Background: I have inheritated an imported sporterized Mauser. I THINK it could have started it’s life as a k98k but I won’t swear to that. It’s a mix of parts (different serial numbers) stamped on different parts. The stock and rear sight were changed out and the bolt was nickel plated (or whatever. It’s chrome). Other than serial numbers there are no other markings on it except “Santa Fe Field Mauser, Golden state arms Pasadena model 12012.” There is next to nothing I can find about the company except that there were known for sporterizing old war rifles. Also (and getting to my point) it has 30-06 on the barrel but it looks crudely etched in. Certainly doesn’t look like any quality marking from any factory. It’s practically scratched into the barrel. I have shot this rifle on numerous occasions (30-06) with no hiccups. One day I noticed a slot in the top back of the receiver (?). Upon a little research I found it was a slot for stripper clips. COOL! I thought. Ordered up a few only to find the 30-06 rounds are too long. The tips over reach the front of the receiver by about an 1/8 inch or so. The rounds with the clip were just slightly longer than the breach opening. The clips only work with one or two rounds and only if I slipped their noses inside the rifle first before pushing down. I realized that if this rifle really was a Mauser it should fire 7.92 rounds which are a fraction shorter. I’m assuming then that the rifle started out in life firing 7.92. Bummer. I’m assuming a) the barrel has been modified somehow so that it will shoot 30-06 so likely means it would likely never be able to fire 7.92. Which got me thinking isn’t a 308 basically a 30-06 short? Would that work? Before anyone jumps all over me NO I’m not stupid enough or brave enough to try. I value my life and my fingers too much. And I don’t want to damage the rifle. But how could they make a barrel made for 7.92 and convert it down to fire 7.62 (30-06)? The barrel looks Mauser too including the front sight from all the images I’ve seen. Assuming it’s the original barrel how could they shrink the diameter for 30-06?


Update. I don’t know why but I’ve been bit by some sort of Mauser bug. I’m been wondering how hard is it to convert this rifle to a WW2 style k98? I bought a k98k replacement stock and tried to see if the barrel/ receiver/ magazine/ trigger would fit or drop right in. The answer was kind of. Everything fit except for a tiny ridge of wood inside the stocks’s trigger well and where the barrel threads into the receiver it’s blocky. I can definitely do a little sanding and make it all fit together. That’s when I discovered there are Two types of barrel: the tapered type (like I have) and the original stepped WW2 style. I don’t think I can fit the top wooden hand guard on because it needs the rear sight mount to hold it in place and that slips on the barrel up to one of those steps meaning it won’t slip on right with a tapered end. I suppose I can buy a new barrel (?) but then I would probably decide to convert it to the shorter 308 so i can use the stripper clips but preserve near 30-06 performance. Dumb question but does the barrel just screw on and is then ready to go or does this need to be professionally done? I would love to replace the open V-notched sight with the K98k style peep. Am I just going down a bad rabbit hole or is this all that possible?

It was probably re-barreled to .30-06. As you pointed out, the 8mm is slightly shorter (6mm) than the .30-06, and that's probably what the problem with the stripper clips is. I'm no expert, but that's my best guess. And no, not a good idea to try a .308 in it. I hope this helps.

As Robert says, a re-barrel is most likely.

There isn't anything that hasn't been done with a Mauser action in terms of custom builds and sporterizing. War-time German 98k rifles were re-chambered and re-barreled in .308 for Israel and .30-06 for Norway. Everybody and his grandpa built new Mauser actions, from FN in Belgium to Zastava in former Yugoslavia to Brno/CZ in Czechoslovakia. And in pretty much any caliber imaginable. Any creative gunsmith could buy Mauser actions and barrels and try their hand, if they didn't want to go the route of parting out war surplus.

So in a nutshell, your rifle has unlimited possibilities of a history

The Norwegian guns were rebarreled to 30-06 for their Air Force and they’re pretty scarce guns. Also believe that there were one or two central/S American countries that ordered 30-06 Mausers but the names escape me at present. OPs is almost certainly a re-barrel of something else.

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Some Might Say.

As already pointed out your Mauser has been re-barreled when converted
to a sporter. Hunting rifles are not normally used with stripper clips.
When 8mm 98 Mauser rifles were re-barreled to 30-06 for military use a
groove was cut in the rear of the receiver ring to clear the bullet tips
to allow loading with stripper clips.

If memory serves me correctly, this company was in business in the 1950's through the 90's. During the 50's and 60's they imported tons of military surplus firearms. The converted many Enfield and Mauser 98 rifles to .30-06 and sold them under the Santa Fe name. There are still a good number of these converted rifles in circulation. As for the how they did it, there were already M98 barrels chambered in .30-06, made for the commercial market and for Brazil, which in the 1950's was making their own version of the M98 for their military.

Absolutely do not fire a .308 Winchester round in a .30-06 chamber. You will not like the result, guaranteed.

It could have be bored out and re-lined! Can you post some pics?

In the era of 1970 I had two (2) M98 Mausers in .30/06. They were original military. IIRC they were marked M1950 and were from Brazil (?)

This is a case of over thinking. SB did hundreds if not thousands
of 98s to 3006. I have had several of them over the years and
had no problems with them. Unless you want to go to the expense of having reciever ring milled for 06, and you want to
use stripper clips just load a bullet with shorter OAL.

Yes, it was Brazil that had them.

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Pisgah

With regards to firing .308 in a 30.06, while one should never use any cartridge other than the one for which the firearm is chambered for I recall reading an article some years ago, seems like it was in Guns & Ammo about a guy at Camp Perry or some such competition.

Not positive if he was shooting a Garand or an 03 but the gist of the story was his helper/spotter put a box of .308 at his station rather than 30.06. He kept a towel over his ammo to keep the sun off it. He reached under the towel and pulled and loaded a cartridge. When he fired it he noticed the impact was much lower than during his sighting in stage (different box of ammo). He looked at the ejected case and it looked like a straight wall case. He realized he'd just shot a round of .308 by mistake.

Nothing terrible happened in the incident related in the story but on a different day, with a different rifle and ammo things might have turned out badly.

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BCCI Life Member #2068

I'm not 100% sure but I think the Nationalist Chinese had 98s
in 3006 too. They might have been Arsenal rebarrels. China had
a mix of rifles during WW2. Any 98s that would have been factory
made would have had to be pre war contracts.

Belgian FN M98 Mauser’s also in 30-06, both for the post war Begian Army and contract rifles, like the 1950 Morrocan Carbine.

Yes, Santa Fe converted 1000’s of rifles pre 1968

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Life NRA, Life TSRA, C&R FFL

Columbia had another of the Post WW2 30-06 Mauser 98's.
Also did some conversions to 30-06 from 7mmMauser on earlier made rifles & carbines.

Eccentially those rifles just have the front ring notched out for the bullet point so as to be able to load w/a charger clip.


Belgium used them in post war also till the FN automatic rifle was finalized and issued,
The Belgium issue rifles were 30-06, had the notch in the front ring to allow the use of the charge clip.
Crown/L and Crown/B crests,,plus ABL marked ('Arme Belge-Belgisch Leger'....or something close to that),
and the year (1951 & 1952).
Some went to the Belgian Congo's Army and are (additionally?) 'F.P. ' marked (Force Publique).

Re-bbl'g most any standard length Mauser 98 to 30-06 is no great trick and is what was done to make those 'sporters'.
An inexpensive preturned stock finished up, a buff and reblu sometimes and some sights or scope. Instant American deer hunters dream.
The raw materials were cheap at the time, if not at near scrap metal prices. The caliber was good seller,,ammo was also cheap as surplus ammo was all over the place at a couple dollars/100 or even less.

8mmMauser ammo was too, but it wasn't looked upon with the same enthusiasm as the 30-06. The Mauser stepped bbl wasn't well liked on a sporter either,,still isn't.
So as long as you're changing out the bbl,,make it something that sells.

Golden State dealt in just about about anything surplus arms wise at the time (50s/60s), They also built the sporters (Mausers, Springfield, ect) under the SanteFe name.

(Not to be confused with the Spanish 'Santa Barbara' arsenal where Mauser 98 copys of the commercial action were made and marked as such.
I'm thinking they were sold as the 'Mark X' early on in the 60's, before manufacture of the Mark X started up in Yugoslavia.
Might have that mixed up, but the Santa BArbara M98 commercial action and bbl'd actions were out there and available to buy.

Several makers used the Spanish made commercial 98 action.
ParkerHale sporters and I think PO Ackley's 98 sporters, however few made, were on the Spanish actions after the very first were made on a well made Japanese made copy. That Japanese product proved to be too expensive to make, or import I believe.

"Colombia had another of the Post WW2 30-06 Mauser 98's."

Indeed they did. I once had one of them. But it wasn't a true '98 Mauser.

Regarding the .30-'06 to .308 conversion, there were (and probably still are) the so-called Navy sleeves. It was a metal device which was inserted into the .30-'06 chamber, shortening it to .308 length. The first shot expanded it into the forward part of the .30-'06 chamber and thereafter the rifle was a .308 (7.62 NATO). There was some way to remove it, but I don't know what it was. Anyway, the Navy used it as a simple way to convert M1 Garands to 7.62 NATO. I haven't heard about them for a long time.

After WWII, a good many GI bringback 8mm Mausers were sporterized and converted to 8mm-'06 by rechambering and lengthening the 8x57 chamber, leaving the original bore intact. The cartridge was simply a .30-'06 case with the neck expanded to 8mm. Actually, it was a very potent cartridge which was somewhat popular for a time. I don't think it was ever factory loaded, but many shooters formed the case from .30-'06 brass and reloaded it. Dies were, and probably still are, available. The Swedes also had '98 Mauser rifles and MGs chambered for a very similar cartridge which they called the 8x63mm (m/21).

It's also interesting to note that many of the 7.7x58 Japanese Type 99 military rifles were rechambered to .30-'06. Despite the slightly undersize (0.005") bullet of the .30-'06 vs. the 7.7 bore diameter, the conversion seemed to work OK. After WWII, the Koreans had many tons of captured Japanese rifles which they converted that way for their military use (7.7 ammunition was no longer available), and there were also many Japanese rifles brought back as souvenirs by GIs from the Pacific which received the same treatment here. I had a friend who had one. I also once had a 7.7x58 Type 99 rifle in very good condition (it even had the intact Mum on the front receiver ring) I reloaded for using .308 bullets. Grouping was OK for a military rifle. I similarly reloaded .303 British and 7.62x54R Russian using .308 bullets, with the same results. Aside from not having a rim, the 7.7x58 Japanese case is nearly dimensionally identical to the .303. I loaded 7.7 using .303 dies. Or maybe vice-versa. It has been a long time.

"..Indeed they did. I once had one of them. But it wasn't a true '98 Mauser...."

Just wondering why it wasn't a true '98 Mauser.
The Post War2 FN engineering/mfg change to the internal H collar from the C style maybe?
Or that they are made by someone other than Mauser/Oberndorf ?

Only similar in that it's an 8mm. round. The Swedes designated the rifle as the m/40 and the 8X63 round m/32. It was used as an anti tank round and was known to break a collarbone or two. Crown Jewels, The Mauser in Sweden by Dana Jones calls the m/32 the most powerful military small arms cartridge in the world which may be an exaggeration. Never the less a testament to the strength of the K98k receiver which has been used to make everything caliber wise. A pretty well known dealer has just sold a Swedish m/40 for $26K, it's a pretty rare bird in the States.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE

The one I had was the Colombian M1947 Madsen in .30-'06 which isn't a Mauser. Here is an old auction which shows one. Colombia used several Mauser rifles, but mine was not one of them.
Colombian M1947 Madsen Bolt Action Rifle, , .30-06 Springfield - C&R For Sale at GunAuction.com - 11855291

The Belgian-made Morrocan 30-06 carbines have a clearance cut in the front receiver ring for the 30-06 bullets to clear when cartridges are being stripped into the magazine. There is a 30 stamped in the rear receiver bridge but it doesn't show up well in the photo.

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In the 1950s there was a TP Gun Shop located in West Branch, Michigan who advertised in Hunting Magazines that converted Japanese Rifles for $6.00. 6.5mm to .257 Roberts and 7.7mm to .30/06. I sent a 7.7mm for conversion to .30/06. When the rifle was returned all my untrained eye could observe was the bolt face was filed back. Only two .30/06 cartridges would fit, one in the chamber and one in the magazine as the .30/06 cartridges were too long for the magazine.

The 8x63mm Swede and the 8mm-'06 cartridges are not that far apart dimensionally or ballistically, and I'd consider them to be in the same class. Checking the dimensional data in Donnelly's cartridge conversion manual, the main difference is that the 8x63mm case has a rebated rim with a slightly fatter body (base diameter is about .488" vs .470" of the 8mm-'06). The rim diameters and case lengths are equal, in fact the 8mm-'06 case is a slight bit longer. The MVs given by Donnelly are fairly close - 2880 ft/sec for the 8x63mm vs. 2820 ft/sec for the 8mm-'06.

OK the Madsen,,yes,,haden't thought of those in a long time. Not a MAuser 98 as you say.
Here's the Madsen:
Danish Madsen Rifle - Reference Library
A very unique and somewhat rare rifle.


I had the 1950 Model FN Columbian contract 98 Mausers made in 30-06 in mind.
Columbian Model 1950 FN Mauser - Reference Library

Also the Belgian Army FN contract 98 Mausers in 30-06.
ABL marked,,1951 & 1952 dated. Crown/L and Crown/B crests
FN Mauser Model 1950 Short Rifle - Reference Library

Some years ago I bought a rough condition Colombian Model 1950 FN
Mauser in 30-06 at a gun show. About all I have left of it is the bolt
and receiver. The previous receiver markings were ground off and it was
stamped .30 and the rear of the ring is grooved for use of the 30-06
with stripper clips. I assumed that it was probably originally made in
7mm. It is a standard length model 98 action.

At one point in their history,Brazil was arming its troops with US calibers.They even bought a good quantity of handguns,S&W model 1917 in .45.They sold them as surplus in the mid '80s

All very interesting. No plans to alter my dad's 98k bringback. LOL Cannot believe the selling prices on Gunbroker for unmolested examples. Who knew way back then however!