Sorry but I must beg to differ. The original intent of mauser was to make the most goof-proof battle rifle possible for the time frame. I think he succeeded very well. The fact that it also can make a darn good sporting rifle is just icing on the cake.
I've had the vaunted Pre-64 M70s and frankly, I think they suck. One, even the Featherweights were too heavy. I have several rifles based on FN Mauser actions and a couple on milsurp Oberndorfs and DWMs and I would not take a truck load of Pre-64 M70s for a singe one.
Usually I try and find someone's attempt at a custom where most of the work has been done and go from there. My latest is a 1909 Peruvian mauser that someone made a beautiful stock in the style of the latest winchester Featheweight with excellent checkering. The only thing wrong was it still was in 7.65x53 Peruvian. A quick trip to my friendly gunsmith to rebarrel the gun and I now have a very accurate Mauser in .308 Win. Total cost? I got the rifle for $150 and $450 for the rebarrel. I didn't even have to replace the trigger as it already had a Timney installed.
Frankly, and this is just my opinion, yours may not agree, but I think the Pre-64 Winchesters are just a bit too over rated. I've had a few including a Featherweight in .308, a 264 Win. mag. Westerner (26" barrel, not the 22" abortion.) and the .375 H&H which while it was accurate, I needed wheels to haul it around. Not to worry though, I got darn good prices for them when I sold them off.
The only two M70s I like are the latest Featherweights (before Big W moved down south)in .257 Bob and the 7x57. You can add the synthetic stock XTR in .270 that thinks it's a target rifle. Those three rifles shoot and shoot well.
Pesonally, I'll stick with my Mausers. There are three that if I ever have to sell off my guns for any reason will stay. My J.C. Higgins based custom in 7x57 Mauser and my Oberndorf in .35 Whelen. The third is also a J.C. Higgins in 30-06 given to me by a friend just prior to his death from stomach cancer. It's in it's third stock, the original a custom job that was broken in a fal, the second a cobbled up job usng a spare Higgins stock that came frome the one used to build my 7x57 and the Butler Creek stock Ihave on it now. Those three are my pets, period! However, as Elmer Keith once said, "I prefer to let any man scratch his own fleas in whatever manner he chooses."
Paul B.
