Did some horse trading at a gun show today.
I cam home with a venezulan 98 mauser in 7X57. It is a military rifle and in prety good shape.
the tag said it is a Target vesion, and I don't know about that ,but it has a very good lader type rear site , with a white triangle under the noch and a front site that is driftable for windage.
It is an FN production and has the fancy crest still on the reciever ring. The tag called it a 24/30. Is this rifle likly worth the 275. I paid for it ?
Is it any thing special ? I figure and FN mauser action can't be all bad.
I will shoot it as is and then decide if I want to sporterize it or what.
The magazine seems to be of the short (mauser length) variaty.
Most likly even if I sporterize it I would stay with the 7X57...
...tj3006

quote:

Is this rifle likly worth the 275. I paid for it ?

In a word, YES! Sporterizing the rifle, of course, will ruin collector value but, if it's what you want to do, it's a great action for it.

If it has a decent bore, I'd certainly see it as being worth $275. Let me be the first to express regrets at the thought of it being 'sporterized'. In fact I have one exactly like that, that's been 'sporterized' (not by me!), in a rather decent stock, that shoots incredibly well....and I'd be more than happy to trade it straight across for an original one.

well tumble weed, I will shoot it as is soon
that will tell me what to do with it.
has yours been set up for scope mounting, cause If I choose to sporterize that would save me a chunk of change off the top...tj3006

I'm afraid my remark was largely in jest, as I suspect you're in the U.S., while I'm in Canada.

There was a day when we used to hunt and trade guns back and forth like neighbors ought to be able to. Unfortunately, our respective Governments no longer trust us and seem to feel they have to regulate us like children.

Now, we'd probably both end up in jail and the guns would end up in a smelter.

You may be right about canada,
But in the us private parties can prety much trade bolt action rifles at will.
In My home state of Oregon when you buy at a gun show you are suposed to call a phone number and do a records check and pay 10.00 but those formalities from time to time get over looked.
By the way my new rifle has a serial # of 63.
So, I supose that would make its birthday in 1924.
I loaded up some 162 grain hornady boat tails as long as I could and get them to feed. Might just try her out tomorow.
...tj3006

Hang on to that 7x57mm Venezuelan Rifle. Read Robert Ball's book Military Mausers of the World. They were arsenal conversions of regular FN 24/30s with longer barrels. 400 conversions were made for an Olympic team work up in the 1950s, so the unsporterized rifle is a relative rarity.

LLS

quote:

You may be right about canada,
But in the us private parties can prety much trade bolt action rifles at will.

So can we, domestically. But taking one, much less trading one, across 'the line' is a whole different matter.

Believe it or not, the U.S State Department will no longer allow American suppliers to sell and/or ship scopes or gun parts to Canada....outside of the shirts and shoes, Cabelas catalogues are pretty much useless to us. I tried to order some milsurp barrels from Brownells a while back - "Sorry, we are no longer allowed to ship to Canada by order of the U.S. State Department".

Visitors who dare stop at a gun shop on the American side are risking having their vehicles torn apart by U.S. Customs on departure. Apparently some security agency is photographing any Canadian license plates found in gun shop (or God forbid, gun show!) parking lots and forwarding them to Customs. So much for cross-border shopping, s far as gun stuff goes! Going to gun show in Great Falls or Kalispell pretty much guarantees that your vehicle will be searched at the border before you leave, and God help you if you picked up a Lyman 48 sight or a bag of brass.

Oh well, it used to be fun, and swap meets between Albertans and the guys in Montana, Idaho and Washington used to be a much looked-forward-to part of the summer. It's a damn shame.

I had no idea.
Wonder where thety get all the man power for stuff like that...tj3006