Which would you prefer and why? What are the pros and cons? Im not really farmilliar enough with both of them to discern, but the J.C. Higgins F.N. actions Ive seen certianly seem worthy of comparison to the "holy grail" M-70.

JMHO, but I think the J.C. Higgins Mausers are a lot better than the Pre-64 M70. No coned breech for one thing. I do like the M70s safety and trigger.
Mausers were designed to be almost totally foolproof in the most serious condition there is; in battle. I say almost, because I'm sure there will always be some idiot that screw up even perfection.
FWIW, I have both types, and the Higgins win hands down, again, IMHO.
Paul B.

I'm a huge fan of the Sears JC Higgins FN 98 rifles, I have 3 of them. Those actions are the FN 50 action, They're already drilled and tapped for scope, and have a decent bolt handle that allows the use of a scope. So, you could really just add a trigger and safety, a new barrel, new stock and you'd be on your way. They aren't true Mausers really, it's a copy by FN, but a good one.



I also have a pre-war Model 70 Winchester. That action is the best feeding action I've ever handled. The 30-06 cartridges feed like they are running on ball bearings. If I had the money to do a full blown custom rifle, I'd use the Model 70. Thats just my opinion, and I am no expert on actions or guns for that matter. I think the Sears Model 50 rifles are one of the best values that you can get today. For about 300.00 dollars you can get a true classic rifle, but the Model 70 actions are also nice. I don't think you could go wrong with either, but I'd use the Model 70.



Bill Soverns posted some pictures of a custom rifle that he built for a customer awhile back. Rifle was built on a pre-war Model 70 action. Do a search and find the pics, outstanding work and a beautiful rifle.

Be prepared to spend tuns of money to make a full fledged hunting rifle out of your mauser. I have many, and love each and every one of them. With a Winchester pre-64 you get as complete a rifle as you can imagine. No new trigger required, no new safety, no drill and tap necessary. I like the mauser design but the way they are produced lacks many features we take for granted when we own Winchester rifles. Look on the african hunting forum at the various project rifles people are working on. I will warrant that you could own a few pre-64'd for the price of just the basic conversion. I just returned from a gun show where I purchased a pre-64 model 70 in 95% condition all good and proper for $520.00. If you bought a FN for 250.00 and replaced the trigger, the safety, and dilled and tapped it, you would spend 200-300 more. Just my opinion. Now take your FN mauser back to the gun show and try to ger 300.00 for it.
I do prefer the Winchester as others prefer Mausers.

Kurt,

You just have to be German huh?

The FN commercial mauser c. 1950 is about 90% loyal to the genius of the original 98. It is probably the best post-war commercial action available, next to the Brno 21/22 series. If it has the wing safety on the left, it is one of the best available. If it has the trigger safety, ditch it in favor of a bolt model.

The model 70 is a knock-off of the 54, which was a knock-off of the '03, which was a knock-off of the 98. It retains about 5% of Paul Mauser's design. The only thing it has in common with the 98 is that they both have 2 lugs on the bolt. They couldn't even copy the extractor properly.