yup, it might actually happen, although i'm not making any promises. Dad got a new toy, a hydrolic barrel vice today and i just happened to have a '91 Mauser with a tomatoe stake barrel jammed in it from the previous owner's failed project (he gave it to me afterward). well, after quite a long wait (and quite a heavy weight, @16 ton vice) the barrel is off and the action is in fairly good condition, now it's time to really go berserk. first things first, i have to get a '91 bolt shroud ( previous owner modified a swedish shroud and installed it). I'm probably going to have to re-blue the action, then i'm cutting off the bolt handle and silver soldering a butterknife handle on. looks like pac-nor's the only game in town worth looking at for 303 cal barrels, so i'll go with them. I'm just going to scour the gun shows for a nice sporting stock (half finished) with some nice wood on it and i'll work it down and stain it with tung oil which we have here. along with those basics, i'm going to get a lyman 57 sme rear and a banded front ramp on the front sight. I'm thinking either a side mount or i'll get a scout-type scope mount for the barrel (i don't want to screw up the argentine crest on the reciever). Trigger's not bad now, oddly enough breaks fairly easily, so that i'll probably just stone. Finally, put a barrel band on it and a srew on oval swivel on the butt-end and a skeleton grip and butt cap. Caliber will of course be 7.65 Argentine (yup, gotta get reamers go/no-go guages too).

and if you read all this, then you've got way way too much time on your hands , time i might add, you should use to build your own projects

oh forgot to mention that if i ever get this moving i'll post my progress, sans pictures (sorry guys, this thing's probably going to drain any money i might have had for either a digital camera or a scanner ) here, for your convenience and enjoyment .

[ 06-22-2002, 05:25: Message edited by: Curtis_Lemay ]

Go for it, Curtis. And the old Argentine 7.65 cartridge is a good one as well.

yeah, i'm gonna take it as far as my wallet will go. I've already got a 7.65 '91 argy so i know that's one good round.i think, since i have the other argy set up for 150 grainers i'll use 174s in this one once it's up...

now one question, should i put a ruby in the bolt like that guy with the weatherby did?

Curtis, I ran across a beater '91 Argy a while back. Got a new surplus barrel from Samco and shortened it to 16.5", added a turn down bolt handle, a set of take off Remington sights, and shaped the wood into something nice. It turned into a nice handy little rig. The 7.65 is a very good little round. Some guys think the box mag is a little butt ugly, but I think it looks kinda cool

ok guys, here's my first update:

I've decided that since i already own a 7.65 custom '91, that I'd try for something else, that is perhaps a little more available in the line of barrels, bullets, and brass (god i feel like such a sell out ). So I'm going to build it around the 7x57 Mauser case, which i'm somewhat partial to . I contacted Great American Gunstock http://www.gunstocks.com/Great_Americax.html and they informed me that their Oberendorf Classic http://www.gunstocks.com/styles_1.html is inletted for this action, looks like a #3 grade English Walnut stock is the way to go for me. I'll probably go to Douglas for a number 3 or 4 Sporter Barrel. For the scope, I'm going to use a side mount base and a steel tube low, fixed power single bell scope; ie: an old 2x or 4x fixed scope. I'm also eyeballing a ramp and some leaf irons instead of the peep sight

The rest of the original post is going to remain the same...at least until the next update . This should turn out to be a real nice turn of the (last) century european sporter....at least that's the main idea anyway

more to come, eventually
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BTW Craigster,
Sounds like you got yourself a nice little thumper there. I think the worst thing about that magazine is that it kills the otherwise smooth lines on my other '91 with a mannlicher stock, but it's certainly not ugly. I'm glad to see you've had some success with your project, have you taken it into the woods for deer season yet, and if so, have you been successful?

[ 06-25-2002, 08:32: Message edited by: Curtis_Lemay ]

Yes Curtis, I have taken Coastal Blactails with it in seasons past. I use 180gr Sierra spitzers loaded to 2500fps and they do the job quite well. BTW, I stocked a '91 for a friend with the same stock you plan to use. All done up it's a nice looking rifle.