Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Who are the preeminent Mauser experts?

Doesn't matter. They are so backlogged that they have a two year waiting list.

I am referring to perfection in functionality. The magazine box matches the cartridge perfectly. The feed rails make the rifle easy to load but never ever let rounds spew out the top. Rounds feed and chamber and eject flawlessly and effortlessly with no hesitations where the heel of the hand must pop the bolt to get it past a certain point, and no possibility of a doublefeed. I'm talking about a rifle built and designed around the cartridge for flawlwss function with no malfunctions and no excuses, not a cast off that some bubba tweeks until it works alright half the time. I'm talking metalwork here.

AFTER, and only after, the functioning is absolutely perfect, then we can make it pretty with blueing and fine walnut.

One more thing: When opening the bolt after firing, and cocking the striker, it should be easy to do so with the rifle at the shoulder - almost hard to detect that the striker is being cammed rearward against spring presure. I know this is possible. I have seen it and felt it.

Many rifles exhibit one good trait or another. One has good sights, another smooth cocking, another decent feeding, and another shoots sub-MOA. I want to know who DOES IT ALL.

So I hear say (in print) that some African PHs believe the very best rifles are those from the big name London makers - H&H, Rigby, and maybe some others. Those rifles sell for tens, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. That's fine if one has the money, but are they really worth such ridiculous prices? Do they really function flawlessly? Are they really perfect? I might never know. Some of those rifles exceed my annual salary.

BR: What I know of these things is piddling,but I think I know what you mean...

I owned a 300 Win Mag made on a 1909 Argentine Mauser with the metal done by Tom Burgess,stock by Maurice Ottmar.The first time I stuffed three down and flopped prone at 300 yards with the rifle,I fired the first shot,and it cycled so effortlessly(like a pre 64 M70 in 300H&H),that I thought..."Damn it,the bolt didn't feed the second round

I opened the bolt and there was the next cartridge,peeking outta the chamber... I never felt the slightest resistance when I worked the action.

Tom Burgess is unfortunately dead, but I have seen similar absolutely reliable slick feeding from Mauser 98's and M70's.

If you are looking for a 375H&H that functions flawlesly, every time,buy a pre 64 M70 in 375H&H,and there is a 98% chance you won't have to touch a single thing.

I owned a transition period Model 70 that performed this way. Needed nothing. In a moment of complete and total insanity I sold it...

JBabcock: I have sold them, too....nuts...but I still have one!

300H&H's will do the same things.In truth, mostly all of them will function perfectly with few exceptions....because they were hand coddled,and not allowed to leave the factory unless they "worked".Out of a great many pre 64 M70's I have never had one that required attention to make it work perfectly.

This is something I cannot say about M70's made after 1964;many Classics are particularly in need of hands on tweaking, but can be made into very fine rifles.It takes some work.

All things considered, have you thought of just going with a double?
In the long run, that could solve all issues. I`m thinking short range, thick cover stuff, wounded bad-assed something or the other. Your probably gonna get max, two aimed shots off anyhow. Why worry about working a bolt, double feed, jam etc. The gun is going to point like your expensive double shotgun, cause that`s how your going to react. And it`s going to WORK.

Unless you just like bolt guns. And that`s not a slam. All I shoot are bolts, taking the Match AR out. I beleive I would go the double direction if after DG.

I have a .30-06 that I picked up off a used gun rack some years back. A four digit FN crested commercial action with a gracefully contoured rust blued and lapped 24" barrel. The stock is English, oil finished, not real fancy, but the metal and the Neidner steel butt plate appears to have grown in place. The floor plate seems to be from a Browning Safari. That is the only thing that I would change on this rifle if I were ordering custom. A nice inside the trigger guard release would be nice. The bench mark, just behind the silver grip cap, is The letter "H" within a diamond. The rifle has never had a malfunction of any kind. It has to be stock design, because Superperformance 180s at 2900 (advertised) are not uncomfortable, even in shirt sleeves. I think I know what you want, I just cant help on where to get it.

Some of the Masters mentioned go to overkill on appearance. A good commercial Mauser in the desired factory caliber is already close to perfection. The cocking, trigger, and floor plates can sometimes use a bit of help. Good luck, jack

Few years back while hunting with my brother in Nome he took me over to a friend's house. His buddy pulled out a pre 64' Super Grade in 300 H and a H. I almost soiled myself It was almost in "new in box" condition. If I'd a had the cash, I would have brought it home so we could spend quiet time together....

Some years ago, a guy wanted to trade me one of these for one of my very original .338WM Alaskans.....not a chance,said I.

The H&Hs are nice, have had four of the .300s and four of the .375s and have a near mint pair so chambered in Rimrock handles, but, no P-64-70 equals the early issue .338WM Alaskans to me.

My "spare" pair, almost 100% and hardly fired,will put three 250-NPs at 2800 chrono'd into .6" at 100M, quite consistently and they just have this "cool" factor that very few other rifles have.

Big Redhead,

For a pure-functioning Mauser with a synthetic stock, the late Dave Gentry was as good as anyone. He not only could make 98 actions work perfectly, but built Mauser actions from the ground up--including lefties. His hand-made actions often went to British makers, but "Gentry" didn't appear anywhere on the action when the rifles were done!

Dave died a few years ago and his son Dennis is now running the shop. I haven't had any experience with his work, but maybe somebody else has.

John,

I still cannot believe Dave is gone. Dang, I miss him.

Steve

Well if we are going to "allow" those that can't or don't any more I would add Jim Wisner as his build on my Swede 7x57 is right in all aspects. Like glass in every motion. Unfortunately he has retired from the rifle building but still makes darn fine parts.

Yes they do. I have a Model 70 Classic, (338 WM) they has served me well for about 10-12 years now, but it sure doesn't feel like one of those pre-64's.

If I was in the market for a rifle like the OP wants, I would have to consider the pre 64 in 375 H and a H. It is really hard to improve upon them. I know many do, and make them prettier! But, not sure they are "better."

OUCH!

Kutenay likes them,too....maybe not like his BRNO's....but he likes them.

I am shooting one of mine this afternoon if I can get the 400 yard range,that is.

One common failing I see in many, if not most, production rifles is that the top cartridge in the magazine just barely extends above the bottom edge of the boltface. There is very little engagement there to push the round forward into the chamber. In conjunction with that, when the top round in the mag begins its forward travel, and the bullet engages the feed ramp, the rear of the case tilts downward, sometimes enough that the bolt rides over the partially chambered round causing a terrible jam. If the operator is working the bolt briskly, the catridge gets ruined because the boltface digs into the body of the case making a deep gouge. I can handle one ruined cartridge but its a really bad thing to have happen if a 5 ton pachyderm is bearing down on you intent on making you part of the soil.

Another common failing with push feed rifles is when the cartridge starts its journey toward the chamber and suddenly pops up out of the magazine too hard and high and the bolt jams. The cartridge rim sits on top of the plunger ejector and the bolt will not close. One might say all you need to do is withdraw the bolt slightly allowing the round to drop into position to be chambered, but that is a total crock! Too often when I try this I withdraw the bolt a little too far rearward and it picks up the next round in the magazine resulting in a doublefeed. I don't want to turn this into another PF vs. CRF pissing match because my mind is already firmly made up about that. There is no way in he|| I would take a PF after dangerous game! I have seen this happen with Rems and pre-MkII Rugers. And yes, pre-MkII Rugers ARE PUSH FEED! Don't be fooled by that Mauser-looking extractor. And they are NOT Mark 1s either! A Ruger Mark 1 is a 22LR semiauto pistol, not a rifle.

In the end, I can totally see why some folks prefer double guns for fighting dangerous game. It makes total sense. And one can purchase several decent double rifles for the price of a singl H&H or Rigby bolt gun with money left for ammo.

The original question related to Mauser's. The pre-64 M 70's were pretty close to factory customs. They required a lot of hand fitting of parts. If you doubt me, try switching parts between actions. They got a lot of attention at the factory for functioning.

Now back to Mausers. It is quite easy to make them feed 30-06 and 7x57 based rounds because that is what they were designed to to. Actually the military mausers, which can be some of the finest ever made, were designed to feed 7x57 and 8mm Mauser. It is good fortune that they work with 30-06 type rounds.

Most dangerous game hunter think in terms of belt magnums or 404 or even larger cases. Those conversions require modification of the magazine box, follower, action rails, and on and on. True your half cousin may have one that works pretty well most of the time but that if much different than one the works perfectly 100% of the time.

I did not mention David Miller cause he now builds almost all of his rifles on M70 Classic actions. I have not seen a recent rifle on anything else.

I know of one very ornate 458 Win that was auctioned for mega bucks that would not feed.

The Granite Mountain Magnum actions, in fact all their actions, require a lot of hand work to make them function perfectly. Joe Smithson has mastered making them into fine complete rifles.

I know of a Hartmann & Weiss magnum action that was built into a 505 that taxed the abilities of one of the very best. He made it work perfectly but it was not a "turn key" project.

However when done by the best, there is nothing better.

Big R,
I had a push feed Ruger bolt that would do what you describe, the pop up and catch on the plunger. I gave it to someone who shot groups from a bench. Junk as a hunting rifle.

The issue of the top ctg not rising enough to catch on the retracted bolt is also a bigger problem than most notice. I think is has to do with the group shooting preoccupation.

The Mauser solid box magazine is a worderful thing but expensive.

I had a Rem M7SS in 260 Rem that shot itty bitty groups and killed deer most sincerely dead. Problem was getting a round in the chamber. That thing just refused to feed. I fooled with it a lot and never did get it working right. Too bad. I always wanted one of that particular rifle, sort-of like a Kimber 84M
Montana for a third of the price, and it was sweet in the hands, as good a shooter as I could ever want, but the feeding issues rendered it useless. It went down the road.

Now I have the FN Mauser with Douglas barrel assembled by Flaig's in '55. It took some fiddling to make it work right (not a feeding issue) and find a load it wanted to extract reliably, but now its giving my Rugers a run for their money for top honors in my safe. It puts 175gr Hornadys within a half-inch of where I have the crosshairs - at 200 yards. Coincidentally, all the Ruger rifles in my possession except one are chambered in 7x57. I think I like that cartridge.

I had a .375 Ruger African for a while, and it fed as slickly and reliably as any custom Mauser or pre-'64 Winchester I've ever owned. Dunno if that's true of all of them, but I could NOT get that one to jam, no matter how fast or slow the action was worked, the type of bullet, or whatever. Maybe you could ask around and see if other .375 owners have had similar results.

The one problem with the African model is that the walnut stock's bedding often needs to be reinforced.