Was in Dallas yesterday and came across a couple rifles that caught my attention. I have zero experience with these guns and need some insight.
The first is what appears to be a '98 mauser reciever that is marked 1930 Mexican in a 7x57 and is a short carbine length barrel, original sights but the bolt is turned down unlike the German stuff I've seen, with the original stock and rear sling mount just behind the grip on the side of the rifle all at about 40-50% condition. The dealer is not noted for his bargain prices but I thought the $495 I was quoted was a bit excessive even for him.
The other rifle is marked as a '98 with the usual thumb magazine cutout and Nazi Swastiki's on the receiver, bolt handle and barrel, with all matching numbers on all the metal work, original bolt handle configuration and safety, original sights and stepped barrel but the military stock has been "sporterized" and cut down but still has the original metal buttplate. At $119.95 with a nice looking barrel inside and out I thought this one might be worth playing with for a truck gun and maybe later a full conversion into something else using the receiver. Comments?
Ron

As far as converting a milsurp mauser, it only makes sense if you want to spend the $ to make a nice full blown custom. If you're looking to make a rifle equivalent to a generic factory rifle, it'll cost more to do it on a milsurp mauser, and your end result likely won't be as good.

I'd say if the $120 special has a decent bore and shoots, it'll be a fine truck gun as is. I wouldn't put anymore $ into it.

The first one is a small ring Mexican mauser, and they are pricey, but does seem a bit high for one in that condition, the second one is not to bad.

I will agree with Paul H, if it has a good bore, go buy it. But don't do much more. I have one converted Colombian 98 Mauser match rifle in 30-06. The dollar cost to add a stock, add a barrel, bent bolt handle, drill and tap, really add up.

There was a time when you could get K98 stocks with metal for $40.00. I have no idea what the going rate for them now. There might even be a Boyd's stock for the K98 without metal. But the costs of handguards and metal add up. You will have $200.00 in the rifle real quick.

As a general comment, lots of military rifles were hacked down in the 50's and 60's. And they are worth about 1/4 to 1/3 of an original unscrewed with example. And while the value of the all matching full military continue to go up, the sporterized rifles basically keep pace with inflation.

I that K98 is all matching including the bolt and not D & T you could pick up another stock and hardware then turn it out for about $500 or $600 as a stock mismatch. If it was me that found it it would be mine at that price. Does the butt plate have matching numbers to the reciever also?

Rad

Ditto to what was mentioned above: sporterizing a milsurp can get spendy. I've done it once, and am well-pleased with the results...but there are more cost-effective ways to get equiped.

If I wanted to save money I'd buy a Remington 700 plastic stock special and call it done. If I wanted a nice custom rifle I would decide what action I wanted and proceed in that direction.

What do you want?

If a fine classic rifle is what you have in mind, the 1910 Mexican small ring would be a great choice!

If you want to save money there are plenty off the shelf guns that'll serve that purpose. You won't have to do anything at all to them.

Here is a 1910Mex I'm in the middle of now. A Remington/Winchester wouldn't have worked for this at all.

Terry

Hello TC1,
That is one fine looking piece of work! For some reason that Springfield cocking piece on those little Mex Mausers and that pair of square bridges really set her off. Octagon barrel does not hurt either!! Hope you show the finished product someday. Again, class act all the way.

PS Forgot to comment on the very classy straddle Argentine bottom metal.

Thanks Driver. Mark Stratton off the gunsmithing forum did all the metal work. It's at Chic Worthings right being stocked.

The point of my post was saving money and building custom rifles aren't two things that should be said in the same sentance.

Terry

I would demure on the opinion of buying a commercial rifle over having a custom or semicustom rifle done on a M98 action.

There is no commercially made Mauser action which you can touch for under 1000USD today that is the equal of a good M98 military action. They are the class act in bolt guns: strong, reliable, easy to get parts for, and flexible in terms of what you can build on one.

You can get a CZ which is close, but the latest ones have some subtle differences in their manufacturer that make the original more desirable, and they aren't cheap.

I don't have a 98-based rifle that won't shoot under an inch with one or more loads, and I haven't spent thousands on the projects, although with the growing shortage of actions, I am glad I started "collecting" mine when I did.

I'd snap up that German 98 in a heartbeat. Kudude

the 495 for a "crawfishhole" barrel mexican mauser is dumb, even to a mexican mauser nut like me.

the 120$ sounds like a good starter.

Kudude,
the legacy mauser (may they return to our shores) was about the same as a 42 mauser... not the best, not the worst, but it comes with a good safety, trigger, SQUARE BRIDGES, and good bottommetal..


a little "monograph" on making an m98 into a near model 70 - prices aren't to be considered the end of the world,

action
$120
3position safety
$150
timney trigger,
$50
1909 bottom metal
$150
bolt handle
$50
scope bases
$50 and some time

$570 bucks, just in parts!!! and you might not be able to do this work yourself, so add about $200-250 for gunsmithing.

and that's before you change the bolt face and feeding.

jeffe

Yes, and?

LMAO..Morning buddy!!
just a point to work from.. not meant to turn anyone away.. just disclosure!!

It's hard to beat a good Mexican Mauser. They were made on German equipment under German supervision, and many of them are very fine guns. The caliber is also hard to beat. But I, like you, question the price tag!

However, for the price of $119, it sounds like that German service rifle would be a good buy.

quote:

Originally posted by driver:
Hello TC1,
That is one fine looking piece of work! For some reason that Springfield cocking piece on those little Mex Mausers and that pair of square bridges really set her off. Octagon barrel does not hurt either!! Hope you show the finished product someday. Again, class act all the way.

PS Forgot to comment on the very classy straddle Argentine bottom metal.

Yes. Truly nice!

You guys got me thinking again 'bout the '98 8x57. Yes I have looked at in the past the overall cost of doing one up "like a serviceable M70" and not a full blown custom with georgous wood and so on...and passed.

Something else I thought of last nite ...this gun has a scroll of three lower case germanic script letters across the top of the receiver right in front of the ejection port that read "b y f" at least I think the last character was an "f", with no other markings except the Nazi eagle and SR#'s on everything. I had assumed these script letter were a plant code or something...any insight on what these stand for?

In answer to another poster's question, I did not take close notice of the butt plates SR# but just that it was marked with some numbers...and with the cut down stock would be a bitch to shoot as the sharp edges of the steel butt plate overhung the wood a tad, but that a slip on rubber pad would fit length wise as the stock felt really short to me

I own a loose rifle barrel for not much money that was originally mfg'ed and marked by American Hunting Rifles in Montana, supposedly threaded for a CZ 550 & chambered in 300 Howell, and rechambered by an unknown 'smith for a 300 WinMg. The guy I got it from sez he changed his mind and rebarreled his CZ into a 338 instead of the 300Winnie as planned...dunno where or how he acquired the barrel. My 'smith eyballed it for couple minutes and said nothing obvious jumped out at him.

Assuming that after I have the chamber slugged, measures out correctly that the chambering is within spec's...can this barrel be used on this '98 action? If this is possible then cost wise a full conversion could be a doable deal...otherwise the barrel will prolly become a Stainless Steel tomato stake sometime in the future...or if the CZ threads will work on the '98 reciever the 300WMg chamber could be cleaned up when ever the 375 Ruger reamers become available, instead of me having to find a used CZ as a donor as I had planned. Prolly need to have the barrel slugged and go from there. Comments?
Ron

Hey Jeffe, Yes the Mexicans have gotten a little pricey. Especially for a whole gun, but the barrels and stocks are drawing good prices on ebay right now too. I gave about $500 for mine but got about $200 for the barrel and stock so I didn't feel too bad about it. The day's of the $15 actions are long gone. I would agree there isn't any need to mess with one if you're just after an everyday nothing special rifle.

Terry

Mauser action - free (collector friend bought it for excellent complete stock but not the barrel or action)

A&B .338 barrel - $85.99 on sale

Bold optima triger w/safety - $39.99 (if I remember right)

Forged handle bolt - $25 gunsmith on Ebay

Claro stock blank - $35 from a guy on this forum

pachmyar pad - $13

Drilled and tapped myself and standard Weaver mounts - abot $20

Now use a scope and rings off one of the rifles youre not hunting with (doesn't even have to match) and you can shoot a basic, unfancey but is very reliable hunting rig that you don't wory about for $219.00.


If I wanted somthing nicer I'd most likely by a complete rifle close to what I want and customize it to suit me. The only reason I built this one was because of the free action.

I bet the bear didn't like your rifle worth a damn

Terry

The byf script stands for Mauser Oberndorf(sp) and there should be some numbers closer to the port and those will be the year that it was made for example "1940, 42, 43 etc. Threads inthe mauser are 1.100" od and I don't remember the number of threads per inch but I'm thinking 12. HTH

Rad

Thank You Herr Messer...this is getting curiouser and curiouser. Now that you mention it I remember seeing just the numbers 43 off by themselves I think it was stamped on the side of the receiver. I'll get back to Dallas next week and definitely go take a look again.
Thanks all.
Ron

If it shoots you could just have the bolt altered and the action drilled for a scope, add a nice piece of wood or even a tupperware stock, low scope saftey, a scope and have a decent behind the seat rifle.

That is of corse assuming that the bbl and headspace are good. There are also some lower cost aftermarket bbl options like ER Shaw that could do some budget smithing for you and you can end up with a very reliable servicable weapon for less than a new factory rifle. But be warned, once you start down that road its a slippery slope and before you know it youll be looking at $500.00 stock blanks and $100.00 triggers.

I would suggest looking around for a Mauser that has already been sporterized and then spend a couple bucks to improve on it. There are an awful lot of them floating around anymore and some of them are real bargians when one considers the cost of alterations.

Jeez!

What are you looking for?

For mil-surp "plinker guns" Mausers are hard to pass up. I have a Turk, Yugo M-48, and a Czech 98/22. Sold a Swede 96 Oberndorf.

8mm Mauser is hard to beat. That's the "German Army" caliber. WW-II . . .

$50 -- $100. Maybe a bit more these days. My gun buys in Mauser are all 10 yrs old.

Mauser production is complicated. Books and books, lotsa books. Lotsa calibers.

But nothing like sand bagging an 8mm w/ steel sights on a stump about 5 gallon bucket size, out there down-range some 700 yds, and nailing it with cheap, corrosive, mil-surp ammo at $90 a case of 1000, in a "hot damn" wood box, imported from Ecuador, in the 1940's. 8mm ammo runs some 190 gr. and zips along at circa 2500 fps, or faster.

It's like a 30-06, only 8.92mm, and a bit faster, heavier in the bullet.