.45 Mauser Project

After reading an article in Shotgun News about a Lee Enfield being rebarreled in .45 ACP, and researching information about the

De Lisle Commando Carbine, also in .45 ACP I decided to try and build a Mauser in this caliber. I would also like to use a 1911 magazine to feed the ammo, just like the De Lisle, so a magazine could go from my 1911 pistol to this rifle without any modifications to the mag. I want to replace the original sights on the new barrel and contour the stock so that other than the larger and shorter barrel, the rifle will look as close to as it did before. I ordered a Turkish Mauser as my project gun, because they are the cheapest Mausers available at this time, and the Mauser bolt head holds a .45 ACP cartridge without any modifications. I also ordered one for my Dad so we could do the conversions together.

Here is a list of pictures and progress as I went along.

All stripped down and cleaned. The rifle arrived covered in cosmoline grease and appeared to have spent some time in mud; I had to completely disassemble every part to clean. The new barrel blank is right below stock.

The barrel was removed, and the receiver cleaned again.

I threaded the barrel to match the receiver and turned it down .100 larger than the original barrel dimensions.

New barrel mounted on receiver

My receiver with barrel mounted, and my Dad’s receiver and barrel blank

Before I started on them.

I fitted the barrel to the stock, and then completely reformed the front of the stock. I moved the shoulder for the second barrel band back 2 ½ inches, then cut the stock and handguard shorter. The only thing I could not get to fit was the front barrel band. I had to slot the top of the band and spread it open to fit. I will later cut a piece of thin metal and weld it in the slot and grind it smooth.

I primed the stock before I started to help me find the low spots as I sand and formed. Once I am finished with the stock I will clean it with paint remover and then stain and seal it.

Here is a picture of my Dad’s semi finished .45 ACP Mauser. After I turned, chambered, and mounted the barrel he fitted the barreled action to the stock. While I was working on the barrel, he modified the magazine housing to hold a 1911 magazine. Once the gun was assembled and tested, it fed very reliable.

Here are a couple of pictures of his magazine mod. Once the proper angle was determined he drilled three holes through the Mauser mag housing and drove screws through, then cut the heads off and penned them flush. This is what holds the 1911 mag in alignment. Next he cut a matching angle slot in the floor plate of the Mauser mag to allow the 1911 mag to enter. A lever type magazine catch was fabricated and mounted on the Mauser floor plate, and adjusted to engage a notch in the 1911 mag. The engaged end had to be specially formed so it would not drag on the 1911 mag follower. The 1911 mag feeds very well, but is a little snug to insert and remove; this will be adjusted on final assembly.

He remanufactured his bolt handle in a turned down position, by using a grade 8 5/16 bolt, silver soldered in a hole drilled in the rifle bolt, and then the knob from the old bolt handle was threaded on the new bolt handle.

The aluminum block at the top of this picture is what I will use to hold my 1911 mag in place. I machined the block with all the angles to completely fill the Mauser magazine housing, and also fit in the bottom of the receiver almost touching the bolt. Next step will be to machine a slot through the block at the proper angle and fit, for the 1911 mag to sit in and reliably feed cartridges.

To determine the proper angle that I needed, I decided to do it the lazy man’s way, I looked at a blueprint. The angle required is 15 degrees. To test the angle, and how far up the mag needed to be I inserted a loaded 1911 mag, and wedged it in place with two paint stirring sticks. In this configuration It fed 4 round without a problem. Now all I need to do is machine the slot right, then work on a magazine latch.

I machined the slot through the aluminum block with no problems, just a little sweat. After I finished with the block I cut the hole through the mauser floor plate to match the block. Next I wanted it to have a lower mag housing for extra support for the mag and to mount a magazine latch. First I turned a piece of round stock to .555, which is the width called for buy the blueprint. Next I cut a piece of 1/8 inch by 2 ½ inch flatbar 4 inches long. I marked the center and clamped the round stock there with two pair of vise grips. Then I opened a vise about 1 ½ inches and using a hammer drove the piece of round stock through the vise jaws bending the plate that was still attached. I finished bending the plate into a u shape which came out very nice and uniform. Next I took a piece of ¼ inch flat bar and milled it to the size of .555 wide and welded this into the u shape to make the back of the magazine housing. Next I will have to cut the angles to match, and weld it to the bottom of the floor plate to form the lower mag housing.

Here is a picture of it all pieced together to check fit, and to get an idea of what it will look like.

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