98 Mauser rifle magwell need gunsmith help

steve45

I recently bought a 8mm Mauser sporterized rifle to take advantage of the dirt cheap ammo you can get now. I figured when the cheap ammo is gone I'd change caliber to 338-06. I checked the magazine length and it is too short for 338-06. Im guessing that somebody manufactures a longer triggerguard, floorplate, magazine assembly for this rifle. How do I measure the triggerguard, floorplate, magazine assembly so that what I buy will fit? Where do I look for one? Is there anything else I would need for this conversion other than a barrel? thanks

Der Gebirgsjager

Steve-Without looking at your rifle this is a tough one to answer because there were several lengths of Mauser action made, and you may have one of the shorter ones on which this conversion is not possible. The overall loaded length of a .30-06 is 3.34" and a .338-06 goes 3.38". Many Mauser actions that were sold to South American Countries originally chambered in 7.65mm were later converted to .30-06 and required that a semi-circular notch be ground in the rear of the receiver ring so that the noses of the bullets could enter the magazine. The Yugoslavian Mausers currently being sold (Mod. 48) are what is called an intermediate action (intermediate in length) and do not lend themselves well to conversion to longer cartridges. The 8x57mm cartridge for which these are originally chambered has a loaded length of 2.99". First you'll have to determine the make and length of your receiver. Some '98 Mauser sporters are cobbled together from a variey of parts from different rifles, and if you have one of the longer receivers you may be able to solve your problem with a standard trigger guard/magazine group from a longer rifle. A smaller number of military Mausers were made in .30-06 as their original caliber, and one of these magazines solve your problem if your receiver is sufficiently long to handle the .338-06. But it won't do you any good to try to mate one of the longer magazines to a shorter receiver.

steve45

Thanks Der Gebirgsjager, it looks like this could be a harder conversion than I thought. It might be easier for me to convert to a cartridge of the same length as 8mm. I always wanted a .220 swift also. First I have to shoot my way through 1500 rounds of 8mm. Thanks Again.

Mobuck

I'm doing the same thing with a couple of 8mm's. The gunsmiths I've talked to don't like to cut out the receiver ring because it weakens the lower lug recess. I'm going with 25/06 and 280 so that overall length is workable. The remaining actions long enough to work with 338/06, 30/06 w/ball ammo, and 35 whelen are getting expensive.

Mobuck

Tailgunner1954

I've heard of guys thinning the rear of the mag box and installing a shorter ejecter / bolt stop also, instead of modifing the feedramp for the longer cartridges. Never done either myself, just what I've read.

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Some guys like a mag full of lead, I still prefer one round to the head.

steve45

One of the longer magwells that I saw on an auction site just sold for 160.00 plus dollars. Wow. Thanks everybody for your help.

MIKE WISKEY

BROWNELL'S SELLS AN ALUM. TRIGGER GUARD FOR THE 98 THAT WILL TAKE THE LONGER RDS., HINGED FLOOR PLATE TOO. ABOUT $70 BUT IT MAKES A NICE SPORTER