Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Mausers worth the headache?

I have a VZ24. 1909 Argentine bottom metal and a Wisner straddle plate. I began picking up parts for this several years ago. Plan was to have a very high end gun to give to my kid for graduation. Well, fast forward a few years. Build kept getting pushed back. Other stuff got built instead.

So is it worth putting a few hundred into the action? 3 pos safety, Blackburn trigger get the plate fitted to the bottom metal, heat treated, D&T hanging a barrel on it and a decent matte blue job. New bolt handle. Very Dakotaish. Similar to the one a poster just put up. Action is very nice. Slick no pits. It will get dropped in a Banser or Boyds for awhile until I could get funds together for a proper stock. Or just trip it to someone else, take that money and the money I would put into it and buy him a Kimber or Winchester Super Grade for the same thing, with the stock all done.

Just to give you an idea how it could be done. Have a look at the new Musgrave rifles built here in South-Africa. They use the VZ24 actions and are very accurate.

Here is a link http://www.musgraverifles.co.za/

Kimbers are nice, but by having control over the barrel used on the VZ24 action and having the right guy fit the barrel and bed the action will most certainly give you a good shooting rifle. Mauser actions are not the best out there but neither are Kimbers.

Pieter

If it were my quandary I would be inclined to go with a Brno model 21 or 22 as all the niceties are included and they do not drop their value like customs invariably do.

But if more people chase them the price will be driven up...hmm forget it, they are rubbish.

Worth it? hell ya its worth it!
Now get on with the build and post pics!
Kimbers and Winchester's are boring, do the Mauser

Probably should ask the kid. He might not want all the details you are tweaking on the Mauser, and want a Kimber Montana or a Forbes instead.

But if you go forward, drop the blackburn trigger. I have one, and I can't see the advantage over the Timney, and it costs $100 more. I would contact Jim Kobe re one of his 2 position safeties, which I think are a lot cheaper than the 3 position. I have never used one because they are not available in lefty.

Lothar Walther pre threaded barrels are a good deal. IT&D would spin a douglas on pretty quickly at at good value. Accutig in Fairbanks does a good bolt weld, and there are several sources for a good replacement bolt.

Looking at $2K to build a nice custom Mauser (at a minumum; sky's the limit,) and unlikely to get much more than half of it back. Their appeal is more sentimental/aestethic than practical these days.

I look at Mausers as being particularily valuable for two different classes of rifle.
The first is for an example of custom rifle artistry. Mausers are a great choice for this because they are classically good looking and offer the gunmaker plenty of opportunity to make his mark on the rifle.
The second class of rifle is the rugged, functional, super-reliable, hunting rifle. Staring at this point, one can go as far in the direction of the first example as he wishes.
A couple of mausers I really admired were both rifles by Al Biesen. They were relatively plain, basic, custom rifles. One was chambered for the 7x57 and the other was a 308 Norma. Both had been in hard use by their owners for at least thirty years and both looked like what they were built to be; solid, trusted, utilitarian rifles. The Norma came in to be re-barreled and the 7x57 came in for stock repair. Both were going back up into the mountains for the upcoming sheep season.
To me, these rifle epitomized the proper Mauser build. They were meant to be used and used hard. Another one like this which I quite liked was a Holland & Holland bolt gun in 458. Again, built to be used. No frills or fluff; just a solid, functional, hunter.
I have a couple of rifles like this which I built myself. Plain wood, simple checkering, simple lines. Both are a little too worn to be pretty but both are as reliable as an Estwing hammer. That's what a Mauser sporter shgould be IMO. GD

I have a vz24 in .458 win. Its is a utility custom gun with a laminated stock and a simple Buehler type swing safety (on the right side) Its not fancy and the laminated stock and parkerized finish have seen some use, but when I look at it and heft its 9.5 pounds of girth to my shoulder all is right in the world. Something a factory built Winchester or Kimber can not do for me.

Both my boys opted for custom Mausers for their primary big game rifles.

It is an apples to oranges comparison. You can't really compare a full custom rifle (of any make) to a box stock, off the shelf, production rifle.

Not that there aren't good production rifles out there.

For one thing, in a production rifle, you are limited to the LOP they offer. In a custom, even most syntheitc stocks, you can spec the LOP. This is an important consideration for many.

Sounds like you are trying to talk yourself out of proceding.

Even though I'm a lefty, I am using four M-98's to build a family of wildcats. Reasoning that their third recoil safety lugs may save my life, if I mess up a load. The CZ's have a vestigial third lug, and its supposed to work "once". The Mauser bolt may shear both front lugs and this third lug will keep the bolt in the rifle. But I would look for a BRNO Mark X Interarms, or F.N. J.C. Higgens Mauser for an action, instead of the really old military jobs. The F.N.'s and the Czechs are almost the same. My 416 wildcat is made on a R.Famage Colombian 30 Mauser, made in 1957. I figured it has better heat treating than my older BRNO mid thirties actions. If I wasn't a lefty, needing the shroud safety, I'd have grabbed a used J.C. Higgens for the action.

If you present your son with a custom rifle, won't he think enough of you to keep it for his own son, down the road? I have my father's Ruger over and under shotgun and my grandfather's Model 11 Rem. which I hope to leave to my grand kids. Re-barreling will take care of my wildcats, if and when that's needed, IMHO. The old M-11 may be a wall hanger now, due to its having a ringed barrel, and a very tight choke. Ditto for a Model 97-E from my father in law. No rings, but still a very tight choke, for plastic wads. The parts for the old shotguns will dry up, but 98 Mauser parts will be around forever.

No comparing an off-the-shelf rifle to a fine custom... No matter what production rifle you're talking about...

Build around a versatile, all-around cartridge like the 257 Roberts, 6.5 Swede, 270, 7x57, or 30-06 and he's got a fantastically useful rifle that'll last a lifetime.

If practical is your bent, then no, the Mauser route is not worth it. A Ruger would be a better bet.

If you've got the desire and the cash, then throw it at the Mauser for the enjoyment of it.

I think they are

]

It all depends on where your head is at. If you think that blued steel and walnut is the t*ts, and you hanker for a custom job, then a Mauser just oozes class and practicality. If you view a rifle to be tool first and last, but still hanker for a custom job, then a 'modern' barreled action bedded in a synthetic stock is the way to go. Personally, I feel that a blued steel/walnut Mauser in a pre-war configuration is/was the epitome of grace in the world of of custom rifles. But, to each his own...

Nobody knows what you like better than yourself, so this is a decision you will ultimately make regardless of the response you receive here, IMHO.

Personally, I've got a few of many things, Remchesters, Winingtons, 98 Mausers, FN commercial mausers, etc.... For my money, nothing is as smooth and sure feeding as a nice Mauser, and the commercial FN's are a bit tighter than the war-era 98's- be design.

With the right parts, and a gunsmith who understands your dream of a custome rifle, you can/will get exactly what you want in the end and very little is as classy as a perfectly executed Mauser custom with all the bells and whistles and a gorgeous piece of wood on it.
Make mine a VZ24 or FN commercial with a sporter weight PacNor or equal barrel, a nice piece of English walnut with an ebony forend tip and grip cap, custom bottom metal, a two position safety to replace the ugly Mauser bolt safety or a Mark X bolt shroud and a Timney with side safety. All done in a soft rust blue, except the action, bolt shroud, scope rings and mounts,and possibly the bottom metal, which I would have case hardened.

But each to his own.

Bob

I think they are. As my rifle builder put it, a 98 mauser will go bang under conditions that alot of other actions won't.
Another thing I've noticed is they can extract and eject a case with a blown primer. That is a primer that was blown right out of the case due to a hot handload. It was not necessary to force the bolt much to do this either. Certainly didn't need to be hit with a block of wood.
Not accurate ? That's funny considering that mine has shot lots of 3 shot groups from the .5's to the .8's at 100 yds. That is a #1 weight barrel BTW.
Mine has a two position M70 safety which I find I like better than the 3 position ones I have on other rifles.
On the other hand, I can find very little to fault with today's Ruger M77 actions or the older M70 winchesters with their simple, open triggers.
It's your call. E

I like them. A lot of times you can find a good deal on one someone else has sporterized and then you can continue with your own embellishments.

This K98 I found in a cheap ramline synthetic stock with a military step 308 barrel on it. The owner had put the new bolt handle on it, Buehler safety, and Warne QD scope mounts. I made a new stock for it and had z1r put on the barrel and sights then rust blue it.



I think the M98 is the best looking action out there, but I also love their ruggedness and reliability. I broke a bolt release on another rifle once and was told my the manufacturer I shouldn't be cycling the bolt that hard as it's not a battle rifle. I don't worry about that issue with a M98 because they are a battle rifle.

Worth the headache? Yep!!

Yep!



Ted

My in progress semi custom deer and antelope rifle is based on a FN Mauser, My well travelled and very bloodied DGR is a Much tweaked and tuned CZ Mauser, my also much travelled and very deadly 340 Tyrannosaur is a Mauser, I just assisted two aspiring young hunters in our church who asked my help in getting their first big game rifles with $$ they made doing hard farm labor all summer long. They are now the proud owners of two Mauser actioned 30/06's.

Yeah, they are VERY worth it IMO. About all I use or care about for rifles, with maybe a CRF Classic or pre 64 model 70 every now and then.

There is NOTHING even remotely lose to as good!! Love my 98's and the 96 Husky's I've got.
Cheers