Mauser short action- long small ring - larg ?

[NOTABIKER]

just getting into mausers, why so many different actions. short long. small and big ring ?

[Beetle Bailey]

Well, the small ring actions came first, and actually work just fine. Guessing they didn't start calling them small ring until Mauser came up with the new, improved large ring receivers. Larger ring means more steel and larger locking lugs so it's stronger. Along with the large ring receiver came the third locking lug. I could be wrong, but I believe cock-on-open come with the large ring as well. Also, better gas deflection. The Swedes stuck with the small ring Mausers even after the new improved large rings came out.

I think I read you got a Kar 98a? It's a bit of an odd duck in that it is a small ring Mauser with three locking lugs, which you don't see too often. Very cool gun that handles nice and I think you will enjoy it.

[spamsucker]

Th same exact reason chevy makes 196,000 different combinations of 1500 series pickup. There's a use and a market for them.

Large rings are stronger than small rings. Action length decides what cartridge lengths will fit in the magazine.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

They were developed and improved in the 1880s through aboout 1920. Mostly in the 1890s. Each model was an improvement on a previous model. And they were typically made in large batches for specific countries. Those batches were made to the specs of the country in question, based on their preferences. After the contract was finished, they would offer similar guns to other countries. Those countries could buy them stock, or make their own changes. Which is why you have so many variations. They also made standard models for export to buyers who couldn't afford their own custom run. To find out all of the specific ins and outs, you would have to look at the pattent and contract laws from that time period. It makes for interesting reading, but would take days to explain.

The basic run down goes something like this: Starting with the 1889 Mauser, they were pumping out hundreds of thousands of guns annually. As they improved the design, they would continue to make the older models for existing customers, and try to sell the newer models to new customers. The 1889 and 1891 are close to the same. The 1893(Spanish), 1894(Swedish), 1895(Spanish) and 1896 (Swedish) are all very similar, though not interchangable. They were generally referred to by the contry that ordered them first. They were also all considered to be "Small Ring", based on the diameter of the receiver. The 1898 was the last version to come out, and it is considered to be a "Large Ring" in most cases, though a few were made to the "Small Ring" diameter for countries that had large stocks of existing small ring parts. After the '98, they simply worked on improving the action, not coming out with a new one. I hope this helps.

-Mb

[kingjoey]

Just design changes over the evolution of the gun. As the metallurgy improved and ammo performance increased, the design of the gun was changed. The early Mausers ('93 for example) had "small ring" barrels, two locking lugs, and cocked on closing. These guns had relatively soft steel by today's standards and were made for early loadings of the 8mm Mauser round and others such as the 6.5 Swedish. The 98 Mauser represented a big change in the design, they had improved metallurgy (which would continue to improve leading up to WWII) which allowed hotter loading for the 8mm cartridge. The 98 also went to a three locking lug design (two main lugs and a "safety" lug in front of the bolt handle, and cocked on opening. With the slightly larger (aka "large ring") receiver, they also went with a larger diameter barrel thread (1.2"x12 if I remember correctly) which was less prone to stretching and improved overall durability of the gun. Then there is some oddballs out there like the Turkish Mauser which is a large-ring action threaded for a small-ring barrel. Both the small-ring and the large-ring Mauser operated on the same basic design, the large-ring was just slightly beefier to accommodate the changes.

[TRAP55]

Joey, good to see you posting again!
NOTABIKER, for every Mauser "rule", there's some kind of exception. In general, there are the pre 1898 Small rings, and the post 1898 Large rings. Three main differences are the improvements made to the 98 actions. Cock on opening, bolt shroud and bolt mods for gas deflection, and a third safety lug.
Some of the exceptions include Small ring 98's and Large ring 98's with Small ring barrel threads.
Dave at Hoosier Gunworks has a compiled list in progress of all the variations here:

http://www.hoosiergunworks.com/catalog/mauser_reference.html

[Mustang]

Then there are the "large ring-short action" Mausers made by Belgium and Yugoslavia. They have the large ring of the 1898 Mauser, but are 1/4" shorter than the standard length Mauser actions.

[NOTABIKER]

i had a M-48 and woudered why they would screw with the action using the same 8-57 mauser bullet.
the info above is very good and appreciated . THANKS ALL