VZ-24 (K-98) Caliber Conversion

[armydoc]

I am thinking about converting my VZ-24 to a different caliber but I am not sure how difficult it would be and if it would even be beneficial.

I was wondering if there is anyone out there that has done that before that could tell me how hard it is. Thanks.

[kcstott]

Well it all depends on what you want to do.

Fist thing is what cartridge do you intend to use? That will determine the amount of work involved.

If you plan to go to something simple like 7X57, .257, .308, or .30-06 the change is relatively easy. remove old barrel and install new one in caliber of your choice headspace and you are pretty much done.

you may need to adjust the feed ramps on the weapon and the bolt stop/Ejector but thats about it.

Problems arise when you want to go to a magnum caliber, then there is bolt face work, extractor work, bolt stop and ejector work, along with magazine mods, receiver cuts, and feeding issues to deal with.

[6mmintl]

I have replaced barrels in 7.62 (Israeli and Nowegian) by removing old barrel, installing new, check headspace, and or clean up to head space with a pull thru reamer. I still have one new Norwegian 7.62 98K replacement barrel left.

I usually flute the firing pin to speed up lock time and rework orig. trigger to 2 lbs.

About 3 hrs. total labor.

[armydoc]

Well ultimately I would like to chamber it in 270 win or something similar (I think).
The problem is that I am a handgun guy that just moved to a state where all the fun guns are illegal so most of my collection (20+ handguns) had to go.

Now I have a limited selection on what can be done legally and shooting 10 rounds at a time at 20 Yrds just doesn't do it for me so I am wanting to get into medium range shooting (500+-Yrds) but not sure at all where to start.

So with that said, any information/advice that ya'all could give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[kcstott]

Off topic but you really Need to look up the laws BEFORE you go selling off stuff.

Those 20+ handguns could have been brought into the state depending on configuration. All that would have been required is registration and thats a voluntary process that only requires you to pay a fee and file a document, no waiting, no transfers no nothing,

[armydoc]

I called the DOJ and spent about 2 hours on the phone with them before I started selling guns... Trust me, it broke my heart.

[kcstott]

I called the DOJ and spent about 2 hours on the phone with them before I started selling guns... Trust me, it broke my heart.

Well you talked to the wrong people. 99% of the time the DOJ will mislead you. I've talked to them quite a few times and every time they either will not say or will just err on caution and say no you can't do that.

As long as the weapon were not named assault weapons i.e. Uzi, Mac 10, HK civilian version of the MP5 (don't know the designation)

If all you had were Glocks, HK's, Sig's, Colts, Rugers, Kimber's and the like in a conventional hand gun or revolver lay out the only thing you would have had to sell off would be the magazines over 10 rounds.

You file a form and you're done.

[armydoc]

Yes buddy thank you... I had a tec-9 with 20 30 round mags for instance.;.. that is not legal is this communist state. Neither were my supressors, or my 100 round AR mags.
It was stuff like that I had to get rid of.
I do know how to use Google and a telephone lol. I didn't get rid of anything that I didn't have to.

[kcstott]

Yes buddy thank you... I had a tec-9 with 20 30 round mags for instance.;.. that is not legal is this communist state. Neither were my supressors, or my 100 round AR mags.
It was stuff like that I had to get rid of.
I do know how to use Google and a telephone lol. I didn't get rid of anything that I didn't have to.

I wasn't trying to insult your intelligence But I have seen people sell off stuff they didn't need to.
Sound's like you did it right. Still sucks

Anyway as to your rifle. You should be able to get a long chambered barrel and pop the old one off and install the new one. A few guys here are perfectly capable of helping you out with that Myself included.

6mm is correct about 3 hours labor and my shop time is $60 and hour.

[armydoc]

I am sorry for being an ***. You are entirely right... people are freaking idiots!!! But yeah I had some fun damn weapons but in this damn state they illegal. I didn't even want to move back but the wife and I are from here and "Happy wife, Happy Life" lol.

I would really appreciate any help that you are willing to give. I am not at all sure what caliber (if I even do a conversion) I should pick.

I don't know squat about long distance ballistics. I was a Medic not a sniper lol.

[kcstott]

To be honest, I'd leave in in what ever caliber it is and go buy a Remington in .308 and be done.

By the time you get the barrel swapped you could have bought a SPS or come close to it.

Then you'll need a trigger, A stock, get the receiver drilled and taped get a scope base and a scope and rings

Then it still won't shoot great. so then you pay someone $500 to blueprint the weapon. And oh you will need a new barrel after the receiver is trued.

yeah Mausers just become money pits and they will never fetch what you have into it. A Remington 700 ADL in 308 is right around $500

[renardsubtil]

I 2nd a Remington 700...I mean price out stuff and if you can get it done cheap then it's okay but a Mauser build can be time consuming and a money pit.

Personally I picked up a 7.62 308 Israeli Mauser just before the long gun registry, had to replace the barrel (poor cleaning technique screwed the barrel), and I've spent countless hours and range time trying to resolve a feeding issue purchasing miscellaneous "snake oil" fixes and eventually resolving the issue on my own...and I'm just about braking even with the price of a new Remington 700.

[cdb2468]

ive done it

ya ive converted my junker turkish mauser from 8mm to 300 win mag... if you want to do it, have fun with it. only thing youre paying for is a barrel and chamber reamer, if that... its your own custom gun have fun with it... custom mausers were very common h (Back in the day at least, no one really makes custom mausers anymore.. its all gone to the remington 700). But have fun, refinish the stock, if you have a mill cut the rear bridge thing and put a nice scope on there, with a new barrel you can restock it with something nicer, bed it, get an aftermarket trigger from timney or something, its a long project but its fun. it costs only as much as you let it..

for 270 and 30-06 and the likes youre going to run into one problem, unfortunatlely unless you shoot really light weight bullets or somehow find a configuration that seats the bullets deep youre not going to be able to fit it in the magazine box. with my 300 win mag i literally cut the magazine box in half, and welded in a quarter inch piece of metal to elongate it... youre really stuck with 308 sized cases and the like. A colleague of mine got away with filing the front and rear of the inside of the magazine box... it really is THAT close of a difference... withing an 1/8 of an inch or so.. i dont recall exactly, but not very far off from that.. he got away with it and it worked...

feeding shouldnt be a problem, if it is you just have to figure it out as you go, there isnt too much than can go wrong, its not very different from the 8mm case, not so much that it is a drastic change and now the bullet isnt pointing anywhere near the chamber... nah itll be close enough to figure out i promise. you can always adjust when the feed lips let go of the round and the extractor tension, the bottom angle on the extractor, the follower spring, shape of the follower, all these things contribute to feeding...

i had to enlarge the bolt face on mine, and consequently the extractor. you wont have to do any of that.

when you cut the chamber end of the barrel, theres an interesting tidbit about mausers.... the face of the chamber side of the barrel and the shoulder where the threads run out at both have a surface that they come into contact with. it is best if both surfaces "rub" while you hand tighten the barrel with the reciever. This is tricky work and requires great tolerances... but results in a distrubution of forces the way it was designed if im not mistakened, and if i am i assure you it behooves you in some sort of way to have it such that both surfaces are touching.

besides that there really isnt too much unusual about a rebarreling a mauser.. remember to have a toothpick sized radius on the chamber mouth or else you will shave brass and have difficulty feeding. Firing pin protrusion should not be more than 1/16 of an inch, extractor cam-out is .015-.025 of an inch ideally, bla bla bla i think you get it

[762x39]

I converted a 1937 VZ-24 to .308. The trickiest part was getting the feed ramps right for the shorter cartridge.

http://www.gunco.net/forums/300-bolt-rifles/68913-mauser-project-condensed-version.html

[Holescreek]

I'm in the finishing stages of building a Mauser 98 in 7.62x54r. It wouldn't be any fun at all if everything made sense.