you done something like this in the past and want to tell us about it ???

Thanks Mele, I really like what you did. Looks like it would be a low cost way to add the 6.5x55 to the safe & a great little hunting rifle. Like you, I believe in brining up a child like you are doing, good job!! ( I am a product of a father like you and I did not turn out tooooo bad :wink: )

 

[caver101]

OK........now I have more questions!!

After a short search on ebay for "mauser barrel" I am getting a little excited. They have barrels from Remingtion, Ruger, Douglas, ect,ect,ect. Found them from 243, 257 mag, 270, 30-06, 300win. mag (?). So my question now is what is the limit that one can do with these old actions? Anyone know of some good websites I can read about the old mausers??

Thanks guys!

 

[mele]

caver,

Sorry for the delay getting back to you, I was out of state for the weekend visiting family.

Well, in terms of the mauser, I will have to pass on doing the barrel work for you, I need to keep my focus on the project rifles. But I'm happy to help you get the project done. In reality, I am not a mauser expert, and actually had a local mauser guy do the barrel mount and head space. It was worth the $70 just to have him do it, saved me time by not having to learn it on my own.

In terms of the Turks, they are 8mm mauser. What it is originally doesn't matter, you are just going to chuck everything but the action in the trash anyway. You need to be careful with the turk actions, they are large ring design, but small ring barrel threads. So, you will not be able to use any of the Mauser 98 surplus barrels. The Swedish Mausers are model 96 design which is the small ring, and is why I was able to buy a surplus swedish mauser barrel and use it on the turk. Now, you can get a barrel from any of the barrel makers out there (Douglas, Hart, shilen, MT Rifleman, etc etc) to fit a turkish mauser action, but you will pay a lot more than $75 which is what I paid for the surplus barrel. The other thing is that I have hear nothing but praise for the swedish mauser barrels, so in essence, I knew I was buying a premium grade barrel, at surplus price. And it held true, as the rifle shoots sub MOA.

The turkish actions are large and strong, but they are made with old school metalugy, so I'm not sure if I would be loading Lapua Mags in one, but any of the med range cartridges should be fine. I might be overly conservative on this....

Let me know if you have other questions.

MEL

 

[caver101]

OK... I am now looking for a Swedish Mauser, model 96. I can not find any that match that description, most of what I find are the Model 98. Any ideas on where to find one??

Just to make sure I am on target.

Swedish model 96 - takes small ring barrel (what I need to do a 6.5X55)

Thanks!!!!

 

[mele]

The swedish models are the

m96
m38 (a updated version of the m96 that was produced in 1941-43)
m94 & m96 Carbines

plus other various versions. Here is a link to a good summary of the models.

https://lockbox.dwave.net/northcapepubs/swmauser.htm

MEL

 

[madgunsmith]

Building a Twedish Mauser.

Dear Caver:

If you want to build a Twedish Mauser, here's how to locate the ingredients.

1. For a Turkish Mauser, go to J&G Sales, 440 Miller Valley Road, Prescott, Arizona. 86301. http://www.jgsales.com. The phone no is 928-445-9650. The price of a Turkish Mauser is $65.

2. For a Swedish Mauser barrel, Sarco has them. http://sarcoinc.com.
The part no is MSR-254 and the price is $75. Sarco's address is: 323 Union Street, Stirling, People's Republic of New Jersey, 07980. Telephone no. 908-647-3800.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm the guy who first bugged Mel about building a Twede. You can also build a cheap 6.5x55 by getting a Swedish barrel from Sarco and building up a rifle on a pre 98 Mauser. You can get an 1893 carbine action from Sarco for $34.50. These may be ordered without an FFL because they are pre 1898 arms. These 1893 actions will work with the Swedish Mauser's barrel threads.

And if you want to know what handload I sent Mel, just e mail me at [email protected].

Madgunsmith.

 

[caver101]

Thanks guys!! Great info!!

madgunsmith,
I am looking for the M1893 carbine action and I am not able to find it on their website (can you give me a part number?), I found the barrels (thanks!!). One MAJOR question I have is......According to an article I just read they state that "some" of the M1893 actions were not "re-heat" treated and therefore not recomended for re-barreling :shock: . Said that the suitable ones where "re-heat" treated in 1938 +/-. Can you shine a little light on this??? All I want is a 6.5x55. I do not reload (yet), so my ammo will have to be over the counter. I believe nitrex makes some right now.

Another question - Does the trigger group come with the M1893 actions?

Thanks guys!!!!

 

[madgunsmith]

Dear Caver:

Take a look at page 132 of the October 4, 2004 edition of the Shotgun News. ( If you don't have a subscription, then shame on you.)

On page 132 you will find Sarco's advertisement. The 1893 Mauser actions are advertised therein.

On that same page, Sarco has post '98 1894 Brazilean Mauser actions also. Price $39.50. These actions were made by Fabrique National in Belgium. I have an original FN model 1894 and they are nicely machined.

You could use either of these actions to safely build a 6.5x55mm using a Swedish carbine barrel. I don't think you should worry about heat treating. If these actions are FN or original Mauser, and in reasonable condition, they should be perfectly fine for use with normal loads in 6.5x55mm.

Any other pre-98 Mauser will also accept a Swedish Mauser barrel. ( Among others these pre 98s include the 1895 Chilean Mauser, the 1893 Spanish Mauser and others. But do not rebarrel any Boer Mausers. Otherwise I might cry.)

If you can find a Model 1910 Mexican Mauser with a bad bore, you can also build a 6.5x55mm using a Swedish barrel. The Model 1910 Mexican Mauser is a small ring 98 and it is one sweet rifle.

And the actions from Sarco should include the trigger guard and magazine box. If not, you can alway find these parts either at the Gun Part Co or at Sarco. But I bet these parts are included, because they are shown in the advertisement. Best you should ask.

And if you don't handload for the 6.5x55mm, you should start. U.S. factory ammo is exceedingly poor in this caliber. I have a Sako that will shoot half minute groups with my handloads; however with Remchester it sprays 6 minute groups. Winrington Ammo is also rather weak. I've chronographed 140 grain loads at around 2350 fps., which is too slow.

From a Swedish carbine barrel, you can expect safe handloads to ballistically exceed the 6.8 SPC. I'm not kidding. With a Swedish carbine barrel expect 2600 fps with a 120 grain bullet. With a 140 grain bullet you can expect around 2400 fps from a 17 inch barrel and with the 160 grain bullet you can expect around 2200 fps.

And you should be able to shoot sub MOA with every bullet weight.

Finally, I am going to visit Montana this next week. If I run into Brother Mel, I will have some more handloads for him to try. I will also have a beautiful Swedish Mauser for him to try also.

You may think that I'm crazy, and you'd be right. I'm crazy about the 6.5x55mm. But if I were you, I'd be inclined to use the Turk action. After all it is a 98 and was made in the late 30s or early 40s. So it might be a little stronger than a pre-98 action.

Madgunsmith.

 

[00zero]

now im interested in this gun.

what kind of accuracy would be obtainable with a bedding job, floating the barrel, trigger work, and square the action face?

would there be any increase in accuracy with a longer custom barrel?

just a quick thought based on the ranges and balistics for a police sniper could the 6.5mm sweedish be an alternative to the hated .223 and the some times over powered .308. (no flaming as i am not a sniper and i am just making a casual observation)

-jonathan

 

[madgunsmith]

I will leave the effectiveness of the 6.5x55mm as a sniper round for others to discuss.

However, in my Sako, I have loaded the 120 grain Sierra Match King to a muzzle velocity of 3009 fps with a standard deviation of 9fps. This load will consistantly provide .5 MOA or better.

Now hasten to the Sierra webpage and look up the ballistic coefficient of the 120 Match King. And go to the Lapua page and check out the ballistic coefficients of their 123 grain Match bullet. Compare these numbers with those of .308 projectiles. Actually compare them with ballistic coefficients of other calibers.

Finally, keep in mind that my Sako has hardly any felt recoil. It is easy to shoot and it hits like a .270. And if you look at the history of African hunting you will see that famous hunters such as Bell and Percival used the 6.5 bore to kill lions and elephant.

I am not touting the 6.5x55mm as an elephant gun, but for two legged game it is more than enough.


Madgunsmith.

 

[mele]

Doing those things to the rifle will obviously improve accuracy, but it is hard to say how much, as its different for every rifle/ammo combo. The beauty of the whole project was the cost. I do not have much more than $300 in parts in the rifle, and that includes the scope base (which cost as much as the original turkish mauser!!)

Sometime soon I do plan to build a SC1 in 6.5x55 to get an even better grasp on the caliber.

MEL

 

[caver101]

I will now start buying up the parts to complete this little jewell! Now that I know exactly what to buy!!!! Thanks guys!!

*on a side note - I just posted a few picks of a couple of my rifles on the gallery page