Mauser question

[Pyscodog]

A while back I bought this rifle, Firearms International Corp action, in 6AI. After a couple of range trips and a bore scope I found out the barrel was toast. I replaced the barrel with an E.R. Shaw in 2506. Now its a shooter again. I was just curious about the action more than anything. Is the Firearms Int. a good action? From what I can find, it seems to be a decent action for a rifle. I assume, and we know what that means, than its a commercial action by FN, not really a military action. Please feel free to educate me as I don't know much about Mauser rifles or actions.

 

[Lee in Texas]

It’s a darn fine action for a hunting rifle. The early Firearms International rifles are my favorites. Does yours have the stock with the “ring of pearls” at the bottom of the grip? I have a pair from around 1947-1950. Mine have the early “stepped” barrel. “Preacher” on this site restored one of the stocks. It’s just beautiful. It looks like it was purchased yesterday. I could go on all day...

Btw another nice one is the FN 1935 produced in 1940. It has a one year only crest that is way too pretty to drill. I have one that will be a .404 Jeffery.

 

[FNSafari]

FIE, was a company started by WHB Smith who wrote Small Arms of The World. He imported and sold lots but he did import mauser action rifles made by FN Herstal. My late father in law worked for him as an engineer after graduating U Mass. My recollection is the company had $ difficulty and he paid my FIL off in rifles when it folded, That was his story anyway. I have his FN mauser in a nice french walnut stock. It's accounted for lots of deer and 3 moose. 30-06.

It had an atrocious 10 lb military style trigger that I replaced with a Timney, much improved. It still has the wing type safety that rocks up for safe and down for fire. It limits the size of the scope eyepiece you can have on it. It still has its original Denver Redfield 2-7X that has proved bulletproof. Later Browning contracted with FN to make their beautiful Safari, Medallion and Olympian grade mauser actioned bolts. I have a few and they are simply outstanding to look at and accurate to shoot. The FIE info is courtesy of my FIL,

 

[Pyscodog]

Mine is in a Bishop for Fajen stock, not really sure.just a WAG. Also has a Timney trigger that breaks clean. The barrel is 26" and about ,700 at the muzzle. A little on the heavy side but it shoots very good. Really not a pack around rifle but not bad for stand hunting. When I first got it, it had a heavy coat of black paint and was gritty feeling. I stripped the paint and underneath was a very nice piece of walnut. Why it was painted was beyond me. Its got about 8 coats of hand rubbed Tru-oil on it now. Much better!!

 

[Twicepop]

The Mauser rifle specifically the model 98 is a controlled feed action if your not familiar with the term. This means when the cartridge is stripping from the magazine, the cartridge is supposed to be pushed forward a bit then it slides up behind the extractor captured by the extractor to be pushed forward in a straight line into the chamber. The bottom of the bolt should be open to allow the round to feed up under and be held by the extractor. These action don't work well being fed a single cartridge because the extractor has to ride up over the case rim when the round is chambered and the bolt closed. The '03 Springfield is a clone of the Mauser 98 action, Springfield and the American government had to pay royalties to Mauser for patent infringement. Reparations were paid even after the first World War. The Winchester M54 and pre 64 M70s are also clones of the Mauser action as well.

 

[Twicepop]

Another thing about the Mauser 98 action pertains to the internal magazines. These internal magazines were designed to have the cartridges stacked at a 30 degree angle to one and other. To get them to feed in a straight line the cartridge stack needs to be measured for width at the cartridge base and at the shoulders. The feed rails of the action must be ground to reflect these measurements to get the cartridges to strip from the mag in a straight line as well. Chamber a barrel for something like an Ackley Improved round and not altering the dimensions of the feed rails will cause feed problems if it feeds at all.