Hey Ray I just bought a very nice pre war VZ24 action for a custom rifle. Any sugestions on caliber? For the lenght of action whats the largest I can go and what the smallest? I want to stick to Euro calibers I thought about another 9.3x62 but I already have one of those but who knows. I plan on getting an oberndorf (sp) stock from American Gunstocks and I want a quarter rib on the barrel with a butterknife bolt handel and one hell of a blueing job. Well what do you think? Know any gunsmiths that could fullfill my dream on a budget Oh the twins wanted me to tell you they said HI. ( told them who I was writing and they said "is that the man with the big whiskers on his lip from the stuffed aminal show?" I said ye and they said to tell you hi.

Paleohunter, how about the 10.75x68 Mauser? Shoots the same diameter bullet as the 404 Jeffery, a 347gr. at about 2200fps. in its original loading. Oal 3.16. will fit in a std length Mauser, [7.9x57 (8MM Mauser) oal 3.17, 9.3x62 oal 3.29]. Would be a good low recoil[compared with most big bores] round with plenty of "thump" for most any game with good bullets. Fairly nostalgic also. The type A Oberndorf sporters weighed about 8lbs in this calibre. You could use Woodleigh, Hawk, or Barnes X bullets. My 450/400 3 1/4 with 300gr. Hawk bullets hits big pigs like the Hammer of Thor.

I sure wouldn't go with a 10.75 x 68 because all you can get is Bertram brass and it is crap...Hornburger or something like that makes brass but it higher'n cats back.....I had John Ricks rechamber my 10.75x68 to 404 and put a blackburn box in it...works fine.

You could do a 404 Jefferys or even a 375 or 416 Rem, for that matter....A 9.3x62 or a 9.3x64 is a nice caliber, and both are ideal for that action. All these meet your stock configuration along with all the 8mm's out there...How about an 8x68??

I really like the 9.3x64 and it will duplicate the 375 and is a better plainsgame rifle and has better sectional density than the 375....It is likely the best all around rifle in the world and has been sorely neglected by all of us...A real sleeper. Check out its balistics with 250 gr. bullets and the 320 gr. woodlighs....WOW!!

Isnt the action too short for a 404? I thought the 404 was in the mag lenght actions like the 375. I admit I thought about the 404 until I read in cartriges of the world and it said something about needing a mag lenght action.
Also I was looking at the top of the reciver and since its a military action it has a round top. How would I be able to mount a scope on it if I wanted? I agree the Batrem Brass is junk I got some for my 45-90 and it was pretty ugly to say the least.

The 404 will fit. Ideally the action is opened mostly to the rear, the front of the bolt stop is cut back slightly, and a minimal amount of metal is machined or even polished off of the feed ramp area. Scope mounts are not a problem, many are available. Typically the rear receiver bridge is modified (charger guide hump ground down) to match that of any commercial FN 98 action. Thus, FN style rear bases can be used. One piece bases are also available, with a single rear mounting screw, recessed to fit over the intact charger hump.

As Ray will probably point out, you can get a Mauser to feed practically any cartridge with proper shaping of the receiver feed rails, but if you want more than two in reserve you will be looking at a new, wider (and probably dropped) magazine / floorplate assembly -- I get two in the box (and one in the chamber) on my 416 Taylor w/ 1909 Argentine floorplate; which works for me.

Does your action have a crest? Or a BRNO stamp? Or has is been scrubbed? If the latter, you might want to have someone good take a look at it before investing time/money. Some [most?] of them have really messed up contours w/ regard to scope base mounting, and were worked a little too hard on the grinding wheel.

Good luck. Have fun.

Todd

BTW what about 8x68? That one interests me...

I think you're right on track re: wanting an old Continental / metric caliber. It just seems to match the Mauser 98.

I have concluded that the 98 is a great action for .473 based cartridges, and will probably stick to them in the future. But it was fun playing around and reaching that conclusion!

Todd

The crest is ground off but very lightly most of it is still there. On the left side of the reciver it says ceskoslovenska zbrojovka,a.s.,brno. Does this help?

Yes, that's good. A lot of the ones that I have seen lately at the chain sporting goods stores have been savagely ground down, with a 36 grit belt sander by the looks of them. It doesn't take a lot of stoning or draw filing to lose the crest / lettering, so if you can still see any it's probably salvageable. FWIW, the ones marked BRNO on the top of the front receiver ring are supposed to be earlier and better (pre-'37 if I recall correctly).

I think you have the best of the currently available Mausers, made of heat treated alloy steel -- Argies and Brazilians are nicely finished too, but for my own use I am a little leary of stoking them up. I have an '09 Argentine in 270 (for which I use moderate handloads), and a Brazilian '08 in 7x57. The risk of setting back the lugs in one of these fine old actions isn't worth the gain in velocity w/ maxing out loads to me. You don't have to worry about that with the VZ-24, within the realm of sane reloading.

Something you may want to consider, if you like the look, is a Ruger #1 quarter rib. I'm about to try this myself, when I get around to acquiring another 458 barrel (and a VZ-22 receiver). If interested, I have some measurements to help determine which of the various ribs they make may fit your barrel contour. You more or less need to have the barrel in hand to figure it out. The idea came from a gunsmithing book.

Have fun. Once you get started, you'll never have spare change again.

Todd

I'd package it up and send it to John Ricks or j
Jack Belk and say, make me a 404 or a 9.3x62 or64 that feeds and shoots 1/32nd inch groups at 200 yds. No biggie for these two yahoos.