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96 mauser strength
varian
Member Posts: 2,265 ✭✭✭✭
have a 96 mauser A.K.A. Kimber sporterized. have read where this mauser is weaker than others but really don't understand why. question is... can i safely get a 140gr. bullet to 2800fps out of this action? if so would someone care to share loading data with me. thanks
Comments
This is an argument that has been ongoing since the Swedish Mausers were brought into this country. Most of the claims of weakness have been perpetrated by amateurs and idiots that don't know any better. All of this has been covered on these forums before in detail but I'll give the brief overview.
The M96 Swedish Mauser does not have a third locking lug and even if it did, IT'S NOT A LOCKING LUG AT ALL.
The third lug on the M98 Mausers is accurately termed the SAFETY LUG. The reason for this is because the third lug does NOT contact the action AT ALL during normal operation. The only time the SAFETY LUG comes into play is when there is a CATASTROPHIC FAILURE of the two LOCKING LUGS at the front of the bolt. This means that the front locking lugs have been torn away and the SAFETY LUG prevents the bolt from leaving the action.
Most modern commercial rifles use the standard 2-lug bolts. There are a couple of exceptions but by far most rifles have 2-lugs.
The Swedes asked Mauser to design a new rifle which Mauser did. The Swedes tested the sample rifles and decided that the metallurgy was not up to their standards so the Swedes sent Mauser the steel to use for the actions. The metallurgy reports on the exceptional quality of the Swedish steel had already been acknowledged by engineers around the world.
The front ring of the Swedish Mauser is the same size as the front rings of most modern actions.
The Swedes carefully controlled the manufacturing of the ammunition used in their rifles, so safety and failures due to ammunition was unheard of. On the other hand, Paul Mauser had to design an incredibly safe action because he started out using French smokeless powder that was notorious for extreme pressure excursions due to poor manufacturing controls and chemistry. This is a polite way of saying that they suffered from catastrophic cartridge failure. Mauser needed better gas handling and the Safety Lug in order to protect the shooter.
The Swedish Mauser is a very strong action and has been engineered to be safe under even the worst conditions of war. The better part of this is that virtually all of the Swedish arsenal was well kept so the rifles that got to our market were in terrific condition.
I think it was a tragic waste for Kimber to wreck so many fine rifles.
"question is... can i safely get a 140gr. bullet to 2800fps out of this action?"
According to some of my reloading manuals, yes you can. But, and this is a big but, it depends upon the length of the barrel being used. While trying to stay within the pressure operating parameters, most modern barrels are too short to achieve the higher velocities. My Hodgdon manual states that their test were done with a 28" barrel. So if your barrel is shorter, you have to increase the pressure in order to achieve higher velocities. That's why we always state that you should start with the minimum loads in a reloading manual and work your way up slowly watching for signs of pressure.
I have achieved higher velocities by using a correctly set up rifles with minimum chambers in modern barrels. But the process of working up loads is a standard no matter which rifle or cartridge you're using.
Best.