Mauser VZ24 project: 22-250 to 358 Win ...

wquiles

Well-Known Member
I contacted JES during the week, and Jesse called me back today Sat about my Mauser:
IMAG0001.jpg



He told me he does not do suppressor threading, so it would be best for me to remove the barrel, cut it, thread for suppressor, re-profile it from the heavy/varmint style, re-install it (lightly, as JES has to remove it anyway for his boring process), and then send the whole thing to him to rebore and headspace. He said if it was a Savage rifle (nut barrel) I would only have to send the barrel.

Unless anyone has a better idea, my plan is to buy the correct action wrench - $60 on Amazon:
Wheeler 808771 Action Wrench, 1 Mauser/Flat

I don't have a barrel bench tool either, but I am thinking about "making something suitable" out of steel I have on hand. Anyone has done their own as well that can give me some advice?

Will
 
Last edited:

Intheshop

Banned
An H frame hyd shop press makes a dandy "barrel vise" expedient..... if you have one. Not saying to buy one,for this purpose alone....but,it's dang close(cheap HF press,not some 50T Dake).

And it "seems",the heavier the action wrench..... this would be on the side,opposite the handle,and sometimes is as simple as substituting longer bolts plus another chunk of steel...... makes stubborn assemblages yield way easier. Am sure there's an engineering "reason" for this,I discovered it by the horse shoe method(dumb luck).
 
Last edited:

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Still waiting for the action wrench, but in terms of bullets for the 3-bore, 1-12, 358 work that JES will be doing, which 2 or 3 "heavy" bullet molds would you guys recommend for this rifle/caliber?
 

Ian

Notorious member
MP 358-220 (BRP copy of the 357Maximum/45 2.1 .35 Rem Marlin 336 heavyweight) and the Lee C358-200 RF.
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Made lots of progress on this project. This is "machining" related but specific to the Mauser project, so apologies if posting in the wrong sub-forum ...

Got things apart ...
IMAG0001.jpg



I had the action wrench, but not the barrel vise tool, so I tried on a regular vise, and all I did was slightly mar the finish with the aluminum spacer I made. So I ordered a barrel vise, and it came off on the very first try/hit :)
IMAG0004.jpg



IMAG0008.jpg



I want to make it as short as possible - marking it here at 16":
IMAG0010.jpg



The before picture: about 4 1/2 pounds:
IMAG0013.jpg



Cut. No going back now ...
IMAG0014.jpg
 
Last edited:

wquiles

Well-Known Member
IMAG0018.jpg



Internet reference material from a custom barrel maker:
IMAG0020.jpg



Note that given the bore (for .358) the thinnest recommended is .599":
IMAG0021.jpg



I am actually going to pin and weld the Griffin taper mount, so I accounted for its length as I am aiming to about 16.5" overall:
IMAG0023.jpg



Got the first OD at just a hair over .7", which was the thinnest recommended by that reference above for the portion closest to the chamber:
IMAG0029.jpg



Close-up:
IMAG0033.jpg



Marked about where I wanted the smaller diameter and the barrel end/thread area:
IMAG0034.jpg


IMAG0036.jpg



Insert of the left was for the bulk, the one on the right was the finisher as well as the one that provided the beveled transitions:
IMAG0037.jpg
 
Last edited:

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Here is still not cut to size, but the overall shape is close:
IMAG0038.jpg



Already lighter:
IMAG0039.jpg



Now to cut the taper portion to blend it better. Started with 5 deg:
IMAG0040.jpg


IMAG0042.jpg



But changed to 2.5 deg:
IMAG0043.jpg



Once I was done, since I had the barrel already centered, I decided to check how aligned the chamber was. I took a pass so light that I just removed the bluing - it was "spot on". My gunsmith 20 years ago did well :)
IMAG0045.jpg



Cleaned up the back:
IMAG0047.jpg
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Completed barrel profiling:
IMAG0048.jpg



Trim to account for Griffin taper mount:
IMAG0049.jpg



Cut:
IMAG0051.jpg



Profile thread area (5/8-24):
IMAG0052.jpg



I have been threading for a long time, but still wanted to do a light pass "just in case" since I can't cut & restart on this one!:
IMAG0053.jpg



Cut threads .....
IMAG0054.jpg



Check fit:
IMAG0055.jpg



Now the barrel is truly finished and ready to be rebored by Jess in .358 Win:
IMAG0058.jpg



With the Griffin suppressor mount (I will pin/weld once I get it back from Jess) the overall measurement came to about 1/8" under 16.5". Final weight before boring:
IMAG0061.jpg



Went ahead and opened the .30 cal mount to just over .400":
IMAG0062.jpg


IMAG0063.jpg
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Since I need a thread protector to send to Jess, I made one by "repurposing" the cheap flash hider from my PSA 308 upper:
IMAG0064.jpg


IMAG0065.jpg



Hand assembled and ready to ship to Jess on Monday:
IMAG0066.jpg



You can see here the index mark on the receiver/barrel - not yet torqed since I know Jess will have to remove the barrel anyway:
IMAG0068.jpg



Barrel OD by receiver = 1.189"
Middle portion = 0.703"
Tip portion = .638", then going to .703" on threaded area.


Funny picture - the lightweight tupperware stock looks so freaking long and wide now :)
IMAG0076.jpg


IMAG0077.jpg



Will need to figure out a more appropriate stock later once I get everything assembled :)

Will

PS. Bonus data point. My 30 cal Titanium suppressor was bored for 35cal from day one. I was not sure I would need the larger ID, but played it safe. As it turns out, it will work perfectly "as is" with the .358Win :cool:
 
Last edited:

Spindrift

Well-Known Member
Very impressive work, and nice photos!
My guess is, that rifle will see a lot of use when it is finished. Regarding the stock, I would just start shooting with the one you’ve got. After a while, when you get a feel for the rifle, you’ll know which kind of stock will suit it.
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Thanks. This build/project is meant to be:
- very light weight
- will almost always have the suppressor installed
- light loads/suppressed loads only
- of course, cast-only bullets :)

Will
 

Gary

SE Kansas
Wish I had the command you have with a Lathe Will, I continue to plod along with my PM 1022. Very well documented plan, I love it!
 

Spindrift

Well-Known Member
Ah, the waiting.... Done some waiting myself, lately. Nothing makes time move so slowly as waiting for a gun to come home.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Good job! Must be nice to have more than 2" of compound travel on your lathe. :)
 

wquiles

Well-Known Member
Good job! Must be nice to have more than 2" of compound travel on your lathe. :)
It was "close", I must admit. I was not sure when I started that I would have enough travel, and I was 100% guessing as to what angle to use. I figured: "5 deg sounds reasonable". And when I did the first few passes, I realized I needed about 1/2 of that, so I tried 2.5deg. Turns out 2.5deg was the "right guess", and I had just enough travel to make it happen (although I had to adjust the start like 3x times!).

I keep telling you guys my machining skills are not that great - I was just lucky ;)
 
Last edited:

Ian

Notorious member
my machining skills are not that great - I was just lucky ;)

I don't know about you, but that certainly applies to me. I screw up occasionally but I do some very odd/creative setups to shape a part with my mini lathe, lots of things done by educated guess and eyeball. The only barrel I have tapered had no straight-taper sections but sort of a parabolic shape for 17 of 20" and a convex curve up to the chamber....did that one by hand, meaning hands on the cross-feed crank and eyes on the dial indicator for what seemed like an eternity per pass. I made a full-scale contour out of poster board to mount on the rear chip guard and marked the thousandths divided by two at one inch intervals and focused on hitting the next mark on the crossfeed dial indicator (didn't trust the dial itself) by the next inch of travel. Worked pretty well and some light file work blended it in nicely. Sharp tool and light cuts (the rule with micro machines) kept the deflection away from the tool to a minimum.