I know, I know, I know. There are thousands of options when it comes to Mausers.

But, approx what is it going to cost me for a competent Smith to build a quality Mauser(VZ-24 or the likes)chambered in 7 x 57 with a 22" tube, stocked in decent walnut, 3 pos M70 type safety, no engraving? Nothing super fancy, just a quality hunting grade rifle?

Any body here interested in starting a project? Approx how long would it take start to finish?

StikR asys-----

quote:

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I know, I know, I know. There are thousands of options when it comes to Mausers.

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Of those thousands of options which ones do you want?

Had a 25-06 built like this last year.Nothing fancy,Boyd Bros stock,slide safety type timney trigger,24" sporter barrel,Simmons Aetec 3x9 scope.All told,a little over 1,100.00 dollars.Yes,it was expensive.But its one of a kind as far as I'm concerned.

How good are you at looking for deals? From a cost standpoint you are best off looking for a rifle already done that meets your needs/criteria. As far as building, from the prices my usual gunsmith charges, without scope you could get into a complete rifle under 1k, just under. That is buying an action, stock, having it barreled and blued etc.

Find something at least close to what you want and then have it finished, you will pay less. To help though, prices my smiths normally charge me:

Barrel your action (includes Douglas barrel, action trued etc.) 350

Blue action and barrel 195

Drill and Tap 45? (I think that is what it cost me last time)

Reshape bolt handle, something like 80 bucks

safety, like 25 or something cheap

stock work, 50 for inletting and bedding, 50+ for finishing, about 25 per panel for simple checkering.

You can see it really runs up fast. I bought a converted mauser in 264 winmag, nice setup for hunting, complete with scope, good stock (has a bunch of dings that could stand to be ironed out). Complete gun was 270. I could have barrel done for 350 and be in it for 620. Much cheaper if you get something partially done already.

But if you get the custom it will be YOURS. I have my first semi-custom coming out of the shop soon, I say semi because it was a barreled action already when I got it, other than that everything else is at my request. It makes me all tingly thinking about it. (by the way, because I was real blessed in my finding this my total cost will be 725 for a "hunting" rifle, not exhibition by any means)

sorry long winded.

Red

Mr. Belk,

Can't come up with the thousands of options right now, but the few that are important to me are: quality VZ-24 action(bedded), 7x57 or maybe .30-06, bolt handle turned properly, douglas 22" sporter weight barrel, trued action, 3 pos safety, plain walnut stock with four panels hand checkered, decent trigger(Timney or equiv), rust blue finish, possiby a set of express sights. Everything else is open to suggestion...

StikR,

$4000.00 is a nice round number. Thats a decent blank, quality metal work.

Dago Red said it well. Unless you can do some of the work yourself, you're looking at a minimum of about a grand for most basic work, decent quality. Really good quality with more bells and whistles costs a good bit more. A sad part about most custom rifles is they generally don't hold their costs very well. If you want something very specific though, go for it. In that case, the psychological dividends are well worth the initial investment. A good idea is to find a second hand rifle similar to what you want for less than the cost of having the same work done.

$165.00 if you have your own receiver.
$230.00 if you do not have your own reciever.

http://www.gun-shop.biz//

Or you can go the full custom route like this guy for $75.

http://pub86.ezboard.com/fmilitaryfirearmrestorationcornerfrm1.showMessage?topicID=1696.topic

z1r--

I saved the bolt handle picture for my brochure.

Thanks.

That is just absolutely obscene. It's too bad that bolt handle isn't just a little longer, then someone could wrap it around his neck!

Best,
Joe

You guys are brutal If the guy enjoyed himself, and it's safe damn if I'll piss on his parade.

Jack and Joe, you're being way too kind!

Jack, what would you charge me to do a bolt handle like that, but a little longer so I could hang my hat on it? LOL - Sheister

I guess the right answer is, "between $75 and $4000."

[ 04-22-2003, 06:58: Message edited by: Kboom ]

I had a custom built last year on a VZ24 action for under $900 by a gunsmith in Georgia, he supplied 100% of the parts so no extras. He lapped the lugs, squared the action, reprofiled the trigger guard, Fn style commercial bolt shroud, fit Leupold bases, Timney trigger, checkered bolt knob, Douglas 24" barrel, Bell and Carlson spiderweb finish stock, gunkote finish ont he metal, glass bedded action and free floated barrel. Shoots excellent, looks good, finished on time at the agreed price. His web site is at http://www.heritagecustomarms.com .

Stikr,

I suggest that you try to take advantage of the fact that customs dont hold their value. Hit the gun shops and shows. I found a M98 with the original 8X57 bbl but all other sporterizing was already done. Redfield mounts, 3 pos saftey, walnut stock. I paid $220.00 for the gun, added a bbl and refinished the stock. Piece-o-cake!

Roughly $582.00, not including the cost of the action, which is a VZ-24.
I re-shaped the trigger guard myself (simular to a picture I'd seen), re-shaped a new bolt handle (from Midway) simular to an A-Bolt, but more tiangular, and made a scout scope base from Weaver stock material, sanded the action to remove rust, old blue, scratches, and sent it all to my gunsmith.
He installed a Douglas barrel, welded the bolt handle, installed Express Sight System's (Ashley) ghost ring sights, lapped the lugs, sand blasted and parkerized it all. Chambering is 8x57. I'm told it's done today, so what I need now is a new stock and a new trigger. ~~~Suluuq

Turd/Axhole?

So much for using the safety on that one!

WOW!

Now that is a nice piece of work. However, I do believe it cold have been made a bit more classy with a Schwinn bicycle handlebar. What the hell, leave the rubber grip on the handle.
Roger

The case of the Butchered Bolthandle!!

Who cares about the bolt handle -- I wish he hadn't cut that stock. I would have traded him 5 nice 98/22 stocks for that one fiddleback piece.

Just as there is always someone that does nicer work then us, there are also those who have trouble with proportions

Back to the thread at hand. Everyone has a different vision of what they want out of a mauser custom. After having fiddled with a few mausers myself, here is what I've come up with in regards to how I view custom mausers.

If you are building a custom hunting rifle on a mauser action, it is because you want a product superiour to what can be had off the factory shelves. If you're only going to spend as much as a factory gun, you'll have an inferiour product. If I was going to build a custom mauser, even a relatively simple sounding project as the original post stated, I'd breakdown the prices as: $100 for action, $50 d/t for scope, $200 for 3 pos safety, $50-100 for trigger, $50 for new bolt, $200 for barrel blank, $200 to fit barrel, $200 to polish and blue, $500 for wood blank, $500 to turn blank into stock.

Which totals up to $2k, on the low end. You can certainly get one put together for less, but it won't likely be something you'll proudly fondle. Whatever you do, make sure you know exactly what you want, then come up with the funds to have a competent smith assemble it. If you have an idea of what you want, but are short on funds, but go ahead, you won't be happy with the results, you'll either have a bad taste everytime you take the gun out, or you'll sell it a big loss.

Mausers make superb hunting rifles if you put the time and money into building a fine rifle out of it.

Paul, very good summary. The only thing I would add is surface grinding the action for $60 or so.

StikR,
I had a 7x57 built last year just like what you're thinking but using a G98 action and 24" barrel. Ended up costing me just under $900.