Safe to shoot small ring with surplus?

[Ryan in SD]

I've been reading a little about mausers, I have a build goin which Im making a mall ninja sniper out of a small ring barrel and action that a friend gave to me.

The receiver has some pitting but nothing that looks like it would make the lugs give out. Is there any general rule of what power ammo to use in one of these old small ring relics? I dont wanna blow my face off.

[dogolden]

What kind of small ring Mauser? What caliber are you building?

[Ryan in SD]

8mm turksih, 1939. Bore and chamber are 100% but there is some pitting on the action.

[emcon5]

I thought the Turks were large ring, with the small ring size threads?

[Ryan in SD]

Its a 2 lug small ring.

[tankerman]

6.5 swede.

[beetle]

can't help you with what ammo to use as I'm unfamiliar with c96's that don't shoot the normal .30 mauser (7.63X25mm) or 9mm. If indeed it is 7.63 definately do NOT shoot tokarev as it will blow it to bits.

The generic advice is to closely examine the slide stop -- it's the only thing stopping the slide from blowing backwards into your face. Make sure the slide stop is in good condition with no visible cracks or other issues.

Post pics when of your project -- would love to see what you are up to!

good luck

[emcon5]

Pretty sure he is talking about a Mauser 98 rifle.

[beetle]

Pretty sure he is talking about a Mauser 98 rifle.

ahhhhh! that makes much more sense

thought he was talking about a c96 broomhandle, one of the later variants which is also referred to as "small ring" -- in this case a small ring hammer.

[6mmintl]

Can you define WTF? is a Mall Ninja Sniper? some kind of fantasy drug?

In REALITY,
8mm romanian surplus 150 ammo, no turkish 8mm, handloads on very low end only. If it is in fact small ring.

[lokote]

ive used whatever surplus i could find in my 1893 turk mauser the action isnt as strong as the 98 large rings but almost all surplus should be fine

[Mssr. Eleganté]

I'm less concerned with the strength of the older small ring design than with the gas handling abilities in the event of a pierced primer or case head separation. What is considered safe enough for third world conscripts in time of emergency might not be considered safe enough for first world hobbyists shooting on the weekends 70 years later.

[TRAP55]

Turks used about every type of Mauser made, even re-barreled GEW 88's, and converted almost all of them to 8x57mm.
6mm gave good ammo choices, Turk surplus is too hot, as is most any heavy ball. Romanian and handloads are your best bet.
If you can silver solder, there's a simple way to add a gas shield to the small ring bolt shroud too.