I am looking to sell this as I have no need. It's a commercial FN mauser action of some sorts. Has turn down bolt is tapped and drilled and has a short throw safety but its on the left side. Barreled with a 3006 barrel off something else I think because it has front and rear sights. Barrel is shiny and in good shape inside. NO trigger guard or bottom metal. No stripper clip grove or thumb cut out so I know is a commercial made FN or FN pattern cock on open 98 action. What should I ask for it?

Really depends on who made it. There should be some marking numbers etc somewhere. Proof marks as well. 98 actions vary a lot depending on the make/country of origin.

The only thing on it anywhere is an X in front of XXXX digit numerical serial number. Nothing else that I can see on it. I was told the ones from spain and CZ usually have markings indicating they are from there so my assumption this is some sort of FN made contract rifle for import to US post WW2?

Does it have a thumb slot?

No thumb slot and no stripper clip slot or hump

Bolt handle does not look correct for a commercial action. Military bolt in a Commercial action?

That I do not know anything about but I am not aware of any military actions without thumb cut? Wouldnt it be commercial with that cut out on the bolt handle to clear the scope?

Show a pic of the other side. Also take the bolt out and show a pic of the bolt, a few angles, including the cocking piece, extractor, bolt face etc. Look into the receiver and see if it is a "C" ring or "H" ring. A "C"ring has one cut out for the right bolt lug and an "H" ring has cut outs on both sides for both bolt locking lugs.

ETA: It is worth at least $300; depending on the other factors it could be worth double that.

The bolt shroud does look like a military unit as does the style of the safety. Really hard to say, sbrmike has explained a lot.

safety is a 2 position short throw like a timney I am thinking its not original but also if these were a commercial contract after WW2 it certainly could have been a commercial action and a military bolt. It appears to be a functioning 3006 in its configuration so im sure it headspaces fine. I need funds so I'm really just trying to make sure I don't cheat myself. I figured 300-400 but wanted to narrow it down to right price point to move it fast

You got yourself a Santa Barbara action.

What does that mean? Value?

A Santa Barbara is a Spanish made commercial action that is a close copy of the later FN. I would say $300 as it sits. It would still be $300 without the barrel if it had bottom metal and a decent trigger. A bit more if it had a nice steel hinged floor plate. It is a nice action for a budget build. There are quite a few guns that were factory made using the Santa Barbara - some Parker Hales, Golden State, etc. back in the 50's and early 60's. Many were later sold on the used market wrongly claiming it to be an FN action. You basically have a Ford and not a Cadillac (FN); the FN is just finer quality, fit, finish, materials.

I think that this has the complete striker assembly from an FN. I am not sure if the bolt is a commercial unit or a well done military conversion. Most if not all Santa Barbara Mausers had an alloy trigger similar in looks and function of a Timney with a sliding integral safety. It looks like yours has the standard, reliable "C" ring receiver. Later FN's used an "H" for ease of manufacturing.

I used to tinker a lot with Mausers back in the day. It has been a while though. I probably built at least 50 guns in my life from receivers or actions.

A few years ago, I bought an FN action with two position swing safety, Canjar trigger and a good bit of custom work, including checkered bolt handle, for $550 off Classifieds. It became the basis for this Swede with Shilen barrel, McWoody Classic stock.

I agree with other's posts on OP's action, as well as the value.

I had a Herter .270 barreled action with that action, stocked it and it turned out pretty well. My brother now has it. Those actions work well, just aren't as slick as the FN.

DF

Looks like a Frankenmauser to me. The shroud looks to be FN commercial, but the bolt handle looks welded, and every FN I’ve owned, back to a 1948, has had a flat-bottomed knob. This one is kinda crude and rough-looking, and the bolt face is odd too. The number at the root of the bolt handle should match the one on the receiver. All my FNs, with the exception of a Sako High Power, had some kind of marking indicating Belgian origin. This one may have solid bones, but if I wanted one for a build I’d look for one without issues requiring smith work. Someone with skills, tools and parts can probably bring this one up to snuff, but I’ve found plenty for $600 or so that were complete rifles, ready to shoot or improve on.

1954 FN (stamped under receiver) Apex rifle company 300 Apex stocked by Monty Kennedy.

i sent you a message

Thank you all for the information. Very much appreciated. I have received a few messages about selling it. If it doesn't sell to one of them I will list it when i get back from some holiday travel.

What exactly needs smith work? It looks ready to to use for a project. Bolt handle is not a weld on and the serial on bolt handle does match the receiver.

Probably nothing that wouldn’t be done as a matter of course during a regular build, but someone that’s going to have to pay someone else to do those things will be out some money: not like with a military action, but more than with a better finished commercial one like an FN or even most Zastavas. That’s over and above the cost of the missing parts. The replaced shroud makes it appear that the previous owner was trying to tweak it a bit. I thought I was the only one that liked those safeties. Any idea how it came to be without trigger, bottom metal and stock?

I think z1r nailed the ID as being a Santa Barbara. I looked at a bunch of them online and the bolt seems to match those. All I saw had a streamlined shroud and side trigger safeties. Seems lot of rifles were assembled by various concerns using those, even P.O. Ackley.

I have a Santa Barbara action and it looks identical to that one, except the shroud and safety.

What you have is a Centurion Mauser. The receivers are identical to the Santa Barbara but the bolt shroud and safety are exactly like the one you have. A true Santa Barbara has a Timney style trigger with a sliding safety thumb plate on the right side. The bolt handles are also the same between the Centurion and the Santa Barbara.

Frank de Haas' book 'Bolt Action Rifles' (3rd edition) shows both actions and describes the differences.

Hope this helps. -Al

Al, what do you think explains the strange look of that boltface? Could it be cast, or maybe just not cleaned up forging marks?

It does not look cast to me. I think its just a rough machine job which all below wood parts of this action do seem rough

Ok so I have some new information. I googled the information on the barrel. I thought this was an aftermarket barrel someone just put on it and it is not.

Barrel says Western Fields 750a EGP. According to google this is a Montgomery wards catalogue rifle in 30-06 . Normally done on what was called a FN Deluxe action. Sometimes FN sometimes Santa barbara or CZ or yugo. The bolt looks original and the shroud same as the pictures I am seeing of this action online.

Sorry for not realizing that barrel went with the rifle originally. With this information this is not a mix parts bolt from what i can tell

Wards sold quite a few of those under the Western Field name in my part of the country...three of my uncles that farmed had them in 30-06 and 270W. They were inexpensive, semi decent in quality and local farmers were already customers at their local town Wards store. Many of them went out the door with Weaver steel tube K4 and K6 scopes.

The bolt face is just a poor forging cosmetically...it's not a cast bolt. If the bolt face is flat relative to the bolt body you could just leave it. But once you go through the work of checking that, you could clean it up in a few more minutes. I'd be surprised if a .003-.004 cut didn't take 90% of that away.

I'm no Mauser expert by any stretch of the imagination (thank gawd) but I've been around and worked on a fair number of 'em. Working on the notch to pull the pin travel back from close to .500" to around .375" or so will band aid the stone axe pin fall. Add a 2lb trigger and that's about it...they are what they are. With a decent stock and some counter bored pillars to take the stand offs out of the picture and a good bedding job, you can come up with a 1" or a bit better gun if that barrel isn't total junk. Provided you do the work yourself, it would make a nice little project. You'd still need bottom metal, etc, of course.

Good shootin' -Al

Most of those store brand rifles with Mauser actions had High Standard barrels. As I said earlier it is a Ford, good reliable no frills, not a Cadillac. Nothing wrong with it at all.

Seems I remember reading that Hi Standard barrels had chrome plated bores. Any truth to that?

DF

Yes they did.

Santa Barbara supplied actions to many. Some came with the SB Trigger, of which there are a couple of variations, some with other triggers. I have an SB action on a Parker Hale .243. I have another on a Golden State Arms rifle with the same shroud and safety only blued. The GSA is a tack driver.