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Ray Atkinson
The step took a one piece T/C scope mount perfectly and put the 2.5x Leupold a fraction of an inch above the receiver. Having the barrel mounted and the bolt cut and welded (straight down Oberndorf style adding some length)cost the more than the action and barrel combined...
I hacked off the barrel at 20" because I feared the muzzle blast would be horrible. I swapped the two stage military trigger for a one stage military and retained the original safety. Polished the ramp and rails and replaced the beaten on extractor collar and some minor trigger tweaks...
Although the gun had the old 1950's blue still largely intact, I couldn't live with the Columbian crest and filed and shoeshined it off... then I had to polish the bolt sleeve (which was actually pretty smooth) then the bolt and the trigger guard... I wire brushed everything and promised myself to send it out for a black park job but I ended up rust bluing it-- my first rust blue-- a bit splochy- couldn't fit the whole action into the boiling water at one time... could have degreased better too... anyway came out looking already "aged"...
Got the Butler Creek stock like everybody else- hated it. Couldn't even run a half box of 180 grain through the gun- kicked the hell out of me... Got a wood military stock, sporterized it and mounted a thin black Pachmayr- recoil still a bit much for me- ran the other half box throught the gun and sold it to a buddy who kept bugging me about it-- though he needed more gun than a .30-30- he wanted the scope too, but I'm keeping that for the ultimate Mauser Scout the details of which cannot be worked out given presently available actions and accessories.
In short, you're not going to make weight with the Mauser so forget it and go for comfort and balance. You can cut the stock down into a twig and flute the hell out of a #2 barrel with integral pedestal mounts or drill out the mag box or something but it's a waste of time and effort. And the new Scout Stock for Mausers-- disgusting!
So what if the gun is a pound heavier than Cooper says? He had to build his out of plastic and aluminum...
Oh, and the peep sight question; Most go with Ashley but I hate the Ashley peep for Mausers. Looks like a sling swivel on a small base. The Warne Peep Base was excellent- no longer made. Ebay actually had an original Mauser Peep on a round pedestal which sold for $27 bucks! a steal... As I said, optimal details cannot be worked out given presently available actions and accessories...
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Andr�