Ok, I bit the bullet last night at our Big Horn Banquet and bought a custom rifle by Weaver. I am choosing the 416 Rigby. I need help from everyone on choosing the action to builde on. I am looking for something in the M98 style. What are your suggestions??

Top prize: Granite Mountain Arms ($2500 maker's cost)
Runner up: Waffenfabrik Hein (+/- $2000)
2nd Runner up: Dakota ($2000)
Consolation Prize: CZ ($600-800??)

You don't have many choices for the 416 Rigby, unless you've got lots of Euros in a Swiss account.

Call your banker:
1)Hartmann&Weiss
2)Ritterbusch
3)Granite Mtn

+ 1 on Hartmann & Weiss.

beautifull actions!

H&W,certainly not the best value action, but certainly the best action. If you dont mind spending around $6000,then go, go, go for it!

The US$/Euro exchange rate puts the European mausers out of reach for me.

The more cost-effective solution is to buy the GMA action and send it to Burgess, Martini, Smithson, Wiebe, etc and have one of them do $1500 worth of filework.

I've seen several built on 1917 Enfield Actions that sure looked good to me. If you could find a Remington (or for that matter Winchester) P17 that might be an option. Does the winning bid include action modifications?
Rich Elliott

Waffenfabrik are the best I have seen - outstanding workmanship and engineering.

ForestB,
Do you know the web address for Granite Mtn??

New England Custom Gun will sell you a Prechtl 98 action for $3500.00. Same action used on the Sig Arms imported Mausers.

quote:

Originally posted by huntnjim:
ForestB,
Do you know the web address for Granite Mtn??

www.granitemountainarms.com

Their website is not the best, but its a start. Call or email for their brochure.

ColoradoMatt, the Prechtl is definitely one to consider. I'm not sure its worth $1,000 more than the GMA, but I could be convinced - the GMA still requires some good finishing work IMHO.

quote:

Originally posted by dogcat:
Waffenfabrik are the best I have seen - outstanding workmanship and engineering.

I the the WFH action is a terrific piece of craftsmanship, but I'd have a hard time paying essentially the same for a M70 clone as I would for a similar quality M98 clone.

huntnjim says he wants a 416 Rigby and in my mind that says "M98" and not "M70". It may make no difference at all to him.

THE GMA action is not all that its made out to be, very average as it leaves the shop, give the guys at SERENGETI ARMS a call and ask them which is the top M98 ....THEY DID AN INDEPENDANT REVIEW!!!...it was a toss up between the PRECHTAL ACTION and the Satterlee action made by stuart satterlee out of South Dakota
if you do a search on AR ,500 GRAINS posted some photos of the action s made by SATTERLEE
Daniel

quote:

Originally posted by ColoradoMatt:
New England Custom Gun will sell you a Prechtl 98 action for $3500.00. Same action used on the Sig Arms imported Mausers.

I was under the impression that Reimer Yohannsen not Prechtel, make the SIG 98MagnumAction?
But maybe I was missinformed.

I would have to agree with ForrestB and M98,
I looked at both the GMA Kurz&Magnum and the H&W Kurz& magnum recievers on the same day at SCI.The HW was certainly superior. I am not a WSM fan but the HWKurzWSM rifle they had was very very appealing.I specifically went to see their Magnum reciever, but almost fell in love with its little sister. I could really live with a trimmmed out little HW-Kurz308win. THE HW magnum also has an increased size left lug to accept larger face rounds like 416Rig,& .505.
I am more than a little dissapointed that HW do not make a new Std Length 98reciever, for if they did, I would no doubt surely have one. In my view, they certainly are the masters of the newly manufactured traditional 98.

Speaking face to face,and independently with three great gun makers(Echols,Fisher,Martini)on the subject of 98 recievers, they all conveyed the message to me by word combined with either:
-a quiet confident smile or grin,or
-by bowing their heads in a brief moment of honourary silence,or
- by looking up to the Heavens should they be struck for lying, or
- shaking their head left & right, saying without a doubt,...
that if you truelly want the best and can afford it,then you cannot afford not to get a HW,it is the supreme98.
Let me add that I also spoke with Ted Blackburn some years ago,He gave the HW 10/10.

I must admit I really had my heart set on a HW MagnumMauser in .300H&H and there aint nothing I would like to do more in the world of hunting than use arig like that for Busting some Warthog and Elk with a 200gnNF. But after handling afew rigs(and not allowing nostalgia and romance to affect my better judgement) I found them just too heavy for enjoyable hunting outside of those two destinations mentioned above. The Kurz in 308win(as boring as that round sounds),with some 165-180 tsx would more than suffice for Warhog&Elk and would be a more pleasant to carry and dandy rig ( with no loss in class)for all my other hunting.

But since you are talking .416Rigby weight of the magnum reciever aint an issue.Ideally, the Rigby round deserves nothing less.....Look at this:

http://www.martiniandhagngunmakers.com/custombarrels.htm

I still think of a .300H&H and would not complain too much if I had made the wonderful error of getting one.
It would be rewarding to see another .416Rigby of true pedigree & distinction, joining the ranks.
In the big picture of things,such rifles arent that expensive($12-15K?). I can go down so many roads that have cars in their lots easily price $20-30k and they are common as ditch water, nor are they made specifically for You.
A true bit of personal indulgence is good for a person,it is something they should experience at least once in their life. It could be a $500 custom knife,$1500 flyrod, $1m Enzo Ferrari, or anything else. Foresake the doomsdayers and fools of this world,persue your dream and live.

There is a misconception on this forum at times that guys with bestgrademausers are snobs, not always true. Some of them are not necessariy rich$$,they just make sacrafices to get what they want. They may avoid spending on a new car,minimise or avoid smoking,poking,drinking,gambling,or owning large properties etc,instead they spend on a rifle they appreciate,more so for its fit balance,refinement,pleasure of use and appreciation of the gunmakers dedication and skill, rather than its monetary value.That just makes them selective.It is not neccessarily a status symbol item that some accuse us of owning. The jelous,envious or narrow minded eye sees only what it wants,not taking into consideration what a person may have went through to get it.

Nor are these rifles necessarily treated like sacred cows,that would render them too good to use(what a frustrating waste that would be). They are a refined machine through human design/ingenuity,to make them a better and more efficient working tool.Its just they turn out to be pleasing to the eye as well. So you end up with blueing worn and a few honourable scars
on the stock..thats life, and a good one at that!

quote:

Originally posted by Woodjack:
I was under the impression that Reimer Yohannsen not Prechtel, make the SIG 98MagnumAction?
But maybe I was missinformed.

From what I can tell, Prechtl makes the action that Johannsen uses.

Good to hear that the Prechtl Mauser is thought highly of here, right up there with the "Satterlee of Deadwood" Mausers, eh?

We'll be looking for more of Stuart Satterlee of South Dakota.

prechtal makes the actions johannson uses in there rifles, i know because Godfried Prechtal told me so!
REGARDS DANIEL

I have a .450 Rigby on a Vektor (SA company) copy of the double square bridge magnum action, and are very happy with it. Casey Lewis, ex manager of Vektor's custom dept, claimed that it was the only one of the copies that all original Mauser parts will fit onto. (At the time, perhaps.) The only difference that I can see, is a slightly longer front receiver ring. At the moment it costs about US$2500 in SA.

quote:

Originally posted by M 98:
prechtal makes the actions johannson uses in there rifles, i know because Godfried Prechtal told me so!
REGARDS DANIEL

Ditto.

quote:

Originally posted by Karl S:
I have a .450 Rigby on a Vektor (SA company) copy of the double square bridge magnum action, and are very happy with it. Casey Lewis, ex manager of Vektor's custom dept, claimed that it was the only one of the copies that all original Mauser parts will fit onto. (At the time, perhaps.) The only difference that I can see, is a slightly longer front receiver ring. At the moment it costs about US$2500 in SA.

Karl,

Didn't Vector stop making these magnum sized actions?