I came across two bannered mauser actions:

1) Chile '35 Oberndorf w/ mauser banner on rear bridge - I know these to be very good actions (double quenched front & rear?) and was going to go with this one but then I found...

2) The other has a large Mauser banner on the front ring. SN started with RKxxxx I believe and had some other markings along the lower left bottom edge of the reveiver rail - ...S.P.E. CA I believe. I was wondering if this was the real thing or ? That "Mauser" banner on the front ring almost looked engraved or maybe just has some silver paint rubbed into it.

Sorry for being ignorant in the ID of these rifles. Need to get more mauser books for sure!

Any coments? Looking for a nice action to build a classic .404 Jeffery on. Which is the better one to go with?

Jeff P

I would love to have the 1935 Chilean and about any Banner Mauser is a good one.

Pfeifer & Ray,
No Problems with desirability of Chileno '35's. Mauser banners across ring and and either of 2 different importer marks , both from Cal., however, use great caution. There was an enterprising Spanish concern which did a sneakily close job of conterfeiting Mauser banners, sometimes to the extent of "Standard Modell" mark on L.H. side wall. These were Not in the "B" + number series typical to Spain nor with B,U,N, commercial Proof marks and were poorly made. The 3 ea that I returned to aomeone in the Boise area some years back as unsuitable had bolt guide rib slots in bridge almost double depth. Roof topping the bridge would have gone through into this slot. For the non expert a quickie determination. Look on the long flat underside from recoil lug to Trigger boss for circular machining marks, A spray paint can plastic top has a radius close to the size of the marks. The 2 half round cuts which cross the rear tang forming the trigger lug will be staggered, noticibly. A plastic ruler laid on and touching recoil lug back to beginning of these 2 cuts will show a difference of nearly 1/8 " to the start of one of these cuts contrasted with the beginning of the other. Rockwell hardness tests suggest that the steel used is also of lower carbon content than the usual for Mausers. I happened to have company present during the "What the hell is this" examinations who observed the Rockwell testing phase and who to my head shaking at the results said,,"Softer than a marshmallow ?". and that about called it. Exercise caution.

Thanks Tom and yes I was aware of that...Belk or someone appraised me of that sometime back..

Thanks all for your comments!

I went and spenst some more time closely examining that front ring "banner" mauser and decided to pass in it as it is too questionable in my book. It appears to have had some welding on it to cover pitting and that banner is just too clean to make it appear as if it was engraved in. It has had some nice work done to it in the form of a three panel swept back & jeweled bolt.

...but the Chilean is a safe bet in my book.

I'll see if the owner will part with it today.

Thanks again! JP

Looks like the bannered '35 Chilean action is a go with the .423" 1-in-14" tw barrel. Got a .720" Euro BR front sight for it. Thinking currently of going with a "longish" barrel as the blank is 25.75" long. Reviewed Taylor and he recommends 8.5 lbs. Been talking British rifles with our buddy Ray and he suggested an H&H barrel profile with "ringed" breech section. I have a jpg of an H&H (30 Super) with just such a barrel. How does one post a pict?

Would love to see some barrel/action picts of an actual Jeffery rifle in .404J. I have a pict that someone on this board sent me a while back, of his .375 & 333 Jeffery rifles but one can't see details too well. Both appear to long rifles with nice open grips - very nice!

Thoughts?
Jeff P

Well got the pix posted to my server so here is the H&H 30 Super pict...

<img src="http://www.fiberpipe.net/~pfeifers/HH30SuperMauser.jpg" alt=" - " /><br />

...and a picture of two Jeffery rifles (375 & 333) that belong to someone? on this forum (Hope you don't mind sharing these valued pictures! ) Great stock form for an open sighted rifle I'm thinking...

<img src="http://www.fiberpipe.net/~pfeifers/Jeffery375+333_2.jpg" alt=" - " /><br />

Preview is not displaying...Noticed that HTML is not enabled. I'll track that down...anyway those are the links.

Thoughts, comments?

Jeff P