There is definitely something special about a Military Mauser that has had a Master work his magic on it. The problem is the costs associated with it. And there aren’t as many of those guys working on them as there used to be.
I would definitely go the FN 98 action if I was going to do one. Your going to save a lot of money. Look up SuperCubs FN he built on a donor JC Higgins FN 98. Just a work of art.
Personally I think it’s better anymore to go the pre-64 route. I bought a 1954 Standard in 30-06 last year for 475 bucks. I was stunned I walked out with it for that amount of money. But, the demand isn’t really there for these kind of rifles anymore. It has to be Stainless Steel and plastic I guess. Anyway then I thought about what I was going to do with it. It didn’t really have collector value so I wasn’t worried about that. I came close to going with an Edge stock to bring the weight down, then stumbled across Pre-64’s website. I ended up buying a 95% Featherweight barrel and a refinished Featherweight stock. It was put together by Pre-64. I now have a 7.5 pound rifle with scope, that’s like brand new. It’s a lot less money to get there, than using a Military Mauser.
Last edited by JBabcock; 12/14/20. Reason: Changed date of manufacture
