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Rebarreling a Mauser Action

We had a Yugoslav M48A Mauser with a completely trashed barrel, so we decided to rebarrel it. We have a donor barrel in .308 Winchester, and we’re going to go through the process of removing the old barrel, facing the receiver, threading the new barrel, cutting and headspacing a new chamber, and timing it to the action.

22 comments to Rebarreling a Mauser Action

  • Mike D.

    Good stuff Ian, keep it coming!

  • Ian

    Great video! What kind of lathe are you using?

  • juver

    nice video very informative

    i have a few questions
    so how long did this project take you to do ?
    are all mauser barrels thread and torkt down or are the ones that have a press fit barrel like the ak ?
    is it possible to get the sights of of the old barrel and them ?
    would it possible for to you cut the old barrel in half lengthwise to show what a shot out barrel looks like in the inside would it possible for to you cut the old barrel in half lengthwise to show what a shot out barrel looks like in the inside ?
    is it possible to make a mauser with uses detachable magazines?

    • Ian

      I did the work in this video over the course of 3 days.
      All Mauser barrels are threaded, as are virtually all the bolt action military rifles I can think of.
      In theory, the sights can be removed from the old barrel. With the AR10 barrel I used as a replacement, though, the old sights would neither fit nor be properly aligned.
      I didn’t think about sectioning the old barrel, but that would be pretty neat to see. I’ll put it on my list to do.
      Yes, you can modify a Mauser to use a detachable mag. Just how difficult it would be depends on what magazine, but it’s not a trivial job.

  • Hrachya Hayrapetyan

    Very interesting video ! Waiting for bedding and trigger job videos. Will you test it downrange once the job is done?

  • Will Cushman37NM

    Great video with professional production values. Interesting how much “feel” is needed even with precision measuring devices in play. Looking forward to additional installments. Good on ‘ya, Ian!

  • Big Al

    Great video Ian. It is like an episode of The New Yankee Workshop, but working on guns. I hope you do more videos like this one.

  • How can I buy a copy of this project?
    Dean

  • wetcorps

    Very interesting.

  • Ian Hutchison

    Great video Ian, I’ll bet that could become a handy little carbine when finished!

  • Rob M

    WD-40 is not a lubricant, the initials stand for “Water Displacement formula 40″. Just good for your audience to know as surfaces treated with WD-40 will be lubricated in the short term, but will dry out over the long term.

  • Bill

    Ian,
    A very well done video, I’d like to ask a few questions, please. Along the lines of making everything concentric why was lapping the bolt lugs and bolt face not performed? I applaud you for cleaning up the inner ring but lapping the bolt face after the lugs have been done is standard for concentricity. I post this not as criticism… but as inquiry

  • Ken

    Ian Excellent demo. Have 2 projects to do and nice to know I
    won’t be trying them myself. Unfortunately no smiths near me
    but without machine shop tools and skills, I’d rather wait than
    destroy materials. Could you do a video where you duplicate
    a non machine shop environment and using simple hand finish
    reamers, install an unfinished Mauser barrel. A video showing
    how this might be accomplished by amateurs might be useful
    for people who want to try

  • Matt George

    I saw this video and think it is awesome. Very nice work. You have inspired me to want to do this to one of my M48’s. I work in a machine shop and have access to the tools whenever I want, so I’m ready to go. I did come up with a few questions though.

    You kept referring to the “top of the barrel.” This may bea dumb question, but what is the top? The barrel is round, but is there a distinct section that needs to be the top? Is it just based on the cutouts on the muzzle end of your particular barrel?

    You also made a comment at the 19:00 mark when you start chambering the barrel that you got “these AR-10 barrels.” Did you get multiple messed up barrels? Do you have more that I could possibly get one from you? If not, where did you go to get an improperly chambered barrel? I’m assuming it was a lot cheaper than a new good barrel. Since the chambered end would be cut off to make it fit the Mauser, makes sense to save the money.

    Also, you said at the end that you would have other videos as to a stock and trigger work? Any info on that?

    Last question, did you have to do anything for the magazine or did the .308 rounds fit into the stock Mauser magzine?

    Any help with this would be greatly apreciated.

    • Justin

      If you look close when he’s showing the barrel the first time, you can see it has a compensator. Because of that it does have to be oriented correctly.

  • Chris

    Does there need to be a relief cut into the barrel for the claw extractor. Thinking of either buying a Winchester M70 straight out or doing a build out like this if I can ever get my dream job in a machine shop, since my degree was in mech e. Thanks.

  • colbee1951

    Excellent video! I have a few ideas for future videos if you are up to the challenge.
    1. Installation of muzzle brake- requires threading the muzzle, much as setting up the breech threads.
    2. machining off the stripper clip guide
    3. opening a bolt face to accept a magnum cartridge (0.532-0.534)

    These are all things I’ve learned the hard way and it would be excellent if someone with your talent could make something of the quality of your barreling video to help those of us who are neophytes.

    Again, well done.

  • Dan

    The old barrel has a cut for the extractor; does the new one need one too? I was thinking that there are lots of guns that don’t have the relief cut so as long as its reamed and properly headspaced it should be good but I would feel a lot better hearing it from a pro and not just my own tinkerers musings.

    Thanks

  • Torst

    Hi,nice work! One question: I have a Mauser 98 in 308 myself. Do you have a soution for the magazine, where the short 308 cartridges move too much, as the 8×57 are longer and broader?

  • ben

    just watched your video on rebarrel yugo 48.i am interested in your action wrench.did you make this or is it commercial.thanks

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