ok i have been posting a lot about about sporterizing mausers. the reason is that i am wanting to build a deer rifle for my nephew and i am wanting to start on a very affordable budget. this means under 250 to be exact. so i am wanting to see more pics of sporterized mausers. so help me with your pics so i can have some direction to take this build.
mausers.
- Thread starter Klayton83
- Start date
Watch out for the 'bubbarized" Mausers, Springfields, & 1917/1914's. Many have scope mount holes not drilled on the center line.
Trinidad State Junior College Book store Has Mauser actions for sale. You can have your FFL send them a copy of their FFL and a check and when he receives the action you can fill out a BATF4473 and transfer it to you.
It would be easier and much less work to save your money and buy a Montana 1999 action.
Nat Lambeth
It would be easier and much less work to save your money and buy a Montana 1999 action.
Nat Lambeth
Th issue you may run into with a Mauser, is they can get expensive very quickly. Even the pre-bubba'd model from the pawn shop for $100 can end up costing well in excess of $250. I have found many times that a rifle is cheap for a reason, usually due to issues that require a bit of cash to fix. There are other things that often need attention before they are truly suitable for hunting as well. For starters, the two-stage trigger is not near ideal for a hunting rifle and should be replaced. And just that will likely be $80 at minimum, eating a large chunk of your budget. And that's not even beginning to get into the safety or stock work, or any machining that may need to be done.
Basically, unless the rifle is ready to go as purchased, Mausers will often end up being expensive projects to set-up properly. There are better choices for a low-cost hunting rifle that will also perform better and be safer than a hacked up Mauser.
My suggestion is to look to a Stevens or Savage for a low cost, yet very accurate, safe and reliable hunting rifle. They can be had for little money and often in good shape. They are easily worked on by most anyone and have a ton of affordable aftermarket parts available.
I only relay this information as I had looked into doing something very similar with a Mauser I already have, and found it would be very costly to "modernize" the rifle, or even to just bring it up to pace with a decent commercial rifle, like a Savage. Just because they can be purchased for short money doesn't mean they can be converted for short money or even restored for short money. Mausers are often money pits unless you buy one to be used as purchased.
If you do want an old surplus rifle to work with, look into finding a Mosin Nagant M44 with a good bore, or even a 91/30 with a good bore. They use a very capable round, are a very simple design, and don't need much of the work that a Mauser will to be turned into decent hunting rifle. You can basically just swap it into a sporter stock, add one of the scope mount and bolt handle kits and slap a scope on it and have a decent rig for very short money. The triggers can also be improved with a bit of work as well. I myself have several Mosins, as well as one that has been sporterized in a manner similar to what I described. It shoots well and has even taken a deer. I have exactly $280 in it including optics and it will shoot inside 2" at 100yds with soft point ammo. Not bad for money invested and better than I could get from a Mauser with a similar investment. It does have one issue though, and that's the safety, as it is hard to operate, but once it's on is very secure. I just don't keep a round in the chamber until I want to fire, it solves that easily. But you can make them a bit easier to operate, and they are quite safe once engaged. But for a low cost sporter, they are a decent option. If you do a google search, you can see plenty of Mosin projects done by others. Timney also makes a trigger for them as does Huber Concepts, and both are under $100.
If you really want to get involved with a Mauser, than you are more than welcome to. I am not saying "don't do it", only stating the issues and that other options can be had for less money and often easier as well.
I would opt for a Savage/Stevens or a Mosin myself. And that's after building both a Stevens bench rig and a Mosin sporter, and owning both a Savage I bought in .243 used for short money, as well as a new Stevens in .308. I also have the earlier mentioned sporter Mauser in 25/06, and though it does shoot, it would take a good investment and a bit of machining time to bring it up to the level my other rifles are on.
Whatever you do, good luck with it. I hope it turns out well and you have a nice rifle in the end.
Kenny
Basically, unless the rifle is ready to go as purchased, Mausers will often end up being expensive projects to set-up properly. There are better choices for a low-cost hunting rifle that will also perform better and be safer than a hacked up Mauser.
My suggestion is to look to a Stevens or Savage for a low cost, yet very accurate, safe and reliable hunting rifle. They can be had for little money and often in good shape. They are easily worked on by most anyone and have a ton of affordable aftermarket parts available.
I only relay this information as I had looked into doing something very similar with a Mauser I already have, and found it would be very costly to "modernize" the rifle, or even to just bring it up to pace with a decent commercial rifle, like a Savage. Just because they can be purchased for short money doesn't mean they can be converted for short money or even restored for short money. Mausers are often money pits unless you buy one to be used as purchased.
If you do want an old surplus rifle to work with, look into finding a Mosin Nagant M44 with a good bore, or even a 91/30 with a good bore. They use a very capable round, are a very simple design, and don't need much of the work that a Mauser will to be turned into decent hunting rifle. You can basically just swap it into a sporter stock, add one of the scope mount and bolt handle kits and slap a scope on it and have a decent rig for very short money. The triggers can also be improved with a bit of work as well. I myself have several Mosins, as well as one that has been sporterized in a manner similar to what I described. It shoots well and has even taken a deer. I have exactly $280 in it including optics and it will shoot inside 2" at 100yds with soft point ammo. Not bad for money invested and better than I could get from a Mauser with a similar investment. It does have one issue though, and that's the safety, as it is hard to operate, but once it's on is very secure. I just don't keep a round in the chamber until I want to fire, it solves that easily. But you can make them a bit easier to operate, and they are quite safe once engaged. But for a low cost sporter, they are a decent option. If you do a google search, you can see plenty of Mosin projects done by others. Timney also makes a trigger for them as does Huber Concepts, and both are under $100.
If you really want to get involved with a Mauser, than you are more than welcome to. I am not saying "don't do it", only stating the issues and that other options can be had for less money and often easier as well.
I would opt for a Savage/Stevens or a Mosin myself. And that's after building both a Stevens bench rig and a Mosin sporter, and owning both a Savage I bought in .243 used for short money, as well as a new Stevens in .308. I also have the earlier mentioned sporter Mauser in 25/06, and though it does shoot, it would take a good investment and a bit of machining time to bring it up to the level my other rifles are on.
Whatever you do, good luck with it. I hope it turns out well and you have a nice rifle in the end.
Kenny
i have already done 2 savage actions one is a 6mmbr on a stevens 200 and the other is a 7mm -08 with a 18'' tube both shoot great. my neighbor bought a milling machine that cost about 8000 or so and a lathe to match. so i am wanting to do some work on these machines and i want to use a low cost action to strecth my legs.
Even still, a Savage or another commercial action is a better and easier way to go than a Mauser. They are a bit more difficult than most other actions, as well most of them have metric threads I believe.
Trying to build an inexpensive Mauser is the number one reason you can find so many Mauser "project rifles" for short money. People buy them not understanding what it really takes and more importantly what it will cost to actually build the rifle. They are really not something you pick up for $100 and build a cheap hunting rifle from, you buy them already finished if you want a cheap Mauser hunting rifle. Reason being, that "cheap rifle" will turn into an $800 project in no time.
And please don't be offended, but do you plan to do the machining yourself and do you have any experience machining? Is your neighbor set-up to machine rifles, Mausers in particular? If you are not experienced in machining or are not set-up with the tooling to do so, the Mauser is not where you want to start out learning.
I hope you understand I am trying to help and not just be a prick. I just don't want to see you waste money on an action only to realize this is much more involved than it appears. It looks easy to do, until you get started. That's when it starts getting harder.
I do know a bit about this as well, as I have a lathe and mill and have been tooling up for rifle work. It takes a lot more than you could ever imagine.
But good luck anyway. I hope it all turns out well for you.
If you want to see a bunch of Mauser sporters, just google it and click on images.
Kenny
Trying to build an inexpensive Mauser is the number one reason you can find so many Mauser "project rifles" for short money. People buy them not understanding what it really takes and more importantly what it will cost to actually build the rifle. They are really not something you pick up for $100 and build a cheap hunting rifle from, you buy them already finished if you want a cheap Mauser hunting rifle. Reason being, that "cheap rifle" will turn into an $800 project in no time.
And please don't be offended, but do you plan to do the machining yourself and do you have any experience machining? Is your neighbor set-up to machine rifles, Mausers in particular? If you are not experienced in machining or are not set-up with the tooling to do so, the Mauser is not where you want to start out learning.
I hope you understand I am trying to help and not just be a prick. I just don't want to see you waste money on an action only to realize this is much more involved than it appears. It looks easy to do, until you get started. That's when it starts getting harder.
I do know a bit about this as well, as I have a lathe and mill and have been tooling up for rifle work. It takes a lot more than you could ever imagine.
But good luck anyway. I hope it all turns out well for you.
If you want to see a bunch of Mauser sporters, just google it and click on images.
Kenny
a lot of people tell me that i wont be able to do it or what not... I am not an experienced gunsmith. i do however work with my hands everyday for a living that provides for my family. i know that there is a difference between a carpenter and a machinist. but the savage rifles took all of about half an hour to rebarrel trigger job inlet stock load test and shoot bugholes. i am just wanting to do something that is a little more time intensive. and no i dont think it would be smart to save 875 for a montana action plus 300 for a barrel plus 400 for a stock thats still no scope. when i can budget all the tools for the mauser job plus the stock and trigger for the cost of the montana action.
Klayton83 said:
Klayton,
For decades, we have had here only Mauser actions to start with. They were left by the 000s in 1944!!
We quickly learned how to differentiate the good ones (the majority) and built good rifles on them. Conversions of all kinds existed and firms such a Frankonia, Kettner.. in Germany and others built in quantity fine rifles on those reconditionned mechanism until recently....
In the early 60es, many were converted in UK as Target rifles and used intensively for NRA-UK competitions for decades. A Parker Hale version (don't remeember the details) was adopted for Cadet shooting and is still probably in use those days.
Not too long ago, Dumoulin in Belgiu even produced a magnum version (a la post war french Brevex) entirely machined from bar stock...a marvel!.
Actually, the Musgeave RSA is no less than a revamped 98, and is still offered for both sporting and Target shooting
All this to say, if you want to pursue the project, do it. At least you will learn and have fun.
I would not recommend you to try to modify to Single Stage the 98 original 2-stage trigger, not even try to reduce too much its pull weight. There is excellent after market 1 or 2-stage triggers for a change.
If you rebarrel it, do your best to have the barrel shank bearing on both the collar and front face of action.
R.G.C
The last military Mausers, of known origin, that I found that were worth building were priced at $200 + shipping. Classics, yes. Labor intensive, yes. Metric threads, no. I just won't build on a receiver with any rust, thus, the price. The proper tools and skills are needed to not turn them into, well, not much. A drilling jig, at minimum, for drilling and tapping for scope mounts. Bolt handle bending block or welding jig for bolt handle work (and the skills to use either). The price of these tools is only justified, IMHO, if used more than 2 or 3 times given their current prices if you can't make those bending blocks/jigs. I've seen pleanty come thru my shop, 'sporterized un-professionally by their owners or previous owner, that were,,,,, not much. If you've got the talent and don't mind spending a few $$$$ on the proper tools, have at it! But, it's no longer "cheap". just my 2 cents (the bluing on the rifle pic posted by RayO doesn't look like it came out of a bottle you can buy, but out of 'bluing tanks')
butchlambert
Site $$ Sponsor
Yeah,
I bought a 53 Corvette that a guy died in for $200. It was like new with a little smell.
Butch
I bought a 53 Corvette that a guy died in for $200. It was like new with a little smell.
Butch
butchlambert
Site $$ Sponsor
You know, I never looked.
Butch
Butch
butchlambert
Site $$ Sponsor
I'll give you $200 for it and let you keep the scope.
Butch
Butch
Larryh128
Silver $$ Contributor
I have built quite a few Mausers, with that said, IF you don't have machining skills & access to a lathe it will be a difficult process at best. I you have a bubba ized Mauser now, post a couple pixs so we know what direction you need to go. Re-barreling a mauser involves light years more knowledge that a Savage. Measurements must be precise & exact and you need a barrel vise & action wrench. Both which are going to shoot holes in your budget.
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