I picked up a Herters XK3 commercial mauser in .284 win today. It appears to have the factory barrel, but it's been shortened to 23" and has a target crown. I believe this to be a German made Commercial 98 action very similar to the FN actions, but it is intermediate length. It has the full C ring inner collar and a lver release floor plate. I once had a Westernfield 720 made by FW heym that looked the same right down to the floorplate release. Does anyone know if the Herters and Westernfield used the same actions?

Thanks,
Weagle

I have no answer to your question but I wanted to comment on your find.
You did well when you picked that one up. Nice action and an excellent chambering.
My son shoots a .284 in a Ruger M77 flatbolt, very effective and so under appreciated.

Dang it, Weagle. How do you find all the nice stuff you always post?

quote:

Originally posted by Don Slater:
Dang it, Weagle. How do you find all the nice stuff you always post?

I guess I've been living right lately. Found this one at a gun show today in Atlanta, but a big majority of the stuff I find is in Pawn shops.

Weagle

They were advertised in the old Herter’s catalogs as being made in Yugoslavia.

Mike chamberlain

The early XK's were a Gernan made copy of the FN, later versions were made by Zavodi Crvena Zastava in Yugoslavia. "Bolt Action Rifles" by de Hass has info on all of Herter's rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
The early XK's were a Gernan made copy of the FN, later versions were made by Zavodi Crvena Zastava in Yugoslavia. "Bolt Action Rifles" by de Hass has info on all of Herter's rifle.

Yep, and the ones from Yugoslavia were so marked. Unmarked usually means the better German actions!

I'm very jealous of this one, Weagle. Good
find, buddy!

Here's some measurements for those interested.

Magazine box 3.22"
Front ring: 1.41" wide and 1.6" long
Action screw hole spacing 7.620"

I believe those are the same as the intermediate length Yugo mauser.

It also feeds 7x57 and .243 rounds from the magazine just fine. I thought the feed rails might be modified for the .284 so that it wouldn't feed the standard cartridges, but that isn't the case.

Weagle.

Just to muddy your watters a bit...My "Mountain Rifle" is built on a Herters XK3 300 Winchester clearly marked "Spain" on the tang. Folks here thought it was of Centurian manufacture--a commercial 98 nonetheless. Great rifle for the money. Clearly a full length variant, mag box went 3.4, and barrel is .550 at the crown for a 30, light.

I had an XK3 in .257 Roberts, marked "Germany". I believe the action was a tad shorter than your .284. A friend bought one at the same time and he still has his. I'll ask him to check the magazine and action length, but I'm guessing that your .284 is either Yugo or Spanish.

If it helps any, I have a few Vz500 actions that were sold by the US Rifle and Powder Co. of Calif. back in the 60's that are exactly the same as the Herters XK3 action. Same trigger guard and floorplate lever release, bolt habdle was either the ball with a flatened underside or the butterkife style. Also it has the same markings all over the action and parts, the square boxes with numbers inside them. It only differs by being marked Made in Yugoslavia. I think deHass also mentions these actions. I would guess Herters bought from the chepest source to sell their "World Famous Equiptment".
Bob

Mine are intermediate length, with the military bolt shroud and a low scope safety. On your bolt face are there the two projection on the split lug or is it the safety breaching face. My yugos don't have the projections.
Bob

Manhasset, now I see what you are talking about. The bolt face does not have the projections and the face of the barrel is notched for the extractor.

deHass says the yugo version XK3 should have the "H" ring inner collar, but he also says there may be other versions. I guess herters just contracted to use whatever was on hand.

I deleted a couple of my previous posts because I'm pretty sure I was incorrect about my findings and I didn't want to confuse people who may read this info in the future. I'm confident that the bolt face design nails this down as the yugo version.

That is an Intermediate length safety breached Yugo built comercial M98. Weagel if you decide to rebarrel I would be interested in that 284 barrel.

D Humbarger. I might be giving you a call. The .284 is a great cartridge, but I am considering a couple of other chamberings. specifically, 6.5x55, and .376 steyr maybe even a 20" barreled .358 winchester. I think they would be a great match for this action

Thanks I appreciate that weagle. Yep that 284 Winny with the bullets seated out correctly is too long for that action.

Doug,

How can you say the 284 is too long for that action?

Poleax

quote:

How can you say the 284 is too long for that action?

Because I want weagle to sell the barrel to me.

Laughing here. That may rate a discount

Weagle