Went down to FFL deal yesterday afternoon and picked it up. I was extremely worried because the 3 day inspection period had come and gone. I was out of town and unable to look it over during that time. There were a few questions I should have asked during the phone conversation with the seller, but didn't think to till after the charge was already on the card. I called my transfer guy and he refused to open the box till I got there.

Well, I got to the shop and the feeling was kinda strange. A little like a kid on Christmas morning and a little like signing the loan papers on a used car. The transfer guy the whole time is making comments like "I can't believe you paid that much for a used Mauser" I finally got through all the cardboard, paper, bubble wrap, peanuts and pulled this baby out. The FFL guy took one look and said "Oh, I understand now"

With the exception of the "modifications" the rifle looks fantastic. I believe it may have been re-blued, but they did a perfect job. The metal is flawless, no rounded corners or scared metal. The wood is in great shape except for recoil pad and the rear swivel stud which absolutely wreck the collector value of this rifle.

At this point I'm not sure if I'm going to do anything with it or just enjoy it the way it is. Everybody seems to be showing pictures of their new toys for next fall so I figured I'd do the same.

Terry






Now for the bad part

Looks beautiful to me!
I think ya done good!!
I'd probably do something about the recoil pad though. I know it's your rifle and I have no say, but I'd get a professional job by a gunsmith to make it perfect. And, I would leave it as is otherwise.
It IS a beautiful rifle!!!!

DMB, I can't believe you'd talk about my recoil pad like that!


Just kidding I know, it ain't too purdy is it.

Terry

Terry, I have owned 21 ZG-47s and your rifle does not appear to me to have been reblued and the stock appears to be in excellent original condition. Have the recoil pad professionally replaced with a solid red or brown Decelerator and leave the gun as is. Get a set of Warne or Talley detachable mounts to mount your favorite scope. Great find.

quote:

Originally posted by TC1:
DMB, I can't believe you'd talk about my recoil pad like that!


Just kidding I know, it ain't too purdy is it.

Terry

I can't get over how great that rifle is. I'm from the era where those rifles were THE rifles to have, so I drool over older, well kept, rifles. The stock and metal condition are pristine. Doesn't look like it saw much rain, snow and sand, or many rounds through the barrel from what I can see anyway.
Good acquisition!!!
Don

NICE rifle!

quote:

Originally posted by fla3006:
Terry, I have owned 21 ZG-47s and your rifle does not appear to me to have been reblued and the stock appears to be in excellent original condition. Have the recoil pad professionally replaced with a solid red or brown Decelerator and leave the gun as is. Great find.

OK, This is the first one for me. I kind of thought it had been since the bolt handle and floorplate/trigger guard had a different sheen to them. Plus, like I said the bluing is flawless. I do think the rifle did more sitting in a closet in the last 49 years than it did hunting.

Terry

That is a fabulous rifle. Putting a proper pad on it is a piece of cake. Congratulations!

Clemson

Terry-

I think I need to follow along behind you and pick up your culls. Dangit, you come up with some good stuff.

Way to go. What caliber is it? Give us a few more details.

quote:

Originally posted by 30 Caliber Mag Fan:
Terry-

I think I need to follow along behind you and pick up your culls. Dangit, you come up with some good stuff.

Way to go. What caliber is it? Give us a few more details.

Hey Mark, How's it been going?

The seller had two for sale. They were both in .30-06 The 1st one had a scope, mounts and beautiful recoil pad added just like this one. It went for for $1599.

I called about this one and he wanted $1299 for it. Nobody bought it, after a couple of weeks I called him back and he came down to $1000. It was still a lot of cash, but these are kinda rare and I figured I wouldn't get hurt too bad If I ever wanted to part with it so I bought it.

If you remember, After our last fiasco with Mr. Green. My 1909 project went to another gunsmith. He called last week and now is backing out of the job after a year of doing nothing. It sat at his place for months waiting it's turn in line. Then the building the smith was renting space in got a 4" hail storm and collapsed. He moved the shop which took an additional four months and was about to get started on the gun and then his wife got transferred and now he has to break down the shop and relocate. I decided now was the time to bail out.

Well, I was sitting on some cash that I was going give him and said "what the hell, why not" and bought this one. I'm throwing in the towel on the 9.3X62 project. I think the action is possessed by a dead Argentine solder anyway. It's been to three gunsmiths in the last 2 1/2 years and still isn't anywhere near ready. I'm just going to break it down and sell the parts.

How's your rifle coming along?

Terry

I saw them on GA - nice rifles.

My own from the UK is for the most part very good. I bought it as a donor for a custom but shot it first - big mistake.

Second hand scope in Talleys, Lee dies, brass from range bin, left over XMR 2015 and 130gr hornady SPs from previous project yields repeated 0.7MOA....

LOP is somewhat short and comb somewhat low. Will be visiting a local smith to investigate a trigger job and comb raising/new pad.

Yours will be accurate

quote:

Originally posted by DMB:
Looks beautiful to me!
I think ya done good!!
I'd probably do something about the recoil pad though. I know it's your rifle and I have no say, but I'd get a professional job by a gunsmith to make it perfect. And, I would leave it as is otherwise.
It IS a beautiful rifle!!!!

Agree. That pad is an easy fix, and so is the rear sling stud.

Hi TC1 - well done! What year is it? I have a '55 one in 30-06 but it has a straight comb (no 'monte carlo'). I had a bit of trouble with the mag follower seeming to stick and cartridges not popping up smoothly - does your follower have a tiny '21' stamped on the undersurface on one corner??? I wondered if the followers were the same as for the model 21 Brno and if mag boxes were same dimensions? By the way, I believe it is difficult to find a recoil pad narrow enough to fit this slim stock - many pads have a steel plate inside which shows through when it is ground to fit - I've ended up with a ventilated pad, too, but at least it's well fitted! Cheers, Charlie.

cducat, Mine is a 1956 model.

I happen to have a 21H also. I popped the follower out of it and took a picture so maybe you can tell which one you have. The ZG47 is the one on the right.

Here are the follower measurements.

BRNO ZG47 .30-06
3.304" long
0.853" wide at the back
0.705 wide at the front

BRNO 21H 7X57
3.060" long
0.819" wide at the back
0.650 wide at the front


Sorry about the measurements in inches, I'm metric-ly challenged

As you can see in the picture, they are distinctly different. You should be able to identify the one you have from the picture. Niether of mine have any markings that I can see.

I hope this helps.

Terry

Dangit guy's, quit talking about my pad!

Hi Terry- thanx so much - my one definitely looks like the one on the right, as one would expect - does your mag box have two vertical ribs on each side i.e. front and rear - it seems to me that the clearance at the rear one is a bit tight - the cut-out on the follower clears the front rib well but the follower tends to rub against the rear rib? My follower has a small diamond with 'OK'and'21' on the right rear underside corner. The follower on the left looks as one would expect like a standard mauser 98 one. Cheers, Charlie. PS BTW I see mine is a 56 too - it's my Win 70 30-06 that's a '55'. There must be something about the mid-50s!

That ZG 47 would look great in my safe next to my '51 Brno model 1 . I'll PM you my postal address .