Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters FN mauser in 250-3000

I just came across an FN mauser (don't know much more...even if I was holding it), chambered in 250-3000. 80% bluing, over-polished receiver, so that the roll-marks are faint. Ser# 95xx. Severely tapered 24" barrel, (guessing here)1.25" at chamber down to 5/8" at muzzle. It has a nice sporter stock, hard corners, walut with ebony(?) forend cap, raised comb...sorta looks like the 70's Weatherby's...except for the bipod somebody mounted on it(!!?!).

What is it? Original chambering? I put money down because it was too much to resist, so I'll add pictures soon.

Thanks!

I have owned a couple of original 1950s vintage FN Mausers in 250-3000, but I don't have any now. IIRC, they had Belgian proof marks on the barrel, just forward of the front of the receiver. I have seen 2 different versions, 1 with an "FN" roll stamp on the top of the front receiver ring and the 2nd with a stag or buck engraved on the top of the front receiver ring. The 2nd style also had light engraving on the action, bottom metal, and on the 1st 6"+/- of the barrel. I also think that the barrels were stamped "chrome vanadium steel".

The FN Mausers that I've owned have had classic style stocks, nothing as fancy as a Weatherby.

Jeff

Back in the 50s and 60s, a company named Firearms International imported commercial FN Barreled Actions, Actions, and complete rifles. They were made in Belgium. The barreled actions and rifles were available in several different calibers, but I don't remember what they were.

Does your rifle have the cut out on the left side of the receiver, for clip loading? If it does, it is not a commercial FN.

On the side, my action is roll stamped Fabrique Nationale, or something like that, on the left side. It is also stamped 'Made in Belgium.'

It sounds, from your description, like someone bought the action, put a barrel on it, and stocked it. The only question is the serial number. The actions that were sold without barrels did not have serial numbers at the time. Possibly the barreled actions and complete rifles did, or your action was made after they started serial numbering them, if they did.

When Weatherby first started out, and before he built an action of his own, he used a lot of FN actions to build his rifles.

I have one of the actions I bought, and barreled and stocked it.

Depending on the price, I would jump on it. The FN commercial actions are no longer made, and I consider them the best of all actions to build a custom rifle on.

The thumbcut on the left side of the action is not as foolproof as most think.Husquevarna bought many of those actions directly from FN for instance,and used them to build sporters.I don't have it handy to give the exact reference,but the Collecter's Guide series on Swedish Mausers has several references to this phenomenon.It is intimated that they were not the only rifle manufacturers who did this in those years.
Apparently FN shipped whatever Mauser actions they had on hand to many of their commercial customers,and many of those customers used them rather than ship them back or wait for the purely "sporting actions" to be manufactured.
Obviously these actions were originally intended for military arms,but as the world turned toward more modern designs,FN had to do something to unload what they still had on hand.The way the receivers are marked would be a better indication of whether they were ever used as military arms first,or just went straight to sporting arms production.

I may be mistaken, but seems like I read that when the Germans invaded Belguim, they took over the FN plant and manufactured 98 Mausers to be used by German soldiers.

It this is factual, then the ones with the thumb could have originally been for military use.

I don't have any history of the FN plant after the war, and when and how they got back into making commercial guns, or which ones they made. I know they did make a lot of guns for Browning, both before and after the war.

They also sold post war actions to companies like Sears, H & R and Winslow Arms, and I have seen older Weatherby Rifles with FN actions.

I would not be surprised to find that the germans did exactly that.FN also made military Mausers for several countries under contract either directly after the war,or as a subcontractor for mauser prior to the war.
My point was that not every M98 action with the thumb relief cut out,or even the stripper clip cut out was taken off a previous military rifle.In many cases they went brand new to sporting rifle manufacturers and were finished and blued by them.
Weatherby started out using FN Deluxe and Supreme actions ,among others,before finally designing the Mk.V . I have a .270 Winchester,made by Weatherby,and have seen at least three others,all were built on FN M98 actions.

...and so my mauser education begins...It's not an FN, it's a Spanish 1893. The receiver is roll-stamped (under the scope rail) "Fabrica Dearmas, Oviedo, 1926"

The barrel is 26" and tapered as described above, no chambering markings or sight dovetails on it.

The only indication of caliber is "250 Sav" scratched into the receiver mouth. A dummy 250-3000 cartridge loads and ejects fine.

...at least the stock is nice.

Oviedo Mausers made as late as 1926 should be Model 95s.There are Oviedos out there that are 93s and 94s,mostly made much earlier,the differences are minor.These were almost all produced originally in 7x57 Mauser.Many have been made up into nice sporters over the years,I have one each in 7x57 and .257 Roberts.These actions do not have the third "safety" lug at the bottom rear of the closed bolt.They are not designed to direct hot gases away from the shooter in the case of ruptured cases as are the 98s.
They are not as strong as the M98 actions and prudence would dictate staying away from warmish to hot loads.Resale on these guns is not on the same level, dollar wise,as the M98 actioned guns.That doesn't mean that they can't be useful, handy rifles.I just would steer clear of max loads.

At one time, it was probably re-barreled to .250 Savage. Hence the marking on the receiver.

It should still be a functional and handy rifle. If you handload (reload?), my suggestion is to stick to loads at about the same pressures as factory loads.

"My point was that not every M98 action with the thumb relief cut out,or even the stripper clip cut out was taken off a previous military rifle.In many cases they went brand..."

Steve 1:

I wasn't aware of that, although I have always wondered where Holland and Holland, Rigby, Purdey and the others got their actions to make their high end bolt rifles. I didn't think they would use a military surplus action.

Actually, I wonder where Westly Richards and Rigby and some of the others get their Mauser Actions for the rifles they presently make. I assume they are of recent manufacture.

Do you have any information on this?

I think Mauser is still in business, and still makes bolt actions, as Mauser-Werke Oberndorf Wafensysteme.

H&H rigby and many other of the high end makers did and still do build there rifles on military 98s. god knows how many they may have bought back when ever At probably 5.00 or less each.
Jeff. You have a prety cool rifle there. As posted elswhere, I would keep to factory power reloads.
The .250 savage is a good round to have on that action.
Not sure of the sammi preasure specs for the .250 savage, But I think its the same as athe 300 savage 46000 CUP.
That should still give you respectable velocity with a 100 grain bullet. Not sure it gains much from a 26 inch barrel.
You might consider trimming down to 22 , or even 20.
But I bet it shoots good. Just a good acurate round.
There are timney triggers and kits to convert to cock on opening available to modernize your action if you so choose.
...tj3006

Check out Terry Wieland's book Dangerous-Game Rifles,he discusses the sourcing that many of these companies have and are still using.Apparently there are a number of European sources for newly manufactured '98 actions.
Also,I believe you will find that the current iteration of the Mauser company does not any longer manufacture '98 actions,and hasn't for some time.

Producedagain

Those are really nice. I wish they had included a price list, not that I could even afford the postage on it if they gave it to me.

Several years ago I owned an FN Mauser sporter in .250-3000,
it was serial numbered on the reciever, barrel, and bolt.
If I remember correctly, it had a stepped barrel, but I might
be wrong. I sold it about 6 years ago when money was tight.
From a distance it could easily been mistaken for a Winchester
70 SG. I currently have a pair of Mauser M1936s, one of them
may become a 250 Sav when I get around to it. I believe
Brownells sells barrels for Mauser 93,95, and 96 in mild
cartridges such as 257Sav,257R,300Sav, and 35Rem.