The elusive, much sought after Mauser action! - Page 2

Dano4734 · September 19, 2018, 09:27 PM

In the 60’s it was the rage were I came from. Lots of used military rifles around and a ton of great Pennsylvania gun smiths that had it down to a science without charging an arm and a leg. Sadly I only had an old lever action Winchester 30-30 as I could not afford anything. But it worked. The sporter 06 from the military rifles were works of art from some of the old gunsmiths of my area. I wish I had one now

oldscot3 · September 20, 2018, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Well now I know more than I did. I wouldn’t mind making a custom rifle someday.

In the `80s and `90s I bought several old surplus Mauser rifles in a variety of conditions and of different variants. Swedes, VZs, `09 Argys, Greek, Chilean and Persian. I had a couple of project grade guns turned into sporters with mixed results which is to say I spent more money on them than they will ever be worth. I have a couple projects partially completed and they may never get finished because there are no gunsmiths in my area that do routine operations for reasonable prices. One of these days when time permits I'll buy a booth at a local gun show and sell my Mauser stuff, then buy something I can actually shoot.

TRX · September 21, 2018, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Eh, or maybe you buy a half sporterized Mauser at a gunshow

"I already hacksawed the barrel down, threw away the upper handguard, whittled down the forestock with my pocketknife, and little Emily used her woodburning kit to add My Little Pony artwork! Since it's almost finished, I'll have to get $600 for it..."

RC20 · September 21, 2018, 12:29 PM

FN in Belgium supplied a lot of Mauser actions to a variety of entities.

We just ID a Sako Mauser combo for a member. Roughly 1952 to 1957 Sako was buying the receiver from FN.

Interarms would be another though an importer and not a maker per se' - FN made the whole gun in that case.

As they pop up others I am sure will trigger a bit of memory.

Run a search on GB and you can likely pick up an entire one with no need to build.

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/785133466

Browning also imported them.

Scorch · September 21, 2018, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Lots of used military rifles around and a ton of great Pennsylvania gun smiths that had it down to a science without charging an arm and a leg.

Let's not glorify the "old days" too much. Back in 1983, we bought Mauser 98s for $40-$50, stripped them down, forged the bolt handle, drilled and tapped, polished and blued, and sold the actions for $120. That's about 6 hours of work and $80 earned (about $13/hr). By the time the rifle was barreled and stocked, you might charge $600 after another 15 hours of work and $250 of parts if you could find someone that wanted a custom (about $12/hr). That's survival gunsmithing. But even back then, you could buy a Remington 700 for $249, so it got hard to do and make any money, so we built rifles during winter and spring to fill time when nobody was bringing in work.

Shootrj2003 · October 4, 2018, 10:40 PM

I built one years ago,I was walking along whistling Dixie ,walked in the door of Bob's Gun Exchange ,tripped over....the doorstop...looked in the showcase and stopped mid note, forget what I paid but I was happy,most of the hard part was done .but you can make a good trigger from a military on,and it is smooth as glass.the rifle cost me total about $500 in the early 90's gunsmith charges,blueing,clambering head spacing,he did ,I did the trigger work,lapped the ways,buehler safety install,polishing,stock Inletting and finishing,stock 1 was Birdseye maple bought as a board semi inletted for a Mod.98,made the stock but thought it too fancy,went to Numrich arms,pulled a walnut 98 beater stock out of the scrap wood box for ,like,$5 ? Took it home refinished it,re inletted the barrel channel and some minor points,glass bedded it ,pillar bedded it,I still have both stocks ,1st one is a better target stock ,the walnut one is a field stock,they change with no POA change.but it likes being dressed in walnut! Sorry it was a long storie.

Hawg · October 5, 2018, 06:34 AM

I've done it and it's definitely not cheap to do it right. However if it's done right it will outshoot anything off a rack but you will never get back out of it what you put into it.

Mobuck · October 5, 2018, 07:04 AM

In the old days, a pristine Mauser 98 cost maybe $30-40 and you could hunt with it until the upgrade bug hit. Then gunsmithing it into a semi-decent sporter cost another $75-100 and you had a rifle that no longer looked like it came out of the bargain barrel at the hardware store.
Currently, starting with a ragged out, beat to snot Mauser and making it into something barely worth taking afield will cost more than simply buying an off the shelf commercial rifle.
If you really want to spend(waste) the money, have at it. Enjoy the experience cause that's an expensive ticket.

September 21, 2018, 12:29 PM	#29
RC20 Senior Member Join Date: April 10, 2008 Location: Alaska Posts: 7,014	FN in Belgium supplied a lot of Mauser actions to a variety of entities. We just ID a Sako Mauser combo for a member. Roughly 1952 to 1957 Sako was buying the receiver from FN. Interarms would be another though an importer and not a maker per se' - FN made the whole gun in that case. As they pop up others I am sure will trigger a bit of memory. Run a search on GB and you can likely pick up an entire one with no need to build. https://www.gunbroker.com/item/785133466 Browning also imported them. __________________ Science and Facts are True whether you believe it or not

September 19, 2018, 09:27 PM	#26
Dano4734 Senior Member Join Date: October 6, 2014 Posts: 730	In the 60’s it was the rage were I came from. Lots of used military rifles around and a ton of great Pennsylvania gun smiths that had it down to a science without charging an arm and a leg. Sadly I only had an old lever action Winchester 30-30 as I could not afford anything. But it worked. The sporter 06 from the military rifles were works of art from some of the old gunsmiths of my area. I wish I had one now

October 4, 2018, 10:40 PM	#31
Shootrj2003 Member Join Date: August 12, 2007 Posts: 25	I built one years ago,I was walking along whistling Dixie ,walked in the door of Bob's Gun Exchange ,tripped over....the doorstop...looked in the showcase and stopped mid note, forget what I paid but I was happy,most of the hard part was done .but you can make a good trigger from a military on,and it is smooth as glass.the rifle cost me total about $500 in the early 90's gunsmith charges,blueing,clambering head spacing,he did ,I did the trigger work,lapped the ways,buehler safety install,polishing,stock Inletting and finishing,stock 1 was Birdseye maple bought as a board semi inletted for a Mod.98,made the stock but thought it too fancy,went to Numrich arms,pulled a walnut 98 beater stock out of the scrap wood box for ,like,$5 ? Took it home refinished it,re inletted the barrel channel and some minor points,glass bedded it ,pillar bedded it,I still have both stocks ,1st one is a better target stock ,the walnut one is a field stock,they change with no POA change.but it likes being dressed in walnut! Sorry it was a long storie.

October 5, 2018, 06:34 AM	#32
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,188	I've done it and it's definitely not cheap to do it right. However if it's done right it will outshoot anything off a rack but you will never get back out of it what you put into it.

October 5, 2018, 07:04 AM	#33
Mobuck Junior member Join Date: February 2, 2010 Posts: 6,846	In the old days, a pristine Mauser 98 cost maybe $30-40 and you could hunt with it until the upgrade bug hit. Then gunsmithing it into a semi-decent sporter cost another $75-100 and you had a rifle that no longer looked like it came out of the bargain barrel at the hardware store. Currently, starting with a ragged out, beat to snot Mauser and making it into something barely worth taking afield will cost more than simply buying an off the shelf commercial rifle. If you really want to spend(waste) the money, have at it. Enjoy the experience cause that's an expensive ticket.