Rebarrel small ring 95 mauser

[mickri]

Madness? Genius? Aren't all geniuses mad to a certain extent? I like to make things. I could have bought a modern rifle for less money that would more than likely be more accurate to boot. What fun would that be. Boring comes to mind.

Growing up I was into competitive small bore target shooting. I went through bricks of 22 LR match ammo like a hot knife slicing through butter. Punching holes in paper holds no attraction to me. Been there done that.

What do I hope to achieve? Maybe just the satisfaction of saying I made that rifle. I am hoping that they shoot well. MOA would be great. MOD (minute of deer) would be ok. I have never hunted much. No much opportunity to do that growing up in Orange County, CA. About the only thing that I shoot these days is the occasional rattlesnake that I happen to come across on my property. I do have a 50 yard range on my property. Rarely use it.

How did I come to embark on this journey? I always wanted a 257 Roberts. Years ago I got talked into a 25-06, Ruger 77, instead of a 257. I don't know how to quite explain it. I never got attached to that rifle. Gave it to my son-in-law. He traded it for a custom made saddle. Last I heard the saddlemaker traded it for horseshoeing. So here I am still wanting a 257. And wanting to make it. Not buy it. Started looking into how to do that. And what would I need. I now have a garage full of machinery that I have been slowly learning how to use. Researched SAAMI data and what actions would handle a 257. The model 95 mausers seemed to fit the bill. And there is something mystical about mausers. The father of virtually all modern rifles. Is this madness? You be the judge. Genius? 257 Roberts seem to be in demand. Like the mausers there is just something about a 257 that is hard to explain.

 

[Flyinfool]

Since you are cutting the thread until it "fits" then you will not be able to tell what you have. You need to turn the thread until the pitch dia is correct when measured over pins. then if it is wrong it will not fit.

 

[mickri]

Sounds like I need to get a set of thread wires or pins.

 

[derf]

There's no way to know what the pitch diameter should be.........it's completely oddball. Threading till it fits will work, as long as the thread form is correct. You could do a lead cast of the receiver threads for comparison.

 

[mickri]

You can't look up the pitch diameter in a chart. But you can calculate it. If I did the math correctly the pitch diameter for the whitworth thread is .9266. I got the pitch diameter for the imperial thread from a thread calculator. It is .9259. There are formulas in the Machinery Handbook for calculating the diameter over wires. The diameter depends on the size of the wires. I'll order a set of thread wires.

I tried to do a cast with epoxy. It came out very rough and was not usable. I will try again.

 

[Flyinfool]

You do not even need a cast of the full diameter of the thread,even if it is a very smal cast you will still be able to hold it up to the light and check with your thread gages to be able to figure out which thread profile you have.

You already know the Dia and pitch, all that is left is to figure out the form.

 

[mickri]

I didn't try for a full cast. Just about 1/3. It came out so rough that it wasn't usable. I am going to try again today. I also ordered a set of thread wires. Should get them sometime next week. More likely the following week with the way things have being going.

 

[pontiac428]

Why not use clay to take the impression, rather than lead or epoxy? I believe bismuth or Bi/Sn is the correct casting material for gunsmithing (cerrosafe). With a 60 degree thread gauge, you should be able to see if its 55 or 60 degrees on a clay impression. This is one of the reasons I keep modeling clay in my Kennedy chest.

 

[mickri]

Drum roll. And the verdict is? Drum roll. 55 Whitworth. Thank you pontiac428 for the heads up about modeling clay.

I did two modeling clay impressions and both were a perfect fit with the 12 tpi whitworth gauge. The imperial 12tpi gauge was way off. Checked the threads on the test piece. They were close but not close enough. Checked my setup and discovered that the compound was still set at 29.5. I had forgot to change it to 27 or 27.5 when I cut the whitworth thread. I will cut another test thread with the compound at 27.5. Or should I make 27? I will have to look to see if I have another scrap piece of round bar. If I don't I am thinking about filling in the threads on the test piece with JB Weld. JB Weld is supposed to be machinable. The only purpose of the test piece is to see if the 55 tool bit I ground cuts a whitworth thread.

 

[pontiac428]

While I'm ahead, why not flip your barrel stub around and thread the other side? It'll be interesting to see what you've learned all applied in one operation.