'Build Your Own Mauser' Class - Beta Testing is Complete

The memorial day weekend* Mauser challenge was a success. What you see here is a photo of one of the two hunting rifles that we built from stripped K-98 receivers. More and better pictures of the process, rifles and accuracy tests will be up as soon as they have been uploaded and sorted through.

We started with a pair of military K-98s with worn-out barrels and stripped them down to the bare receivers, which were thoroughly cleaned and worked over with a wire brush. Those receivers and their soon-to-be reforged bolts were the only original parts included in the final product.

When I say 'we,' I don't just mean myself and Paul Fritz. Our guinea pig student, John Athayde, participated in every step along the way. John had experience with basic tools and knew the fundamentals of riflery but had never done this type of gunsmithing before. He proved that an intelligent person with the right instruction and tools can quickly build their own custom hunting and target rifle.

The bolt of each rifle was placed into a heat sink and blasted with an acetylene torch until it was hot enough to re-shape into a new contour that would clear a scope. Paul and John took turns at holding the torch and shaping the bolt.

Because of the extreme throat erosion discovered in one of the rifles, we made the decision to re-barrel not only these rifles but all Mausers used in the class going forward. The rifle with the eroded throat would not produce groups of shots less than 2 feet wide at 100 yards. We simply cannot take the risk of finding that a surplus barrel will not hold a group and end up sending students home with useless rifles.

After careful consideration we decided to re-barrel both guns for the 7mm Mauser cartridge. This cartridge was chosen for several reasons:

1. 7mm cartridges in general tend to shoot quite flat and are easy to be accurate with.

2. The 7mm Mauser cartridge was one of the first cartridges that this action was designed to handle and as such the rest of the rifle requires zero alteration for perfect function.

3. Among the various 7mm cartridges, the 7mm Mauser has far less recoil than the 7mm Remington Magnum and a wider array of possible bullet weights than the 7mm-08. While the 7mm-08 is easier to find ammo for in stores, Paul is teaching the basics of hand-loading to every student. This way, the greater flexibility of the 7mm Mauser can be realized in practical terms. The 7mm-08 cartridge has such a short neck that one is limited to 140 grain bullets, making it ideal for whitetails but marginal for anything larger. Whereas the hand-loader can easily load up to 188 grain bullets in the 7mm Mauser and credibly use it to hunt elk-sized prey.

4. The 7mm Mauser has a fascinating history that I won't get into just now, but suffice to say that the sort of person who favors a 7mm Mauser will find approving nods from the right sort of people. Its like driving a car powered by a straight six engine or listening to Dave Brubeck albums on vinyl.

But back to the rifle. The replacement barrels have slightly different thread patterns than the originals did, so the threads on the receiver were re-cut on Paul's vintage 1898 metal lathe (built the same year that the K-98 Mauser was designed). We used short-chambered Adams and Bennett barrels and clamped them into wooden blocks in a 6 ton shop press. Paul demonstrated proper technique with a chamber reamer which shaved away precisely the right amount of metal to produce a chamber shaped like the 7mm Mauser cartridge. John reamed the chamber in his own rifle, checking it every few turns with a head space gauge to make sure he hadn't removed too much metal.

Holes were drilled and tapped for screws in the tops of the receivers so that scopes could be mounted. One receiver had a face that wasn't quite squared enough to meet the sporter barrel properly, so that one was chucked up on the lathe and re-faced.

At this point, the metal work was complete and it was time to protect the raw steel from the elements. As much as we all appreciate the look of blued steel, it is not practical to cram a decent bluing job into a course that has to be finished in two days. Nor does bluing hold up well to the elements in wet weather. For these reasons we opted to finished the metal with black, high-temperature paint and rub it with oil after curing. The paint is dry enough to handle within about 20 minutes and will have fully cured by the following morning. Trust me, it really does look good. The photos demonstrate that. I would say that it looks about the same as the finish on a brand new Remington Model 700 BDL (which I have bought one a few years ago and feel qualified to say this). If chipped or damaged, a spray can of this paint costs about $3 at any hardware store and it is very easy to touch up on your own.

The composite stocks, chosen for the relative speed of fitting them as opposed to working with wood, were inletted using a Dremel Moto-tool and various hand tools. Adjustable, sporting triggers with built-in safeties were installed on the receivers. The rifles were fully assembled, scopes, bases and rings were centered, leveled and installed. After cleaning out any remaining metal shavings from the chamber and barrel, they were ready to shoot.

Now that we've done the tests to prove to ourselves that we can take someone through this process in a single weekend, we are ready to begin offering the course on a limited basis. While we would like to work our way up to groups of 4 students, we are going to start with classes of only 2 at a time in order to have as much one-on-one supervision and instruction as possible. The class will cost $1,000 per student. This price includes all parts, tools, instruction, trip to a shooting range, a set of gunsmithing screwdrivers and a gun vise to keep, etc. You will go home with a cased rifle that you built and in which you will have pride of workmanship for the rest of your life. You will probably be able to take down a Mauser action in your sleep at that point; you will have the tools and knowledge to install and zero scopes and you will be capable of inletting stocks and doing some basic metal work.

Included in that figure is the estimated price of purchasing a donor rifle to begin with (we are not firearms dealers and therefore we can only direct you to a suggested source for a Mauser action and we cannot sell it to you per se).

If you already have a 98 action to use, we are happy to work with that assuming that it is in safe condition and is a K-98 variant which is compatible with the parts and tools that are a part of this program. While we are going to be re-barreling for 7mm Mauser at this price, other cartridge options may be available on request for an additional fee.

Because class sizes are limited to 2 students each, we will not be announcing a list of dates with rosters to fill. Rather, we encourage interested parties to contact us and we will work with you to set dates that are convenient for all concerned. I can be emailed at jack.landers@gmail.com.


*Note that while the bulk of the work was completed during memorial day weekend, the rebarreling was done in a few hours on the following Sunday since we hadn't determined going into it that new barrels would be required. I have streamlined my description of the process for the purpose of illustrating the order in which the work will be done during future classes.

[Photo used courtesy of Paul Fritz]