Saw one today. Heavy barrel chambered in .222, stocked in birdseye maple and wearing a Lichert 12x.

Nice 50's or 60's varmint rifle. I have never seen a short action Mauser. I called a gunsmith friend and we chatted, but he was unsure of the value though he did say they are rare.

I am putting this up in a couple forums here but what forum here would be best to ask this question on?

I post here rarely, so apologies if I should have put this elsewhere.

There were a number of "short action 'Mausers'" made by various commercial manufacturers, as well as some "short action Mausers" like the Mexican and Argentine '98 military models, as well as the Swedish '94-'96 military model. The value of the gun would largely depend on which action it has.

The old Herter company imported a short action Mauser called the XK3 and another labeled the J9. Some of the XK3's were made in Germany and were rather crudely finished for a German product. The J9's came from Yugoslavia and were similar in quality to most of the lower end commercial Mausers of the day like the Santa Fe and others.

The small ring Mexican Mausers are highly sought-after for building custom rifles, but who did the work on the conversion and how well it was done is everything insofar as value.

Bottom line: It is impossible to guess at the worth of the rifle unless you know a lot more about the action itself (as well as the barrel and general workmanship of the gun.)

Stonecreek,

The work is of decent'quality' but I put that in quotes as it is difficult to describe.

Let's presume the 'worst case' and value it for the action and Lichert.

Hi there Utah,
Mauser Orberndorf actually made a "Kurz", or SHORT action, large ring action that is just the right size for the 222 you saw. Most were made for the English or American market in the 1920's. The originaly were chambered for the 250 sav., 25 Rem., 30 Rem., or others about same case sizes. They are smaller than the intermediate actions such as the 94,95,96, or most of the 98-24's.
If this rifle is for sale and you are not seriously interested, I am. Could you send me some more info regarding Who, where, and contact info???? Thanks, ED

quote:

Originally posted by Lever Ed:
Hi there Utah,
Mauser Orberndorf actually made a "Kurz", or SHORT action, large ring action that is just the right size for the 222 you saw. Most were made for the English or American market in the 1920's. The originaly were chambered for the 250 sav., 25 Rem., 30 Rem., or others about same case sizes. They are smaller than the intermediate actions such as the 94,95,96, or most of the 98-24's.

Lever Ed,

I saw your post and then realized with only 14 posts you must be 'new'. Compared to my 11 posts since 2006, your 14 since 2005 makes you seem verbose!