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Originally posted by 7x57mm:
Warrior: your reply was excellent and I tend to agree with you. From something a wise old sage from anouther forum told me once, the 7x57mm is a cartridge which seems to gain in popularity, then dies off, gets a short rebirth, then dies off again and so on and so on. I think it is too fine of a cartridge to stay down forever. Hope you are having a nice day, but only if you want to have one. Tom Purdom

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Originally posted by ALF:
The pre 98 " Transitional action (s)" was the foreruuner or prototype to the 98, it was patented in 1895 and incorporated most of the Important 98 features,later other patents followed, it looks like a 98 but is not the final version. There were a number of versions

The important features were the gas diversion pathway, the bolting system with 3rd lug, the anti binding rib on the bolt body, the 3 position wing safety. Missing was the safety flange on the firing pin, preventing discharge before the bolt was not fully rotated into battery.

Most of these actions were destroyed as part of the work up to the 98 but some found their way to the UK where John Rigby used them to build his 275 on.

The Action numbers have very low ( early ) Mauser numbers, I have Mauser action number 132 and one with number 9XX. Just the other day number 81 was for sale in the UK. The Rigby SN's however are not that low indicating that the rifles were built not at the same time as action development.

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Originally posted by ALF:
Some Mauser Stuff

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Originally posted by fla3006:
Another clunker for El Deguello to piss on:

http://www.gunsamerica.com/976930436/Guns/Rifles/Rigby-...with_Accessories.htm

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Originally posted by zimbabwe: "... I am not really a lover of the long barrel short forearm of the typical British rifle..."

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Originally posted by zimbabwe:
When I went to Gunsmith school the 2 books that were the required text for the course was 'Gunsmithing' by Roy Dunlap and the 2 volumne set 'The Modern Gunsmith' by James V Howe. These of course dictated and formed my vision of what a beautiful balanced sporting rifle was. The top writers of the day such as Jack O'Conner and Lucien Carey were very influential in forming this vision along with the rifles of such Gunsmiths as Roy Vail. It established in my mind that all sporting rifles had reasonably heavy barrels and the forearm went a good distance down that barrel ending in a forearm tip of contrasting wood. Pistol grip was to be rather open and capped with a cap that was either checkered steel or the same contrasting wood as the tip. Buttplate in all cases was to be a Neidner checkered steel. Finish was to be blued and barrel length was not to exceed 24". All those barrels were to have a front sight on an appropiate ramp and there was to be a rear sight on the barrel even if a scope was always used. Wood was to be the medium of the stock but that could be American Walnut,English Walnut,Curly Maple,Birdseye Maple,Myrtle,or Mesquite and could well be Laminated but not in the form they are today. Every stock was to have sling swivels. These dictates I have tried to follow for over 55 years of building rifles and when It came time to actually order one for myself to be built by a top builder I chose a friend and schoolmate Clayton Nelson. I gave him these specifications and told him I wished the darkest blank in his inventory and the caliber was to be one I had never owned or built, a 7x57. He fulfilled those specs in the rifle shown and I am quite proud of it. It has been to Africa and acquitted itself well. As to the tusks I apologize for them as they are not very impresssive in size but I am quite proud of them also as they are the only trophys I have of Africa except for two Zebra rugs. As I head for year 74 I realize I will probably never afford to go to Africa again and they do bring back pleasant memories as I gaze upon them. I vicariously enjoy living some of the events as they are recounted on these forums and thank Saeed very much for making them possible.

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This one is not built along those lines.

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Originally posted by jimmywax:
It just so happens that I bought a 7x57 just this last wednesday from Capital Sports in Helena. It's an H&R model 340 made in Gardner, Mass. I really don't know a thing about the production of this gun, but I fell in love with it at fist sight. Appears to be a Mauser action (possibly zastava) with a featherweight barrel taper and a slim foregrip stock with shadowline cheekpiece. The checkering looks a little rough, probably done by hand. Overall I think it's a beautiful gun and looks hardly used. In the end I paid $350 and traded a 6.5x55 Norwegian krag that was looking pretty rough. I might try to get some pics up tomorrow.

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Originally posted by Paul B:

Just a guess, but I think you rifle has an FN Mauser action. IIRC, the H&R 300 series rifles use the FN Supreme Mauser actions for their rifles back in the early 1970s. I looked in a couple of Gun Digests from the period and they all say Mauser Supreme actions. I believe the "Supremes" were built by FN. I never found reference to the 340, but it's probably an FN action as well or an FN style made by Husqvarna.
Either way, that's a lucky find, especially since I couldn't find any reference to a 7x57 Mauser. The only reference to a 7MM anything was for the 7MM Rem. Mag. I'll have to try and do more digging when I find time.
Paul B.

Edited to add follow up. This is from the book Bolt Action Rifles by Frank de Haas.

"As already mentioned, FN makes rifles on these actions. The browning firm which is associated with FN, also makes several fine grades of high power rifles on the slightly modified version of the FN action. A number of other firms made (or are still making) rifleson these actions including Sako, Parker-Hale, Colt, Marlin, High Standard, Winslow, Harrington & Richardson and others. No bolt action could have a more distinguished endorsement than the wide use of FN.

FWIW, the Supreme action is the Model 400 Supreme.
Paul B.