Building on a Mauser Action

[Sir Buckwheat]

As a kid I my dad had a friend/gunsmith that swore by the Mauser actions. He had a few guns built that were tackdrivers! I guess those memories stuck. Last month I saw a 25-06 for sale that was built on a Mauser action for a pretty good price so I grabbed it. My dad's friend is now gone, so I can't hit him up for ideas so I thought I'd ask around. I'm mainly a traditional bowhunter but have been wanting to get into long range shooting. I know, both extreems! I either want to be close enough to touch them or be able to really reach out and touch them...

 

So where would you start? Or is there a good gunsmith that you know of that could be of help. I'll be on a budget but want to have a reliable gun I can reach out to 800-1000 yards to knock over the local coyotes as well as trying some out of state rifle hunts for deer and elk.

 

I've been looking at the Shepard scopes, as well as various turret scopes trying to figure out which would be the best route. I know two guys who shoot the Shepards and swear by them.

[youngbuck]

I'm not much help with the mauser actions but have spent some time behind scopes.

 

The Shepards do work well, but i'm not a huge fan. Everybody who I know who has had a Shepard switches to the Swaro BR if they want a drop reticle. Leupold has a nice drop reticle as well. I shoot a 1" tube Swaro TDS reticle. It works well for me. Longest kill was 729, lots over 400. I prefer the BR retice, but they want close to $300 to change it. THe 1" tubes were relativley cheap a while back (400 less than what I paid)

 

For turret options, look at Kenton industries. THey make MOA and drop turrets. Vortex makes some now, as well as Leupold too

 

For a budget scope, I just ordered a vortex target dot reticle in a 6.5-20x50 that I'm gonna have turrets put on for a buddies rig. (280scope + 100 turret)

 

Zeiss also makes a reasonalbe priced turret option scope.

 

Its just my opinion, but I believe reticle drops work well 3-700 yards. I think if you stretch out to 1k turrets are the way to go.

 

My next rifle will be topped with a Nightforce w/ turrets. (I'm still dreamin though)

[EBB]

Isn't this really a Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Toyota discussion? Many fine rifles have been built with Mauser actions.

Isn't the purpose of the action to feed, hold, fire and eject rounds? In order to get a great rifle with any action

you need a quality barrel, quality trigger, pillar bedding, floated barrel, and the best mounts and optics you can afford. The bolt face needs to be trued to the barrel and the lugs need to be lapped and the whole thing correctly headspaced. All of this with any action that can handle the pressures that you are creating should be an accurate long range rifle. Not trying to start anything but this just seems to make sense.

EBB

[jeffro]

the easiest and cheapest way to get into long range shooting is to buy a rem 700 sendero in the caliber of your choice. i shoot regularly in long range matches 500-1000 yards. i have never seen a mauser action there. my gunsmith will only put a barrell on either a remington or custom action. selll the mauser and get a rem 700

 

Big +1, but Im very fond of 700s.

[.270]

there is nothing "wrong" with a mauser. especially a 98 or mark x. a lot of the 98's are converted military actions and if they still have the military trigger, you'll want to change it. they are extremely well made and strong. for years, weatherby, browning, sako, colt, etc., used mauser actions in their rifles. personally, for hunting rifles, i like the claw extractor. some folks believe the extractor notch in the barrel makes them less accurate, but i don't see how that can really be. it's easier to use a 700 or something, but there ain't anything wrong with mausers. 700's have some glaring problems too. the new trigger is an improvement. but that skinny little extractor can be a sumb!ch with a suspect reload sometimes. mausers have a quick lock time and can be made to be even quicker with some work. if you chose to start a rifle with a mauser action, you can have excellent results. Lark.

[thegunsmith2506]

My best shooting rifle is built on an FN Mauser action. I would shoot the gun with some good quality ammo before doing anything to it. You never know what you might have. Good luck!

[Sir Buckwheat]

My best shooting rifle is built on an FN Mauser action. I would shoot the gun with some good quality ammo before doing anything to it. You never know what you might have. Good luck!

 

I actually went out and did just that last night. I bought it so I could take my kids elk hunting with me this year and it starts in a couple of weeks. I usually bow hunt but thats not easy with a 5 and 7 year old along so I thought we'd give rifle hunting a try this year. I'd been wanting a good rifle to shoot coyotes with anyway.

 

We don't have a lot of variety here locally as far as ammo goes but I bought a box of Federal's Fusion ammo in 120 grain. The guy I bought it from said his brother had it custom built several years ago and only used it for 2 years then had problems of some sort and couldn't hunt anymore. This guy bought it from him for his kids but his kids didn't like it because the wood stock was too heavy. The barrel looks really clean and overall the gun is in good shape.

 

The shells I bought say they have a 3inch drop at 200 yards when zero'd at 100yards. I sighted it in 3inches high at 100 yards and then backed off to 200 and shot my last 3 shells. Two shots were touching and the 3rd was about 3/4 inch high right of the other two. This just might be the best $200 I've spent...It will need a different stock since it doesn't fit me very well, its a little short, and an upgrade on my optics but the gun itself might be ok. I'll definitely be replacing the base and rings too, they gave me a little trouble right off and I wasted half the box of shells because of them.

 

Right now I've got a Bushnell Trophy scope that I bought about 15 years ago. I also really like the 25-06 caliber. I've filled 2 cow tags with one that my father-in-law has, both one shot kills at 250-300 yards. I'm excited to get back into guns and long range shooting. I burned up a lot of powder when I was in high school shooting coyotes and can't wait to get back into that...

[billrquimby]

Lark is right on ... again!

 

There is nothing wrong with a Mauser action. Its extractor and feeding system are considered by professional hunters in Africa to be the epitome for dangerous game.

 

My favorite rifle began life as a barreled Mark X Czech-built Mauser action with a 7 mm Remington Magnum barrel. I built its stock myself from a slab of Texas walnut we sawed from a tree on a friend's ranch. Its trigger is not the best, but it is safe and fine for the work I do with it. The only other thing I did other than to glass bed the stock was to replace the wimpy tang safety with a two-position Winchester Model 70-type.

 

It is not the most accurate of my rifles, but I don't think that's the fault of the action. (All I ask from my hunting rifles is minute-of-deer/antelope/hog or whatever I'm hunting). I've taken game of all sizes from all over the world with it, and it has never failed me.

 

Bill Quimby

[.270]

minute of deer accuracy. now that is a saying worth remembering there Bill. i read once that the dangerous game hunters in africa will only carry 3 types of rifles, a mauser, a pre64 model 70 or a high grade double rifle. because they alway feed and fire and they never leave a spent case in the barrel. Lark.

[billrquimby]

... i read once that the dangerous game hunters in africa will only carry 3 types of rifles, a mauser, a pre64 model 70 or a high grade double rifle. because they alway feed and fire and they never leave a spent case in the barrel. Lark.

 

Right again, Lark, except that some of the PHs who can afford double rifles will have their gunsmiths eliminate the automatic ejectors. I can only assume that they don't to make it easy for a wounded and very angry critter to locate them when they must open their rifles to reload.

 

Bill Quimby

 

[.270]

i think what we think of as hunting here in north America is completely different than what the PH's do chasing hippos, cape buffalo, lions and elephants. i guess the crocs could be chunked in there too. these things can and do kill folks on a regular basis. and people don't have to be hunting them, to have them hunt back. i've had a couple mt lions chase me around a bit, got in a fistfight with a bear while i was fishing once, got swatted by a bobcat that was getting squarshed by a rock i was standing on, had a couple javelinas chase me, been kicked by a wounded buck. but a .22 would put any of these animals down in fine fashion. i've had a pretty dangerous and exciting life compared to most and i've never really been afraid of an animal doing any more than leaving a few scars. those PH's need someone to help pack their nuts. they wouldn't even think of using a lot of rifles that are completely fine for here. they have to be able to have complete confidence that their rifle will fire every time they pull the trigger. there is a book called karamojo about a named w.d.m. bell that was an ivory hunter. he hunted elephants with a 7x57 mauser. he liked having 5 rounds instead of 2 and knew what he was doing. i read once where he said if he were young again and going to hunt ivory he would used a .308. he would use a .308 over an '06 because the cartridge is a hair shorter and you can cock and fire it a hair faster and sometimes that hair kept you alive. the claw extractor was developed for men to shoot each other and have confidence that that their rifle would always fire and repeat. it is a survival mechanism. that's why PH's use rifle with a positive extracting system. a lot of sporting rifles have gone away from it because they don't have to be involved in life or death situations and they are a heck of a lot cheaper to make. for whatever reason a lot of folks cuss the claw extractor, i would guess it's more of a ford chevy deal, but there is a reason that it is still around. i like mausers. and winchesters. and remingtons and other inferior actions. i like em all. but i do know why some guns are different. Lark.

[EBB]

I once bought a 98 Mauser that had been converted to 30-06. Had a stepped barrel (military style) first shot was always good but after that it was anyones guess. Put a Fajen Black Walnut stock on it, glass bedded the action and floated the barrel. Same thing, first shot good, after that 2nd could be 4" any direction. Changed the firing pin spring and put in a Timney trigger. Same thing. Took it to a Gunsmith and had it rebarrelled to 270. It shoots 5/8 inch 3 shot groups consistently now. I also have a 308 I built on a 98 and bought an Israeli surplus (in the white) barrel.

Installed that one myself. Put in a Timney and put it in a synthetic stock. It shoots the same 5/8 to 3/4 groups.

EBB

[billrquimby]

i think what we think of as hunting here in north America is completely different than what the PH's do chasing hippos, cape buffalo, lions and elephants. i guess the crocs could be chunked in there too. these things can and do kill folks on a regular basis. and people don't have to be hunting them, to have them hunt back. i've had a couple mt lions chase me around a bit, got in a fistfight with a bear while i was fishing once, got swatted by a bobcat that was getting squarshed by a rock i was standing on, had a couple javelinas chase me, been kicked by a wounded buck. but a .22 would put any of these animals down in fine fashion. i've had a pretty dangerous and exciting life compared to most and i've never really been afraid of an animal doing any more than leaving a few scars. those PH's need someone to help pack their nuts. they wouldn't even think of using a lot of rifles that are completely fine for here. they have to be able to have complete confidence that their rifle will fire every time they pull the trigger. there is a book called karamojo about a named w.d.m. bell that was an ivory hunter. he hunted elephants with a 7x57 mauser. he liked having 5 rounds instead of 2 and knew what he was doing. i read once where he said if he were young again and going to hunt ivory he would used a .308. he would use a .308 over an '06 because the cartridge is a hair shorter and you can cock and fire it a hair faster and sometimes that hair kept you alive. the claw extractor was developed for men to shoot each other and have confidence that that their rifle would always fire and repeat. it is a survival mechanism. that's why PH's use rifle with a positive extracting system. a lot of sporting rifles have gone away from it because they don't have to be involved in life or death situations and they are a heck of a lot cheaper to make. for whatever reason a lot of folks cuss the claw extractor, i would guess it's more of a ford chevy deal, but there is a reason that it is still around. i like mausers. and winchesters. and remingtons and other inferior actions. i like em all. but i do know why some guns are different. Lark.

 

Lark:

 

I think you would enjoy the books by Peter Hathaway Capstick. He was a controversial guy, but there is no doubt he lived a great life.

 

He grew up in New Jersey, left his job as a Wall Street broker before his 30th birthday and outfitted and guided jaguar hunts in Central and South America before moving to Africa and working as a PH in Botswana and Zambia. He found his second wife in South Africa and lived there until his death at age 56.

 

His books, especially, "Death In The Long Grass," are said to have encouraged countless people to make their first hunting safaris.

 

I knew Peter though my position as SCI's publications director, but not well. His widow (also an author) and the man she married after Peter died and I have become good friends. I can't say whether Peter did some of the things he claimed in his books, but he certainly had a way with words.

 

Bill Quimby

[Sir Buckwheat]

Thanks for the replies guys. I didn't realize the PH's in Africa carried mausers. Someday I'll make it there....hopefully sooner than later. Doubt I'll be able to afford any dangerous game but Kudu, Impala, Waterbuck, and Duiker have been in my dreams since I was 8 years old, along with getting to hunt the African plains.

 

So I shot my gun the other day and once I got it sighted in things looked pretty good. I was shooting Federals Fusion Ammo in 120 grain. My last 3 shot group was pretty impressive. Friday I got to a town with more ammo. I bought another box of Fusions and a box of Hornady 117 grain GMX. My first shot didn't even hit paper. I finally got it zero'd in and had 2 shots pretty tight. The next shot was 8 inches high and left. Then I had a shot way right. I thought it might be me so I did a couple dry fires to make sure I was staying steady, then shot again. This one was 6 inches low.

 

I wondered if it was the new ammo so I put the Fusions back in and got the same result. Shots all over. I could dial it in then within 2-3 shots it was all over the place. I'm thinking it might be my scope mounts. They came with the gun but I wasn't crazy about them They have set screws on the back that move the scope left to right. I'm thinking they are allowing the scope to move. I can't think of anything else that would make it zero in for 2 shots then jump around like it is. Any thoughts?

 

I'm shooting a Bushnell Trophy that I bought 15 years or so ago and used it on a .300 Mag that I had. It never gave me a bit of trouble then so I don't imagine it would now. It hasn't been used in 10 years.

[billrquimby]

Thanks for the replies guys. I didn't realize the PH's in Africa carried mausers. Someday I'll make it there....hopefully sooner than later. Doubt I'll be able to afford any dangerous game but Kudu, Impala, Waterbuck, and Duiker have been in my dreams since I was 8 years old, along with getting to hunt the African plains.

 

So I shot my gun the other day and once I got it sighted in things looked pretty good. I was shooting Federals Fusion Ammo in 120 grain. My last 3 shot group was pretty impressive. Friday I got to a town with more ammo. I bought another box of Fusions and a box of Hornady 117 grain GMX. My first shot didn't even hit paper. I finally got it zero'd in and had 2 shots pretty tight. The next shot was 8 inches high and left. Then I had a shot way right. I thought it might be me so I did a couple dry fires to make sure I was staying steady, then shot again. This one was 6 inches low.

 

I wondered if it was the new ammo so I put the Fusions back in and got the same result. Shots all over. I could dial it in then within 2-3 shots it was all over the place. I'm thinking it might be my scope mounts. They came with the gun but I wasn't crazy about them They have set screws on the back that move the scope left to right. I'm thinking they are allowing the scope to move. I can't think of anything else that would make it zero in for 2 shots then jump around like it is. Any thoughts?

 

I'm shooting a Bushnell Trophy that I bought 15 years or so ago and used it on a .300 Mag that I had. It never gave me a bit of trouble then so I don't imagine it would now. It hasn't been used in 10 years.

 

With that much variance, I suspect you have a loose reticle inside your scope. It could be your mounts, but I doubt it. Try mounting another scope and see what happens.

 

Bill Quimby