I keep looking for actions and finding some with no idea what they're worth.

This one is a Belgium FN action (so marked) for .30-06 length cartridge. Bottom metal. Appears to be in excellent condition except for the two action screws that appear to have been moved with a screw driver that did not fit well. 4 digit serial number with an "A" prefix. Bolt has a checkered flat on the underside. Says it has a Sako trigger???

Anyway, asking $425.00. Is that high, low or on the mark.

FN commercial or FN military; one is double the value of the other.

Picture?

If yours action has SAKO trigger it´s very obvious that action is from SAKO Highpower i.e. it's FN made commecial without any thumb cut.

Yes, it is commercial, no thumb cut.

igorrock is probably correct. It's probably an early Sako Mauser. There is an off chance that it could be a Sako Mauser trigger which has been put into another FN 98 but that's really grasping at straws and an FN Mauser is an FN Mause whether it was made for Sako, Browning or any other secondary manufacturer. If it was a complete gun it would be worth a lot to some silly Sako collector but as it sits it's worth nothing more than any other commercial FN 98 action. The Sako trigger adds little to the value as they were a pretty crappy trigger even in their day.

Mauser actions are getting kind of cheap here in Canada because we can buy the Serbian Zastava actions and if you actually want a really good one you can get the CNC made Chinese made Mauser/Model 70 half breeds. I have barreled 3 of the Chinese actions so far and they are super clean actions.

quote:

CNC made Chinese made Mauser/Model 70 half breeds

Say,
what's that? got a link?

That's an awful lot of money! Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy an old Herter's or somesuch and take the barrel off?

We cannot get Chinese rifles; Clinton made sure of that; just wait until billary gets in; you ain't seen nothing.

So I'm guessing that the asking price is high?

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
We cannot get Chinese rifles; Clinton made sure of that; just wait until billary gets in; you ain't seen nothing.

I don't think that Fibberly Clinton will be able to do much from prison. Well that's where she should be.

I don't think your new President "The Don" will open up China for much either. He will probably keep the trade embargo in place to keep American money at home. I would in his place!

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:

quote:

CNC made Chinese made Mauser/Model 70 half breeds

Say,
what's that? got a link?

I don't know for sure which Chinese arms plant is making them Jeff. That's all been pretty hush hush. The three that I have seen are DEFINITELY NOT, what you would see coming from Norinco. They scream of CNC manufacture and the lines are dead true to .0001 inch on the flats which a fart smeller would bet means: "cut from pre-hard material."

here-see-look-see

http://www.leverarms.com/mauser-action.html

speer; that is not the same as the action listed on Tradeex is it? --- John

Tradex may be selling them too. I haven't looked. I generally don't go looking for actions. I try to get the customers to supply their own barrels, actions and reamers these days. Importing stuff is just to costly and time consuming for a one man operation and because of that, the customers know more about whats available than I do most times. I'll look at Tradex's site and see what they have.

For myself, I am pretty happy to get a good FN for anything around the 400 dollar mark. It's a damn fine action and is worlds better finished than a Zastava Mauser. I agree with Rod on the trigger. I don't really like them but, on the other hand, they work OK.
For a hard-use field rifle, nothing beats a Mauser IMO. Regards, Bill

Well, Trade X is carrying a Mauser clone too. Made by Dumoulin. It looks like the ChiPop but it doesn't look like the ChiPop. It's also $100 cheaper than the ChiPop. It's been a while since I worked on the ChiPops but I would say that if the pictures are correct the ChiPop was better than the grenouille action. I don't recall that the ChiPops had any branding or proof marks on them either.

Dumolin ChinaPop by Rod Henrickson, on Flickr

quote:

Originally posted by Bill Leeper:
For myself, I am pretty happy to get a good FN for anything around the 400 dollar mark. It's a damn fine action and is worlds better finished than a Zastava Mauser. I agree with Rod on the trigger. I don't really like them but, on the other hand, they work OK.
For a hard-use field rifle, nothing beats a Mauser IMO. Regards, Bill

Thanks Bill.

quote:

Originally posted by speerchucker30x378:
Well, Trade X is carrying a Mauser clone too. Made by Dumoulin. It looks like the ChiPop but it doesn't look like the ChiPop. It's also $100 cheaper than the ChiPop. It's been a while since I worked on the ChiPops but I would say that if the pictures are correct the ChiPop was better than the grenouille action. I don't recall that the ChiPops had any branding or proof marks on them either.

Looks like the same Dumoulin Mauser-esque actions Sarco was selling for $295 a couple of years back.

The Sarco actions were definitely not made in China.

Yeah and I don't think anyone in their right mind would advertise that something was made in China, unless it was and they had too. Well, for now. Give them time. Made in Japan used to be a swear word !

quote:

Originally posted by dpcd:
The Sarco actions were definitely not made in China.

http://rulings.cbp.gov/detail.asp?ru=559392&ac=pr
Who knows where anything is really made nowadays. I certainly don't know.

quote:

The Sako trigger adds little to the value as they were a pretty crappy trigger even in their day.

Which way ? I have both SAKO and TIMNEY trigger in my Mausers and have noticed only one difference i.e. you could adjust Timney a little lighter than SAKO. Both are very exact and have short trigger pull without any roughness.

quote:

Originally posted by igorrock:
If yours action has SAKO trigger it´s very obvious that action is from SAKO Highpower

Not necessarily.

I've had two different commercial FN's with Sako triggers. IIRC these were stamped Eatons Truline.
Eatons was a Canadian retailer similiar to Sears and Roebuck in the US.

I'll dig up pics later.

The early Sakos used FN Mauser actions. It's easy to tell if it's one of the FN Mausers that was made for Sako because it will have the (Licky-The-Lion) Sako proof marks on the bolt handle, bolt body and the action body.

Legend on the pics says "Made in Belgium". Is it China or Belgium?

quote:

Originally posted by Bobster:
Legend on the pics says "Made in Belgium". Is it China or Belgium?

Well, the actions are made in China. But for some weird reason, after they install the barrel, trigger, stock and brand the Dumoulin name on them they suddenly become "MADE IN BELGIUM".

It's the same as all of these new, high tech, combat wombat scopes that are marked made in the "MADE IN THE PHILIPPINES" on the underside of the turrets but are actually produced in China that some how get stamped "MADE IN THE USA" on the box. The rubber stamp that they used to stamp the box "MADE IN THE USA", was made in the USA. The box was actually made in Taiwan.

It's a bit confuzzlin but it makes sense if you work for a government agency like the DMV.

I saw a bag of salmon the other day that said, "Wild Alaska Salmon." Underneath of that it said, "Product of China." It's the old, "Last guy to touch it" rule, I guess.

Crap!
I knew it was Chinese, dammit!

Some of the old timers may remember Flaig's Lodge near Pittsburgh. It was a gun shop that sold a lot of items mail order throughout the country. FN actions were a mainstay of their business and almost all were sold with a Sako trigger. I have a pal that has two guns that were made with FN actions bought from Flaigs with a Sako trigger. The shop has been gone for many years but I'm sure some of their actions are floating around.

Who care's about the damn trigger!

Are these Chinese or not? Yes they are!

Oh let's change the subject and talk about the great trigger's!

Really or why? So you can feel better?

quote:

Originally posted by Norseman:

Are these Chinese or not? Yes they are!

Certainly appears that they are.
Too bad Sarco intentionally or unintentionally misrepresented them making it a big mess.

Funny but Sarco's description states...
MANUFACTURED BY THE FAMED FIREARMS MAKER DUMOULIN OF BELGIUM

So it really doesn't say they were made IN Belgium.

Requirements to label something as "Made in XYZ" vary with country. The USA has some pretty stringent requirements. The majority of the item must be manufactured in USA as well as the major part the assembly. It is known as the "all or virtually all" standard. "Made in USA" labeling is regulated by the in USA by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

But European countries are much more lax. Items are often labeled as made in a country just because they were assembled and finished there. Labeling in Asian countries is even less regulated.

"MANUFACTURED BY THE FAMED FIREARMS MAKER DUMOULIN OF BELGIUM" doesn't mean anything regarding country of origin.

$400 is a good price for a commercial FN action, more if it has a better trigger.

If you want to pay less, a Mark x is a good choice, if you can find just an action. Usually can only find whole rifles which aren't usually under 400.

Didn't want DR. Hall762 thinking that he got a sweet deal on a Belgium action and then spend another $1,000.00 on custom exotic wood stock and then he show's it off with friends at camp and they ask him "why did you buy a Chinese rifle action when you could've gotten the real one for a extra buck's?
Nice rifle stock by the way, buddy.

Not to worry. Found a better deal on a much better action so I think I'll build a big bore on it just for fun. No exotic wood to begin with. Plain old utilitarian. Then if I can handle the recoil I'll go with pretty.

drhall, perhaps a rare exception but there was a fellow wantingto bring in a Mauser but was blocked because it was "military" as it had a thumb cut. The owner won his case as he had all the original paper work. Bought new as a civilian rifle !! Even though it had a cut out !

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
drhall, perhaps a rare exception but there was a fellow wantingto bring in a Mauser but was blocked because it was "military" as it had a thumb cut. The owner won his case as he had all the original paper work. Bought new as a civilian rifle !! Even though it had a cut out !

All I can say is good for him. Glad someone actually won one. It is absolutely unbelievable what constitutes a "bad gun" these days.

quote:

Originally posted by speerchucker30x378:
Well, Trade X is carrying a Mauser clone too. Made by Dumoulin. It looks like the ChiPop but it doesn't look like the ChiPop. It's also $100 cheaper than the ChiPop. It's been a while since I worked on the ChiPops but I would say that if the pictures are correct the ChiPop was better than the grenouille action. I don't recall that the ChiPops had any branding or proof marks on them either.

Dumolin ChinaPop by Rod Henrickson, on Flickr

Rod have you handled these actions? If so is one better finished, internally and externally, than the other?

I'm also wondering about the side cuts along the "flat tops" of the ChinaPop. Presumedly they're scope rings slots which also raises the question of why they're also drilled?

Thanks,

I installed barrels on three of them. They are dove tailed and drilled and tapped just like Tikkas are. The dove tail is a freak metric size and what I finally did was made flat bottomed, Weaver style bases with small skirts on the sides to cover the dove tails and utilized the holes in the receiver. Now that I think of it I probably worked from a Warne or one of the steel Weaver bases. The machining and tolerances on those actions was fine but the outside finish is about a 240 belt weight so it's pretty course. They seemed to be CNC cut from forgings.

I think the ones I worked with were the lower ones from Lever Arms.

Thank you!