Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Mini Mauser choices

I picked up a Charles Daly mini Mauser a couple weeks back and was in a quandary as to what to build. I thought I'd make up some dummy rounds on the 222, 223 and 222 Remington Magnum to see what fits. The Daly has a magazine box length of 2.280 so OAL should be kept around 2.270. While the box is long enough to fit any of the above rounds as well as the 17 Remington in their original form, when we start opening up the neck for the longer 24 and 25 caliber bullets it looks like the 222 is better suited for this action than either of the others.

The Daly action. CM still in the white.


The line up left to right - Hornady 6mm 87 grain SP in the 222 (2.270 OAL) the 223 seated to 2.270 OAL, 223 and 222 RM seated to the base of their necks. The Hornady 257 87 grain SP in the 222 (2.270 OAL), 223 and 222 RM and lastly the 222 (2.270 OAL) and 223 with an unknown 6.5 100 grain HP (Speer, I think).


A closer look at the 6x45 with the Hornady 87 grain SP, one to 2.270 OAL and the other to the base of the neck.


The Daly action with the 6x222. It looks like a good fit for this action.

Great post and excellent pics.

Have you considered going down in calibre? The 20-222 works really well in those Zastava m85 actions.

Jason,

I believe I'm going to go with two of them, one in 17 Remington and the other in 6x222. I have lots of 17 Remington stuff from when I had my last one.

Mart

I'd love one in .222.
I already have 1 in .223 and 2 in 7.62x39.

I think they are really under valued by a lot of folks.

The actions and triggers smooth up very well.

I have the .223 bed in a Bell and Carlson stock.

Cartridge selection is sort of a personal thing. That said, the .224 bullet with a fast twist barrel makes it a very versitle choice.

On the build, I don't lnow what level you plan on taking it too but I read somewhere Duane Wiebe is now making a one piece bottom metal for the Mini Mauser action.

Back when you could get the mini mauser chambered for 22-250, I dreamed about having one rebarreled to .250-3000...

A 250-3000 on a mini would be a sweet build. I would love to take this build to the level of a Wiebe rifle but will be just building a good user. I tried to find a three position safety but all the former builders of mini Mauser 3 positions safeties have discontinued them. At least the ones that I'm aware of. I do have a nice stick of wood on the way for it.

Mart

There are a few builders that can fit a "standard/fullsize" 3-position safety to your Mini Mauser. That's what's on both of mine curtasy of James Anderson. It's a little more complicated than a regular install, James explained it to me and I've forgotten the details, but it can be done. He also turned the outside of the housing so it matches the contour of the action and looks like it belongs there.




I'm gonna have this rifle finished oneday!

Just pick an old 50's era BSA Hunter in 222...they have the advantage of being a full diameter bolt body, as well as controlled round feed and mini action.

Is there a good source for a Mini Mauser action? I have wanted to build a fast twist 223 for the kids I mentor for ever and was looking at a 527 with a re-barrel and new stock but if I can find an action only that would save me some time. It also has the two position safety which I like as well.

I bought an Interarms Mini Mauser for my 6.5 project and have been able to lengthen the magazine so my 6.5 Grendel max can be loaded to 2.405 COAL. In this pic is the 7.62x39, 6.5x39, the 6.5 Grendel Hornady factory load and my 6.5 Grendel Max with the 123gn A Max loaded to 2.405 and again with my 123gn cast bullet. I did have to remove the screw hold down on the rear of the mag to get the length but there is no movment when it is all in the stock so don't see it as necessary. Have 2.470 internal length.


This was the mockup when I was playing with possibilities.

Having done this allows my to get 2700fps with the 123gn 6.5 A Max from my 21 in barrel and that is (IMO) about as good as it gets for a mini mauser.

They are hard to find in action form. The Daly actions haven't been available for several years. The Zastava rifles with the same action are available occasionally. I wish I could have bought a bunch of the Daly actions when they were available. A severe family illness had us otherwise focused at the time they were available. If a guy is diligent in searching shops and the internet the mini Mausers show up every now and then.

Mart

what would be a fair price on a daly action new in the box these days?

Lean on your Zastava importer - they are readily available from the factory so it is up to the US importer to decide to bring them in. They are widely and relatively cheaply available in Australia thanks to Beretta Australia.

I picked one up three weeks ago for $399. They seem to go in the $350-$400 range when they are available. I see Zastava rifles in the $550 range fairly frequently.

Mart

I have three of the Mini Mausers (properly known as the Zastava m85), one in 6/223, one in 6mm PPC and one in 6.5 Grendel.

The 6/223 and Grendel are a Pigeon pair except for the scopes, both with Basner stocks and Lilja #2 profile barrels cut at 21in.
- the 6/223 has a Kahles CL 2-7 or Bushnell 3200 10x40 depending on the use,
- the Grendel wears a straight 6x36 Leupold.
- The Grendel weighs 6lb 3oz, the 6/223 is a little heavier at 6lb 5oz.
- Both regularly cut 1/2 MOA groups at 100yd and are still sub-MOA at 200yd.

Talley do a set of lightweight rings in 25mm for them. Leupold, Weaver and Warne also do bases for them.

B&C, Boyds, Basner and MPI do stocks for them. McMillan will also inlet a Sako stock for one on special request. I've settled on Basner stocks for my hunting rifles.

Any m98 trigger will fit. The factory trigger is quite good, but a pierced primer will almost always break the trigger sear. The m98 Bold triggers from Boyds are a good price option for a hunting rifle.

The action thread is 22x1.5mm, the action screws are M6 size.

IMHO the 6/223 is a great cartridge from the little action, what's not to like about a 55gn bullet at 3300fps and an 80gn Speer at 2950fps? In my rifle the 55gn NBT is 1in high and the 80gn Speer is right through the aiming point. At that speed, the Speer carries 1000fpe all the way past 200yd.

Adam, those are some nice looking little rifles.

Terry

Some very cool little rifles posted here. I think that these actions are about perfect for the 6.5 grendel IMHO, and that's the way I'd lean if/when I put one together. With a 100 gr. bullet it would for all intents and purposes mirror a .250 savage albeit with less style. Theoretically if you could make a commercial 3-pos safety work on the mini mauser, could you repurpose a converted 2-pos military safety and machine it to fit? That would make the rifle look down right authentic! TC1, are you going to dupe the stock on your beautiful .223 for the action posted above?

-John

No, I have one from Great American Gunstock for this one but it still needs checkering.

Brockman's was doing a .50 Beowulf on them some years back that looked very interesting. Only my concerns about case availability turned me from buying one.