Mausers in the evening

17 July 2003, 07:20

I feel so good about it I just had to put the pictures in:
My .404 is about to be finished. I reshaped the stock a little after my first trip to RSA with it; shortened the fore-end and reshaped the grip. Then I chequered it again. The Alkanet Redoil is not hardened yet, but makes the day.

I was planning on using a Francotte Mauser to make a .404, but it turned out to be a small ring mauser when I got it to the gunsmith. I donï¿½t know what to do with it; itï¿½s still a 7x57, and I am working on the stock as a hobby. Iï¿½m afraid I put the comb too far back in my pursuit to make a slim rifle. Any suggestions what to make of it?
It has a very accurate adjustable tang sight, with a fine front sight, not very practical for hunting.

I just love Mausers.

Boha
[Smile]

17 July 2003, 07:39

<eldeguello>

Likewise!! And there's no flies on the 7X57mm, either. Just ask Karamojo Bell!! [Cool]

17 July 2003, 07:41

Atkinson

Boha,
Very nice 404, you did well....

As to the comb on the 7x57, it is fine and keeps ones thumb out of the nose, if it is a problem for you then a thicker recoil pad should fix that.....I like a lot of room over the grip, especially with a hard kicking rifle...I would change the sights...

17 July 2003, 08:54

Michael Robinson

bohar,

That's a beautiful, clean-lined, classic .404. It looks like an English best rifle. Does it have one of those lovely, oval, shadow lined cheekpieces, or did you leave it straight? Is it for sale? [Big Grin]

As for the Francotte small ring Mauser--what could be better than a similarly stocked and sighted .275 Rigby (or 7x57 Mauser to our Teutonic friends)? It would take a fair bit of work, but would be worth it. A matched pair! [Cool]

17 July 2003, 11:03

mbogo375

Very nice 404. The lines are definitely British, and I am sure that I could find a place in my gunsafe for it [Big Grin]

. Put matching express sights on the 7x57 and you have a great pair of cartridges for any hunting opportunity.

Jim

17 July 2003, 11:24

Scrollcutter

Boha

Very nice rifles. I especially like the 404. I agree with the others. Dump the sights on the 7 mm
and go with matching sights on the 404.

Keep up the good work.

17 July 2003, 15:26

jstevens

Why would anyone want to change the caliber on a 7x57? Just change the sights, put on a good scope and hunt with it.

17 July 2003, 16:45

Orion 1

That 7x57 just needs a rear aperture.

17 July 2003, 19:16

boha

Thank you all. I believe that is just what Iï¿½ll do; get express sights for the Francotte. The current sights are very accurate, but they need a bullseye to get a decent sight picture. I think the parallell profile on the barrel will allow for an express sight close to the reciever, which will be just beautiful. Maybe Iï¿½ll stamp the cal 257 Rigby on it. [Smile]

The stock fits me perfectly, so Iï¿½ll keep it, if I donï¿½t make any misstakes chequering it.

Thanks for the practical advice on the comb-business, Ray. I am a stockcrawler, and my nose and lips are very familiar with my right hand. I appreciate your judgement.

The 404 has a cheekpiece, but I am not yet a stockmaker able to make shadowlines. The stock is from www.waffen-schweigert.de, called english, but still needed some shaping. It handles recoil superbly. The english stock is perfect for hard kicking rifles.

Boha

17 July 2003, 19:50

Bwana-be

www.waffen-schweigert.de
Nice stocks. Anybody sprakin da doitch?
I can't understand a word!

17 July 2003, 19:56

Mark

Here ya go Bwana.....

http://babelfish.altavista.com/translate.dyn

A web translator, just type in the URL.

And Boha you do some nice work too!

[ 07-17-2003, 11:11: Message edited by: MarkWhite ]

17 July 2003, 20:28

<Rusty>

Very nice, sir!

18 July 2003, 22:40

Finnlight

Boha: That 404 looks very nice. Could you tell, who is the gunsmith? I have a Mauser-project in my mind and I'm wondering who could be the competent smith for the project... At least your smith's handicraft please my eyes.
I understood, that you finished the stock by yourself. How do you made those chequerings? Cutting or filing and do you have some special tools for that job?

18 July 2003, 23:43

boha

quote:
Originally posted by Finnlight:
Boha: That 404 looks very nice. Could you tell, who is the gunsmith? I have a Mauser-project in my mind and I'm wondering who could be the competent smith for the project... At least your smith's handicraft please my eyes.
I understood, that you finished the stock by yourself. How do you made those chequerings? Cutting or filing and do you have some special tools for that job?

Hi finnlight. My gunsmith is Sam Bjï¿½rkholm, Stenlundsv. 83, 6621 Molpe. About 50 km south of Vasa. He keeps an add in the Metsï¿½stï¿½jï¿½-Jï¿½garen magazine. Heï¿½s an openminded smith ready for interesting solutions, and has an eye for the old style. A good friend who did a lot of work to get the 404 ready for Africa for me. He works alone in his shop and is a busy man.

I use Guneline 18 line/inch chequering tools. Sam got them from Brownellï¿½s in the US, I think. Tough on the eyesight and the neck...

Boha

19 July 2003, 00:54

D Humbarger

Your 404 is just sexy!. [Big Grin]

Excellent taste!

25 July 2003, 04:48

cewe

God that gun is nice! I can recommend Sam anyday, heï¿½s done a lot of work for me and is at the moment building a .416 Rigby on a Sako action.

Boha doesnï¿½t like pushfeeds...

26 July 2003, 09:03

hacksawtom

Throw the super models away, you rifle it classically beautiful. It's now my screen saver. Congratulations.

27 July 2003, 01:36

Fred Bouwman

Very nice 404. What is the barrel length please? -Fred

27 July 2003, 03:39

<eldeguello>

Nice guns!! Nice photo job!!

[ 07-26-2003, 18:41: Message edited by: eldeguello ]

30 July 2003, 17:22

<Mauser416>

Thanks for the stock info. The .404 looks just like the rifle of my dreams.

Eric

11 August 2003, 07:58

TGetzen

I see a step between the front receiver ring and the left siderail on that 7x57; doesn't look like a small ring to me. Unless Francotte & Co. used a K.Kale Turk Mauser action? I do notice a crescent moon on the rear sight; is the front ring undercut (for retaining a handguard?) The 7mm part of that equation doesn't fit though.

Some interesting mysteries to solve, if I owned that gun...

BTW, nice stockwork -- I also like like long upper grips and shallow curves on the pistol grip. Very nice 404 also.

Todd

[ 08-10-2003, 23:01: Message edited by: Todd Getzen ]

11 August 2003, 18:26

Scrollcutter

He probably meant that the 7mm was a small thread action.

12 August 2003, 04:19

boha

quote:
Originally posted by Todd Getzen:
I see a step between the front receiver ring and the left siderail on that 7x57; doesn't look like a small ring to me. Unless Francotte & Co. used a K.Kale Turk Mauser action? I do notice a crescent moon on the rear sight; is the front ring undercut (for retaining a handguard?) The 7mm part of that equation doesn't fit though.

Some interesting mysteries to solve, if I owned that gun...

BTW, nice stockwork -- I also like like long upper grips and shallow curves on the pistol grip. Very nice 404 also.

Todd

Thank you, Todd. The rifle is at the gunsmiths for the express sights at the moment, so I cannot get pictures of the markings; but there is something fishy about the action. It looks like a large ring but it is small threaded, and the markings are not FN, nor DWM as I recall. There is something odd about the dimensions as well. The gunsmith and myself went through the books back when I got it, but couldnï¿½t make sense of it. Iï¿½ll visit him later this week and post pictures of the markings; maybe youï¿½re right about the turk thing.

It used to be a full length military model with a hand guard, but had been shortened before I got it. The model is civilian, it was sold in Finland for competition back in the twenties, but not wery common.

The barrel length of the 404 is 65,5 cm (25,7").

Boha

12 August 2003, 10:36

D Humbarger

The action also has the long reciever ring too. Just like a 1909 Peruvian. [Wink]

[ 08-15-2003, 01:57: Message edited by: D Humbarger ]

15 August 2003, 09:54

boha

The Big Bore forum might not be the place to discuss this 7x57 Mauser reciever, but Iï¿½ll post a few pictures and serve my theory.

The markings on the barrel are Belgian, but there are some markings on the trigger mechanism that appear to be German. It is a large ring with a small ring thread. It used to be a full length rifle, and the ring is undercut for the forearm.
The crescent thing is not a marking but a tool mark.

Our theory is that it is surplus from the shipment that Mauser made for the mexicans; model 1912, who had small ring Mausers model 02 (?)and wanted small threads to have the option of using old barrels already in Mexico. Small makers like Francotte got them from Mauser (or Austrian arms company) cheap. What do you think? Crazy theory?

Boha

[ 08-15-2003, 12:35: Message edited by: boha ]