Bolt Action Rifles. Wayne Zwoll

butts against this collar and the head of the bolt is recessed within the collar, touching the barrel when the bolt is locked. There are other breech systems that are much simpler and equally as strong and safe, but few of them offer the one advantage that has contributed to the unmatched popularity of this action—a feature seldom discussed.

      Many people have said to me, “There are several firms making and offering low-cost turned, threaded and chambered barrels in various calibers and weights for the M98 action. Why don’t they offer similar barrels for other actions like the ’03 Springfield and 1917 Enfield, as well?” The answer is that there is no single military or commercial high-power bolt action that is as numerous or as popular, so low in cost, strong, safe and suitable for a variety of cartridges as is the M98 Mauser—and to which a barrel can be fitted so easily.

      I cannot go into the detailed procedures of fitting and headspacing a barrel here. Suffice it to say that it is far easier to properly fit a barrel to the M98 than it is to fit one to most of the other military bolt actions, especially those not made to accommodate a flat-breech-end barrel. It is, however, possible and practicable to manufacture barrels for the M98 action to close enough tolerances so that a knowledgeable amateur gunsmith should be able to fit it properly to his action without the use of a metal lathe or chambering reamer. This would be very difficult, if not impossible, with an ’03 Springfield or similar action. The reader should not get the impression from what has been said that fitting a barrel to the M98 action is a snap and simply requires turning it up tightly. This is not the case.

      Gunsmithing the M98

      To begin with, it is only practicable to use a military M98 action for building a rifle if you can do all or at least most of the remodeling work yourself. For example, if you have an action which cost you nothing, and hired the remodeling work done to equal the commercial FN Supreme Mauser action, then it probably would have been advisable to buy the commercial action in the first place. On the other hand, if you can do the remodeling yourself there is no military action quite as ideal as the M98 on which to build a rifle.

      Mauser Model 98

      General Specifications

      Type . . . . .Turnbolt repeater.

      Receiver . .One-piece machined steel forging, unslotted bridge. Stripper-clip guide milled in bridge.

      Bolt . . . . . .One-piece, with dual-opposed locking lugs forward. A third lug on the bottom of the bolt acts as the safety lug.

      Ignition . . .One-piece firing pin, coil mainspring and cocking piece. Cocks mainly on opening of bolt.

      Magazine .Staggered column, nondetachable box magazine, 5-shot capacity. Detachable floorplate.

      Trigger . . .Non-adjustable, double-stage military-type pull.

      Safety . . . .Rotary wing-type safety built into bolt sleeve. 180° swing from left to right, locking striker only when in upright position; locks both bolt and striker when at right.

      Extractor . .One-piece, nonrotating, long Mauser spring type attached to the bolt by a collar.

      Bolt-stop .Separate, hinged to the left rear of receiver, stops bolt by contacting left locking lug.

      Ejector . . .Swinging type, located in bolt-stop housing.

      The standard M98 military action made for the 8mm Mauser cartridge has a magazine length opening of approximately 3.320” and, therefore, is best suited to cartridges loaded to a slightly shorter overall length. The bolt face recess and extractor are correct for any centerfire cartridge of 30-06 head size. Therefore, without modifying the magazine, bolt head or extractor, the standard M98 military action will handle such cartridges as these: 243, 244, 6mm Remington, 257 Roberts, 7mm Mauser, 284, 308, 8mm Mauser, 358 and wildcats based on these cases. The unaltered actions will usually handle shorter cartridges quite well, such as the 22-250, 225, 220 Swift and 250-3000. However, for perfect feeding it usually is necessary to install a filler block in the rear of the magazine and use a shorter follower for the shorter cartridges.

      One of the author’s favorite varmint rifles—a compact medium-weight rifle based on a shortened Model 98 action. It is a single shot, chambered for the 219 Donaldson Wasp. The medium-heavy 21” chrome-moly steel barrel has a 1:14 twist and is very accurate. Sighting is done with a very fine Unertl 1¼”Varmint scope of 10x. Stock is of ultra-fancy southern Iowa stump walnut, with the grip and forend checkered in a fleur-de-lis pattern.

      Lengthening the magazine is not too difficult. This makes the M98 action suitable for cartridges slightly longer than the 8mm Mauser. By thinning the rear and front magazine walls and altering the loading ramp, or by moving the front magazine wall forward and altering the loading ramp accordingly, it can handle most 30-06 or 270 length cartridges. Then, by opening up the bolt face recess and shortening the extractor hook, the action can handle such short belted-magnum cartridges as the 264 to 458. Opening up the magazine and altering the loading ramp enough for such longer magnum cartridges as the 300 H&H Magnum is not recommended since this greatly weakens the receiver where it supports the lower locking lug.

      Remodeling the M98 military action is made easier by a number of accessories offered especially for it. There are trigger shoes available for the trigger, replacement safeties which will clear the lowest mounted scopes, quick-release floorplate devices, set-trigger mechanisms, fully adjustable single-stage trigger mechanisms with or without slide-type safeties. There are more scope mounts made for the M98 action than for any other. If this is not enough, you can buy a stiffer mainspring to speed up the lock time (as well as making the action harder to operate). Last, but not least, chambered and finish-turned barrels are available in a number of popular calibers from several firms. Most of the accessories are easily installed by following the manufacturers instructions, but unless you have the proper equipment for barrel fitting, I suggest you let a competent gunsmith do that job.

      If a hunting scope is to be mounted low and over the bore—the only way it should be mounted—then the main alteration will be to the bolt handle so it will clear the eyepiece of the scope. The bolt handle can be forged to a low profile, or the original bolt handle cut off and it, or a new bolt handle, welded on in the low profile position. I prefer the latter, using an electric weld to attach the new handle. There are several gunsmithing books available which give detailed instructions on altering bolt handles, drilling and tapping the receiver for sights and scope mounts, installing barrels and altering the magazine, etc. If you want to do this work, and don’t know how, get these books and find out. They include The Modern Gunsmith by W.J. Howe, Modern Gunsmithing by Clyde Baker and Gunsmithing by Roy Dunlap.

      M98 Barrel Thread

      Model 98 rifles have been made over a long period of time, in a number of countries and by many different firms. It is, therefore, natural to assume that not all of them were made with exactly the same barrel thread. What they all have in common is a Whitworth-type thread with a metric pitch. This is a 55-degree V-thread, usually with rounded bottom and crest. The metric pitch is very close to twelve threads per inch. The drawing of the barrel shank specification indicates the thread diameter is 1.100”, the length of the shank .625”, with a pitch of twelve threads per inch. The American standard V-thread has a 60-degree angle and it has long been a customary practice of American gunsmiths to use the 60-degree thread in fitting new barrels to Mauser actions, a practice that’s perfectly acceptable. Barrelmakers producing threaded and chambered M98 replacement barrels must of necessity cut a minimum thread, so that the barrels will fit in practically every M98 action—this is also all right since a slightly loose thread fit is permissible. The important thing for the amateur to understand is that the barrel must be turned in and “set up” very tightly.