Any aversion to just making it a single shot? As others have said making a Mauser feed a rimmed cartridge is an exercise in frustration, but it can be done if you're not opposed to severe cussing. The advice of seeking out a M54 is sound advise, mine is a "cold dead hands" gun. 788 .30-30's have gotten pricey and I doubt there's much difference between one and a M54 anymore. Savage 340's are ok, but not the sharpest knives in the drawer, IMO.

Altering the bolt face will be a requirement for a rimmed cartridge, I think. Laying some weld on the extractor hook is no big deal for a skilled TIG welder, then dress it to fit.

Here is an illustration of what I'm talking about, albeit on an '03 Springfield, but same-o same-o. (The conversion was to make it hold the R2 Lovell wildcat, an obsolete rimmed wildcat. Single shot functioning - but I don't care as it's a range gun not a hunting rifle.):

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

The ring you see in the bolt face encloses the rim perfectly. It's 3/8" inside diameter. For the .30-30 size rim I would chuck the bolt in a lathe and open the existing rim on the standard bolt face a touch (darned if I can remember if the Mauser even has that rim though), then make and install the new ring that fits the .30-30, to keep some decent thickness of material in the ring.

On second thought, perhaps all that is necessary when altering a standard M98 is to open the enclosure on the bolt face to .506". I'll assume that the bolt face of a Siamese Mauser would have to be bushed since the parent cartridge has a .564" rim diameter?

Or get a M54. grin

Last edited by gnoahhh; 01/17/23.
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