Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles Best 98 Action

I also like the Brno offerings but 'best' is one heck of a hill to climb.

Nice work by Jim on the Mex, but.... what is the stock for in the background?

I prefer the FN’s made around 1949-1951 which had the original “C” ring. I have been told they were made of “ordinance” steel similar to 4140 rather than the 86 series steel which was case hardened and from which the typical military contact 98’s were made. The ordinance steel, of course, is heat treated.

And what is the 86 series?

Please elaborate and describe what exactly the omission of the thumb cut adds?

The omission takes away an excellent gas escape route.

Which is why I asked how this is an "improvement." I'm interested in hearing 450's view on what weakness he perceives was "corrected?"

Both sides have their point on the thumb cut. Mostly for me it matters not at all either way. My Heym, being pretty much military in configuration except for the bolt handle and safety, has the cut and the loading slot. Since it wears irons and a red dot, those features are functional if I ever want to fart around with clips. Maybe someday if I run out of other stuff to dick around with…..

Another project... for a M700 in 260 Rem.

FN Browning Safari or JC Higgins Model 50.

Husqvarna made "improved"/"strengthened" small ring 1894/1896/38 commercial Mauser actions for their 640 series before they started using large ring FN actions in the same 640 series. The "improved"/"strengthened" change involved eliminating the thumb slot in the left receiver rail. I have seen exactly 1 broken military Mauser action that was dropped on a concrete floor and cracked below the thumb slot. I think that the probability of breaking a military Mauser action is probably a fraction of 1% regardless of where and when they were made, except for Chinese made military 98s, an action that I wouldn't trust under any circumstance.

I own a half dozen Mauser action rifles. I really like the thumb cut. I find that sometimes when reloading a scoped rifle in a hurry (refilling the magazine), a round can end up to the left of the bolt. If you have the thumb cut, it’s easier to keep that from happening.

My rifles are:
FN Commercial in .257 Roberts
FN Commercial in .30-06
FN Commercial from a JC Higgins M50 converted to .25-06
German K98 action customized in .270
FN prewar action used by Husqvarna in 9.3x62
FN military action customized in .22-250

All of them are sweet shooters, but the bolt on the Husqvarna is a bit stiff and could use some elbow grease.

Vz-24 built a 270 thirty years ago if I could have only one gun that would be it it’s not perfect by any means but very accurate

gave my daughter a FN Mauser that has a new Brux barrel 8 twist chambered in 257 Roberts , this rifle has a set trigger set at 8 oz.

Have ran BRNO, Oberndorf, FN and Interarms Mausers. They're all good. And most little quirks can be remedied, some can't.

I will say this:

The FN mausers seem to have most proper scope base screw holes.

Then, the warne steel bases and warne rings for fn mauser, are fkn dreamy stuff.

Agree. For the money, can’t beat em.

Flying in the face of popularity...no discussion of commercial Mauser suitability would be complete without mention of the Remington Model 30 Express, merely a Remington factory sporterized US Model of 1917, which was in fact a 'pure' Mauser stolen from Germany by the Brits to produce the Enfield P-14. Mauser did not bother to sue the Brits, since they were killing each other at an alarming rate at the time.
In any event, the nickel steel 1917 has been used in some of the most powerful cartridges without problems. Springfield eventually had to convert 1903 production to nickel steel, to resolve their heat treat boondoggles.
The 1917 had an unfairly deserved reputation for less accuracy than the '03...that was caused by the Camp Perry matches of 1918, in which 1917 rifles were issued with no provision for windage adjustment. Scorebooks issued to shooters for that match had pictures of how much Kentucky windage to hold in a 5 mph and 10 mph wind. Small wonder the '03 won.
Anyone building a one off rifle would do well to consider the "American made Mauser" as a foundation...if one would consider the obsolete .30-06 as a cartridge, the 5 groove nickel steel cut rifled barrel would be hard to beat. If anybody is interested, CMP has a thorough article online re the 1917.