thanks for the response. I wanted to make a 9.3x62 on a Mauser action for mt wife and she wants a full custom job!thanks for the response. I wanted to make a 9.3x62 on a Mauser action for mt wife and she wants a full custom job!

Does anyone know the rough cost to convert a military mauser action into a true classic. I know that is is expensive. I usually use a model 70 action for my projects but I was going to make two mauser actioned rifles and need to know the cost.
Action surface ground to remove pits and make the lines sharp. Demill the rear bridge. Stone and true the action and throughout. Recreate the orberndorf pear shape bolt handle. Drill and tap the action. Perhaps turn it into a small ring action.???????

IB404,
It would cost a lot! Just the basics:
1. Trigger: $50
2. Ture Up the action: Depends but conservatively $100
3. Reasonable Barrel and Chamber: $250
4. Tap: $40
5. Blue: $100

This is just the basics and you're at $540. Demill the rear bridge? I guess that would matter on which flavor of M98 you choose. You'd spend a lot of time on cleaning one up if you got a really lightly pitted action and that would be at the shop rate I would assume. Convert to a small ring? I'd buy a small ring if that is what you want.

I don't want to discourage you as I love Mausers and have done a couple of really nice rifles on the M98. You will spend more than you think if you try to turn average into spectacular. I have taken average and made it nice. For me it usally runs about what I listed above. Dave at IT&D guns does great work and may well be cheaper. He has done some work for me and I love the rifles. He does only the metal work so you are left to your own devices with regards to the wood.

Build it, especially if you have always wanted one. Life is too short to forgo a nice Mauser in my opinion. Good luck on your project.

Cheers,
Jason

Seriously, if you have a wife that wants a custom rifle you are so blessed right there that you just need to jump in feet first. I would keep it reasonable as possible, but would be willing to dish out the money. I would spend more money on a rifle for my fiancee if she were interested, than I would for one for myself. Just to get her into it with me! Then your recreational budget can be spent for something you both like to do. :-)

I wish I could give you some prices and help you out with a budget, but really it just depends on what all you do and how far you go. You could really get up there high dollar or you could make it a more functional rifle and save some. Do you already have the mausers you plan on starting with? That is something to consider too. If you just want a mauser action, but don't have the start, what about getting a Montana action, custom serial numbered to include your wife's name in the S.N. Then get everything together and ready, send it to Roger Kehr "Scrollcutter" and have him do some feminine engraving on it, and rust blue it for you. Then you have something that is so unique she cannot not like it!

Red

lb404,
Glad to hear your wife is interested. When you surface grind the action, the rear bridge goes away. Cost for that ranges from $60 to $100. You could have it ground to a small ring dimensions at that time for shop hours, would guess another $45. Case harden when done, $35. If you start with an Argentine action, $150+, you can get by with lengthening the magazine, $45, and adding a straddle floor plate, $60 although that is not necessary, recontour the trigger guard, $25 or you can go new bottom metal for $325. Drill and tap, $40 +/-. New Trigger $60. New Barrel fitted will set you back anywhere from $225 to $450. Bluing will cost $145 (caustic) to $225 (rust blue). Custom bases will be around $150 (and will include the drill and tap) and not necessary but look one hell of a lot better and built to the contour of the action. Safety has to be modified, a 2 position side swing will cost $85 and a 3 position with a complete new shroud $175. Stone the action for $100 and true for $150. New bolt knob for $125. Need a nice checkered oval attached to bolt stop so your finger can grip it easlily, $25.

Now, my friend, comes the hard part, you have to add it up.

IB404

We were at the check in station earlier this fall registering my wife's nice buck, and nobody seemed to be commenting on the deer. Rather, I was asked (discreetly) by more than one man as to how I was able to talk my wife into going hunting with me!!

So congratulations. You are on the right track, as the advise I give anyone who asks the question is to make sure to outfit the wife or the girlfriend as you yourself would want to be outfitted. It makes no sense to have a warm pair of boots yourself and then have the wife tell you she has to go to the truck because her feet are cold. And it makes no sense to have your own real nice rifle that shoots well and fits you well, only to give her one that is too big and kicks like a mule.

Many years ago I purchased a nice little g33-40 military action and barrel that was not a collector grade rifle anymore. I had the 8mm mauser barrel cut to 20 inches and purchased a nice stock from Great American Gunstocks (today I might look at Boyds) I cut the stock down until it fit her exactly as it should. Put a new trigger in, added a 4 power scope, and a bueler safety. The rifle shoots better than she can shoot it, and I reload the 8mm so that she has better than factory, but not so hot that the recoil bothers her. She loves that rifle, and even though I have offered her newer and prettier rifles, she won't take them.

So, I would suggest that you look for a good military barrled action that has a good accurate barrel already attached in either 7 or 8 mm mauser. then get either a wood or synthetic stock and make sure that it fits her, as well as a scope and safety. And then, spend all of the rest of the money on getting good warm clothing and really good boots for her.

And oh yea, if you expect her to spend a lot of time with you out in the woods, make sure you "happily"
go with her to some of her things as well.