Mauser to 308 Scout: Introduction

Everything seems to happen about 3 years ago. Truthfully this is likely because about 3 years ago I was single, and had some extra money to purchase project guns, but wasn’t able to do much with them at the time. This project has similar origins, at the time I thought I’d build out the rifle to make a shooter for my soon to be wife.

Honestly the intent was good, but looking back at it, I really should have spent the money on a Ruger American, or something that was actually a nice rifle to begin with. Instead of a rifle I got her a H&K VP-9 which she loves. So I have had this small ring Mexican Mauser sitting around with no real use.

Fast forward to just the other day, I was out coyote hunting and thinking on how it would be nice to have a small handy rifle like my VZ-58 sitting in the stand with me. Yes, I have contemplated putting an optic on the VZ-58, but I wanted to see what I could do with what I had. I suddenly remembered that I had this old beat up Mexican Mauser sitting in storage that would likely make the perfect project gun.

I had sanded the stock to prepare it for refinishing, the rifle doesn’t look too bad in this photo, but it’s pretty rough.

The gentleman I purchased the rifle from, had tried to turn it into a 6.5 Creedmoor Target rifle. He’d likely used a dremel to sand away the stock so it wasn’t touching the barrel, and he’d put on a 6.5 Creedmoor barrel. However when they had chambered it, the chamber had nearly 10 thou run out. Which made for a very poor shooting rifle. Rather then purchase a new barrel and start over again, I think he just bought a new rifle.

The stock has a crack in the butt, I can deal with that. However being a left handed shooter makes for the Monte Carlo style cheek riser a little less desirable. Since this will be a field gun, I really don’t care.
I suspect the dark stains is from the oil that has soaked into the stock.
When this stock was brand new I suspect it was a really nice looking stock. Now, it’s seen far better days, and it’s been hacked on by people like me, who could care less about appearances.

Despite the rough looks, the rifle appears to be mechanically sound. I suspect it will require some accurizing work to make it into a decent shooter, but I’m not expecting miracles, if I can get 1.5 MOA out of this, I’d consider it a success.

The bolt is pitted and will need to be refinished. Hopefully we can do that without removing too much material. The rest of the bolt looks fine and the lugs appear to be solid.

I love historical firearms. I would rather not alter them from their original purpose. However this one is so far gone that there is not much anyone can do to restore it to it’s original glory. Which is why I don’t mind repurposing this old war horse.

If rifles could talk, I wonder the stories this would tell

The receiver was made in 1931. I wish that seal as completely intact. Who ever drilled through it for a scope mount should be punished. The damage is done, so we might as well make the most of it. Who knows how many of the original components are left, I am pretty sure the bolt isn’t the original bolt, or it has been altered as the bolt handle turns down, and the safty looks to be a commercial 3 position mauser safety.

Some light surface rust, nothing to worry about. Being that this is a field gun, I haven’t decided if I’ll refinish it or not.
This rust goes a little deeper and likely going to result in pitting, it’s not deep enough to worry about affecting the integrity of the receiver, but it looks ugly.

As stated before the project will entail replacing the barrel. I shoot a lot of 30 Caliber, I own a 300BLK AR-15, the VZ-58 is basically a 30 Cal even though the bullets are .310, I have a 30-06 project going on and my M1A. For this reason I have swage dies in 308 Caliber. It is hard for me to come up with a good justification for something besides 30 Caliber, for that reason I’ll likely chamber this in 308 Win. For me it makes sense.

I’ll also be purchasing/cutting the barrel down to 16in, so I can have a light handi rifle for use in a hunting stand. There is a good chance I will thread the barrel for a break, or for a suppressor. I will also need to do a fair bit of work to the bolt, and to the receiver. This will be a pretty involved project, and will turn out a rifle that will be more utilitarian than a work of beauty.

However it should be fun, I’ll learn a few things and hopefully so will you.

Editor’s Note: The action was destroyed when pulling the barrel off of the action. The build isn’t canceled we’ve just had to source a different action for this build. Part of the learning process will always result in mistakes, and I made one here.