I recently acquired a 1909 Argentine that has been poorly sporterized. The stick has been shortened , and the action drilled and taped. The bolt handle has also been replaced, but I might leave that alone. I want to build a nicer 257 Roberts with it, but I need to do this piecemeal over time. What steps should be taken and in what order? Also, can people tell me of a good Smith for each of these steps?

FWIW, the original bottom metal has been replaced standard ‘98 metal.

I’m thinking the following steps and order:

1. Heat treating action
2. Replace safety to 3 position M70 style
3. Replace trigger. Don’t know what with. Perhaps Alaska Arms.
4. Replace bottom metal. Considering Blackburn or Sunny Hill, or perhaps 1909 metal that has been spiffied up.
5. Polish action
6. Rebarrel. Unsure of maker, but I have used Pac Nor in the past.
7. Have magazine and action worked over for proper feeding.
8. Blued
9. Stocked. Not sure who I can afford for this though.

I should add that it’s been rechambered to 30/06, and the original safety has been replaced with a vertical 2 position.

quote:

Originally posted by Brent C.:
I should add that it’s been rechambered to 30/06, and the original safety has been replaced with a vertical 2 position.

First thing you need to do is find a good smith and with a glass stock you may need $2500 to start.
Several good smiths on this forum.

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:

quote:

Originally posted by Brent C.:
I should add that it’s been rechambered to 30/06, and the original safety has been replaced with a vertical 2 position.

First thing you need to do is find a good smith and with a glass stock you may need $2500 to start.
Several good smiths on this forum.

Right. I was planning between $2000 and $4000. I’m not trying to be a cheapskate, but I can’t afford the likes of Echols or Wiebe. Hopefully I can find quality smith(s) that will work within this budget.

That will be enough to pay the labor on a quality wood stock maker.
Nothing wrong building a synthetic stock rifle.
It could make a real nice rifle.

I’m not entirely opposed to a quality synthetic. I have a semi/custom M70 in a McMillan Earl Bridges pattern that I love, although I’m not very familiar with a good synthetic for a Mauser.

No reason to replace an original 09 bottom, and it will feed 257s as is. It is the wood that will cost more than the metal work. I, as usual, recommend a Douglas barrel, in the 1908 Rigby pattern that I make. No other barrels come close when all factors are considered. I also have the Rigby stock pattern.
PM me if you want to talk about it.

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
No reason to replace an original 09 bottom, and it will feed 257s as is. It is the wood that will cost more than the metal work. I, as usual, recommend a Douglas barrel, in the 1908 Rigby pattern that I make. No other barrels come close when all factors are considered. I also have the Rigby stock pattern.
PM me if you want to talk about it.

I probably wasn’t clear enough. The original argie bottom metal has been replaced with plain Mauser 98 bottom metal, otherwise I would not change it. Sending pm about the barrel.

The original barrel was a 7.65 that was probably rechambered to 30/06 as thousands were. I have had several that I rebarrelled through the years and one of the first was a 257 Roberts. If the bolt has not set back yet, it is unlikely to now. If you send it to Tom to be rebarrelled, he will check it out for you.

quote:

Originally posted by lee440:
The original barrel was a 7.65 that was probably rechambered to 30/06 as thousands were. I have had several that I rebarrelled through the years and one of the first was a 257 Roberts. If the bolt has not set back yet, it is unlikely to now. If you send it to Tom to be rebarrelled, he will check it out for you.

Thanks. Is the action usable if the bolt has been set back?

No; not worth the effort to fix it. They make good trot line sinkers; I have more than a few scrap 98 receivers.
And lots of good ones too.

There are about 3 or 4 custom mausers in 257 Roberts at guns international.com under 3k.
A vz33 action that's ready for barrel work caught my eye, it would make a sweet little two fifty seven, it looks like a decent start.

One thing about 30-06 converted Argentines, the front of the magazine boxes are usually milled paper thin
And restoration is usually needed on the front of the magazine box.

It sounds like for budgetary reasons you want to spread the work out over time between smiths. That's fine to do but it will likely cost you more and will certainly take a lot longer to get done. You'll have to wait on every smiths lead time which could add up quickly. Not to mention shipping costs between all of them. It may make more sense to save up the money first and have one or two guys do the work.

step 1 - sell the action
step 2, acquire a modern mauser action i STRONGLY suggest the dumoulin/legacy sport actions, as they have nice triggers, safeties and bottom metals. VERY nice https://www.sarcoinc.com/dumoulin-mauser-action/

this alone will save you 1000 bucks

send action to mcgowen barrels, have them rebarrel, polish, and blue ..

buy a decent stock, though b&c make a decent plastic fantastic for $300

action -- say $600
barrel/blue/etc say $800
Stock - $300
$1,700 ish, ball park...

stock? custom stock? wood+MINIMUM of $1500
takeoff stock? off the shelf? $50-500

I did the exact same thing you are talking about last year. It can be done at a very reasonable cost if you take your time. I did a lot of the work myself and looked for pieces little by little. This is not a guild member build that some of the members here can supply you but I am proud of it-

Thanks

quote:

Originally posted by bt8897:
I did the exact same thing you are talking about last year. It can be done at a very reasonable cost if you take your time. I did a lot of the work myself and looked for pieces little by little. This is not a guild member build that some of the members he can supply you but I am proud of it-

That looks great! Would you mind telling me what parts you chose, who did the work, and in what order? Perhaps the order doesn’t matter, but I hate to do something before I should have done something else and inadvertently cause problems.

quote:

Originally posted by bt8897:
I did the exact same thing you are talking about last year. It can be done at a very reasonable cost if you take your time. I did a lot of the work myself and looked for pieces little by little. This is not a guild member build that some of the members here can supply you but I am proud of it-

You have every reason to be. I've no idea what it's like underneath that exterior, but it looks gorgeous from here. Well done, that man!

DPCD worked on my Mauser, installing a new recoil pad, timney trigger, bedding, Jim Kobe two position safety, etc. Did a great job, quick turnaround, all around good guy to deal with.

Reverse 8&9

quote:

Originally posted by Colin Masters:
DPCD worked on my Mauser, installing a new recoil pad, timney trigger, bedding, Jim Kobe two position safety, etc. Did a great job, quick turnaround, all around good guy to deal with.

Then I revise my previous statement. The inside will be every bit as good as the outside.

quote:

Originally posted by Don Markey:
Reverse 8&9

Yes, definitely. I have a finish blued short barreled (Mannlicher) barreled action in the shop now that will be fitted to a full stock, It is a PITA to keep from marring the blueing.

quote:

step 1 - sell the action
step 2, acquire a modern mauser action i STRONGLY suggest the dumoulin/legacy sport actions, as they have nice triggers, safeties and bottom metals. VERY nice https://www.sarcoinc.com/dumoulin-mauser-action/

this alone will save you 1000 bucks

send action to mcgowen barrels, have them rebarrel, polish, and blue ..

buy a decent stock, though b&c make a decent plastic fantastic for $300

You must admit Jeffeoso's approach is on the money. I strongly agree with his approach except the blueing, leave that to the very end.
By the way I have 2 McGowans barrels one installed by them the other shipped to me and they are absolutely accurate as can be, I found them very easy to deal with. Your choice on Barrels, Pac nor is out of business at the moment (may resurface after the fire) but they were one of my favorites.
Do the above as Jeffe explained and then you'll have plenty left over for a good stick of wood or if impatient synthetic stock it and send it off for a really nice matte blue job.
I have one of those Doumolin Mauser actions that I've sat on awhile hoping someday to turn it into a project (may never happen) but they are nice actions with adjustable trigger, 3 position safety, double square bridge, great way to start quick