Conversion to 9.3x62

[Maximumsmoke]

Talk over on the "3 Favorite Hunting Cartridges" thread got me to thinking whether I really should have a 9.3x62, even though I already have a couple of .35 Whelens, a herd, though small, that I probably should thin down anyway, but I digress.

My question is to those of you who might have converted a .30-'06 bolt action to the 9.3x62: Did you have to modify the action feed rails (the edges where the cartridge comes up out of the magazine) much to get that larger diameter 9.3x62 cartridge to feed reliably? If so, quantify that -- let me know about how much it took. I happen to have a nice old late-model Remington 30 Express in .30-'06, with a barrel that looks a bit "frosted", and wonder if a re-bore job would make it a great 9.3x62. Lord knows it is a substantial action that has been modified to fit everything up to the really big and long stuff like .416 Rigby, .505 Gibbs, etc. so there should be plenty of room. I looks like it could be made to accommodate the 9.3x62 with very little modification.

 

[baxterb]

You will get various answers to this but yes you are BEST SERVED to open the magazine box and subsequently the rails to accommodate the 9.3. Many, many people have simply rebarelled and been satisfied, but not me. I learned a great deal about how unalike an 06 and. 9.3 are when I had a 9.3 made out of a Husky 640 06.

Do it right from the start and you will save yourself a lot of potential headaches and money.

That’s my .02c.

 

[John Wasmuth]

I rebarreled a Zastava commercial Mauser in 8mm to the 9,3x62 with no other modification except the new barrel. The 9,3x62 was designed by Herr Bock to work through the M98 as it was. You shouldn’t need to do anything to the receiver.

 

[Mark R]

I re-barrelled a M70 from 25-06 to 9.3x62. Never had an issue.

 

[Uncontrolled_round_feed]

I really thought this thread would be a quasi religious support group for us 9.3 lovers.

 

[Maximumsmoke]

I rebarreled a Zastava commercial Mauser in 8mm to the 9,3x62 with no other moderations except the new barrel. The 9,3x62 was designed by Herr Bock to work through the M98 as it was. You shouldn’t need to due anything to the receiver.

Yeah, I've been glassing over the nominal cartridge dimensions and find this comparison:

1) Rim diameter: 9.3x62 is .470", .003" smaller than the .30-'06 (.473")
2) Base diameter: 9.3x62 is .476", .005 larger than the .30-'06 (.471")
3) Shoulder diameter: 9.3x62 is .451", .010" larger than the .30-'06 (.441")
4) Shoulder location from base: 9.3x62 is 2.039", .090" further forward than the .30-'06 (1.949")

Yes, these are indeed small differences, but still I acknowledge little tweaks to the feed rails might be necessary in some actions. The more forward shoulder location of the 9.3x62 is probably the biggest concern. However, it all looks pretty minor. After all, lots of commercially available guns with Mauser 98-type actions were sold in .30-'06 and calibers derived from it (.270 Win and .280 Rem) as well as the 9.3x62. That fact in itself does not conclusively say the feed rails were the same, in rifles of the same model offered in either cartridge, though.

However, in support of the probability that no modification to feed rials or magazine is needed for an '06 to 9.3x62 conversion is the Ackley Improved conversions from the .30-'06 case, particularly the .280 AI, and the fact that it's shoulder is blown out to .454" dia., .003" larger than the 9.3x62, and its shoulder location is at 2.096", another .057" further forward than that of the 9.3x62. It seems, when people convert from .30-'06 or .280 Rem to .280 AI, they don't alter the action feed rails or the magazine. I could be wrong about that, but I've never seen cases where it has been necessary.

I guess I will see the truth for my gun, in the fullness of time.

 

[mauserhunter]

I'm putting together a 9.3x62 on a 1909 argentine action, still waiting on the barrel but made up 5 dummies. Feeding is fine tho not as slick as a 98 can be, I'm not sure it's worth trying to open the rails. Never opened the rails and not quite sure the best way to do it, there's no good info out there from what I see. The mag will only hold 4 rounds so will have to see what needs to be done, rifle was sportered into a 3006 so they opened the mag up some and think they touched the feed ramp to. Once I get the barrel on and in the stock I'll see it I can improve anything.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Jerry Kuhnhausen’s The Mauser Bolt Actions shop manual covers just about everything you’ll ever need to know about the M91 through M98.

 

[Maximumsmoke]

I'm putting together a 9.3x62 on a 1909 argentine action, still waiting on the barrel but made up 5 dummies. Feeding is fine tho not as slick as a 98 can be, I'm not sure it's worth trying to open the rails. Never opened the rails and not quite sure the best way to do it, there's no good info out there from what I see. The mag will only hold 4 rounds so will have to see what needs to be done, rifle was sportered into a 3006 so they opened the mag up some and think they touched the feed ramp to. Once I get the barrel on and in the stock I'll see it I can improve anything.

I believe there is some info on opening the feed rails in Jerry Kuhnhausen's book on Mausers. I don't have the book handy right now to be sure of that statement, but I've seen info on performing that operation somewhere -- perhaps it was in some article I have on converting a 1917 or Pattern14 Enfield to .416 Rigby. I'll check what I've got saved. Either way, if you fiddle with Mauser bolt actions, the Kuhnhausen book is quite informative.

Cheers!
Tony

PS -- I see John Wasmuth has beaten me to it on the Kuhnhausen advice. Good on you, John!

 

[Maximumsmoke]

I'm putting together a 9.3x62 on a 1909 argentine action, still waiting on the barrel but made up 5 dummies. Feeding is fine tho not as slick as a 98 can be, I'm not sure it's worth trying to open the rails. Never opened the rails and not quite sure the best way to do it, there's no good info out there from what I see. The mag will only hold 4 rounds so will have to see what needs to be done, rifle was sportered into a 3006 so they opened the mag up some and think they touched the feed ramp to. Once I get the barrel on and in the stock I'll see it I can improve anything.

Here's a great article on big-bore conversions of the 1917 and P14 Enfield action, and it covers much more extensive changes to the feed rails than you will ever need on your Mauser to 9.3x62, but you'll get the idea. Hope it helps. My guess is you need very little to tune up your action.

 

[mauserhunter]

I believe there is some info on opening the feed rails in Jerry Kuhnhausen's book on Mausers. I don't have the book handy right now to be sure of that statement, but I've seen info on performing that operation somewhere -- perhaps it was in some article I have on converting a 1917 or Pattern14 Enfield to .416 Rigby. I'll check what I've got saved. Either way, if you fiddle with Mauser bolt actions, the Kuhnhausen book is quite informative.

Cheers!
Tony

PS -- I see John Wasmuth has beaten me to it on the Kuhnhausen advice. Good on you, John!

I've been trying to find a pdf for that book for years, wish I had the money to buy it, not sure if there even in print anymore

 

[baxterb]

Here's a great article on big-bore conversions of the 1917 and P14 Enfield action, and it covers much more extensive changes to the feed rails than you will ever need on your Mauser to 9.3x62, but you'll get the idea. Hope it helps. My guess is you need very little to tune up your action.

Jim Wisner knows what he is talking about. I have been assembling a little manual with him on how he converts a standard Mauser to 404 Jeffery. It is a real chore.

The first sentence in the section on magazine boxes pretty much says it all and the diagrams are realy important to understand why a too-narrow box can be problematic.

 

[Maximumsmoke]

I've been trying to find a pdf for that book for years, wish I had the money to buy it, not sure if there even in print anymore

You can get Kuhnhausen's book on Amazon (new for $59.99 or thereabouts today) or from used book services for probably $35 to $40. I bought mine a couple of years ago on Amazon. Yes, it is still in print. I made a quick search for a .pdf and I haven't found one yet.

 

[rdog]

I re barrelled a Parker hale 30/06 M98 to 9,3x62 had to remove a small amount from the front of Left hand feed rail to get it to feed from left hand side, very easy to do just watch cartridge come up out of mag it now feeds 4 out of mag like silk .

 

[Shootist43]

Maximumsmoke, a former member posted an article called Proper Magazine Layout a number of years ago. Check out the dimensions of the 9.3 X 62 against your rifle's dimensions and go from there. Hopefully the following link will get you to the post I'm talking about.

Proper Magazine Layout

This is an artical I have C&P from another forum so the authorship is by Tileyman of Australia I originally wrote this article for our club magazine, pulled together from a few sources including Ludwig Olsen's Mauser Bolt Rifles and De Haas' Bolt Action Rifles... hope you find it useful! Many...

www.africahunting.com

 

[Maximumsmoke]

Maximumsmoke, a former member posted an article called Proper Magazine Layout a number of years ago. Check out the dimensions of the 9.3 X 62 against your rifle's dimensions and go from there. Hopefully the following link will get you to the post I'm talking about. /www.africahunting.com/threads/proper-magazine-layout.35015/

Got it. Super! Thanks Shootist43.

 

[Shootist43]

I've given a copy of this article to several local "gunsmiths." To a man, they'ed never seen it before. In 2018 was having trouble getting a 404 Jeffery to feed properly. The local smiths couldn't fix the problem and I finally had to send the rifle off to someone that knew what he was doing, to re-machine the feed rails. Now the gun works. In the end it worked out all right for me because I purchased a second 404 Jeffery from another AH member because I was concerned that I wouldn't get my first one back in time from the gunsmith.

 

[baxterb]

I've given a copy of this article to several local "gunsmiths." To a man, they'ed never seen it before. In 2018 was having trouble getting a 404 Jeffery to feed properly. The local smiths couldn't fix the problem and I finally had to send the rifle off to someone that knew what he was doing, to re-machine the feed rails. Now the gun works. In the end it worked out all right for me because I purchased a second 404 Jeffery from another AH member because I was concerned that I wouldn't get my first one back in time from the gunsmith.

100%. That is a GREAT article. Many people (myself included) often call it Mauser’s Rule. Mauser did a lot of work, and luckily it’s been proven scalable and predictable. And that 125+ years ago!

 

[Maximumsmoke]

I've given a copy of this article to several local "gunsmiths." To a man, they'ed never seen it before. In 2018 was having trouble getting a 404 Jeffery to feed properly. The local smiths couldn't fix the problem and I finally had to send the rifle off to someone that knew what he was doing, to re-machine the feed rails. Now the gun works. In the end it worked out all right for me because I purchased a second 404 Jeffery from another AH member because I was concerned that I wouldn't get my first one back in time from the gunsmith.

BaxterB has previously led me to his amusing story which relates the magazine design requirements that must be observed for optimal feed and function of bolt action rifles for particular cartridges, as well as the implementation thereof. It is gratifying to see the info you sent is exactly the same. BaxterB's info also covered the potentially delicate details of the feed ramp for particular bullets in any given cartridge. While BaxterB's info was delightfully amusing as well as comprehensive and accurate, the info you provided is particularly concise, accurate and very sensible to the Mechanical Engineer and well equipped amateur machinist/fabricator that I am. I am quite fortunate that you and BaxterB have supplied this info in such good form, and all of it now has gone into my personal little "book of knowledge and tricks". Of course, I won't truly know until I try. Thanks very much.

Cheers!
Tony

"What we don't need to know for achievement, we need to know for our pleasure. Knowing how things work is the basis for appreciation, and is thus a source of civilized delight." -- William Safire

"No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience" -- John Locke

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Talk over on the "3 Favorite Hunting Cartridges" thread got me to thinking whether I really should have a 9.3x62, even though I already have a couple of .35 Whelens, a herd, though small, that I probably should thin down anyway, but I digress.

My question is to those of you who might have converted a .30-'06 bolt action to the 9.3x62: Did you have to modify the action feed rails (the edges where the cartridge comes up out of the magazine) much to get that larger diameter 9.3x62 cartridge to feed reliably? If so, quantify that -- let me know about how much it took. I happen to have a nice old late-model Remington 30 Express in .30-'06, with a barrel that looks a bit "frosted", and wonder if a re-bore job would make it a great 9.3x62. Lord knows it is a substantial action that has been modified to fit everything up to the really big and long stuff like .416 Rigby, .505 Gibbs, etc. so there should be plenty of room. I looks like it could be made to accommodate the 9.3x62 with very little modification.

@Maximumsmoke
The Remington 30 Express is the great grandfather of the 700.
Remington made the Model 30 out of left over M17 Enfields.
Even Art Alpin made his big magnums on M17s.
Bob.