Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats BRNO 98 mauser need some advice

I got em down to 450 otd, but I need to pick some mauser or custom mauser guru,s brains on here before I go back and buy it possibly.
Like I "need" another mauser but this thing looks like a really good build on a BRNO action
Gonna sand off left hand cheek peice , get contours even. Redo the stock with truoil.
The barrel is my big ? Broke down the barreled action off stock
Not a single makers mark anywhere on it except for caliber .308
Kinda strange to me...
Custom made barrel by someone somewhere????
The 0 and the 3 are obviously different from a 0 and 3 on the receiver in style you can see in later pictures.
Barrel is pristine, tiny bit of copper , lands and grooves still have most of bluing on em
Sharp rifling , crown is pristine, barrel throat/ leade looked crisp and even, shining a light down it
Chamber and locking lug areas looked excellent.
No barrel being over torqued signs or shavings into the threads I could see in the junction area looking into chamber

Ran a bore snake with hoppes presoaked on my boresnake thru it 4 times
Like someone shot it 10 or 20 times and cleaned it real good and put it away in a safe
This rifle came out of an estate along with 5 artillery lugers with matching stocks and 2 late war p-38,s.
And the owner of the shop still has a 64 gun safe to go thru in mid March from the estate when the house is cleared
I have an excellent relationship with the shop.
Holding it for me till tommorow and are willing to let me put 200 down and 2 months for balance.




Interarms 2 position safety, but not sure if it is interarms bolt shroud
Probably is????

Does the bolt face look like its pitted and been recoated or maybe flawed in machining chatter when cut?
I'm not seeing alot of abusive wear on surfaces to my eyes other than that possibly.

The trigger is a 2 stage typical 98
Needs disassembly and polishing sear engagement and clipping the spring 1 coil
Polishing pins and their rotating surfaces and polishing the trigger body cam bump point to the receiver on both surfaces
Right around 4- 5 pds on 2nd stage now, dragging and gritty thru 1st stage.
I know I can get it to a safe clean breaking 3 pds tinkering around with it.
Mauser triggers are simple.

I been all over the web this morning
Googling BRNO mauser
And BRNO custom mauser
I cant find anything that looks similar to this rifle




Overall it looks like a good build to me.

What do some of you guys that now more about 98 builds think.

When I had the barreled action off the stock
I didnt see any marks of the barrel being farmer wrenched to get into the receiver or any stress cracks or compression signs in the receiver barrel mating area either.

Anyone in the know with a good base of knowledge and experience think it is worth the 450 just based on these pics, my checking it out and limited info I can find.

Pics dont do the rifle justice honestly.

Yes it is worth the $450.

Looks like a custom rifle built on a BRNO action. I would check the headspace cause to my eye it has not been shot.

Dont know if they got a gauge .
It is a pawn shop but they also work on alot of their guns too. So they might have a go / no go on hand.
Thanks for the suggestion.

Looks like a LH Fajen stock.

You can rent go/no go guages from sources that rent reamers.

Agree with Elk on $450 worth.

DF

I got a fajen on my sako 98 also.
Only thing I cam figure is dude was doing the saving private Ryan sniper left hand working the action thing if he shot it very often.

Looks to be a scrubbed VZ24 receiver, safety is a dayton traiser I believe. Not a bad looking stock. Rifle overall looks okay, nothing particularly outstanding about it. Can't see if it has an adjustable trigger.

More than likely there weren't any left handed actions then, my dad shot right bolt rifles left handed his whole life. In the 80's when I went to buy him a new lighter rifle, I asked if he wanted a left bolt, he said "No, I've got this done pat now, no reason to change after 60 years of using a right bolt". So I bought him an Win 70 Featherweight.

looks like a douglas barrel to me. and the action is worth that price in my opinion.

Just an FYI any cartridge based off a .308 Win will work for the go/no go gauge.

You're welcome.

Just one of the regular version,s of a 98 mil 2 stage trigger.

Dayton traiser.
Is that a interarms part???
Reason why I ask is cause it says mk II on the lever itself

Gotta Google fu that real quick

Thanks for the knowledge man.
Every little bit helps.

Cool, didnt know that
Into the brain housing group that goes.
Thanks.

What make ya think Douglas barrel?
Some characteristic?
Certain mark style for the caliber mark?

When I broke it down
I could not find a single mark anywhere on it other than caliber. .308 that was it.

So if that's the case

I could dump the bullet and powder out of a .308
And if it touches off the primer it means its head space is GTG since it head spaces off the shoulder

Correct?

And chamber a live round with gun on safe and bolt closes with no excessive resistance could be another check
In conjunction wuth the case with primer only to go bang.

Or am I out in right feild thinking some bubba schitt.

If it chambers a factory case I would think the headspace is GTG. If it touches the primer off I would think there is a headspace problem.

Cool
30 dollar after market part.


I got a buehler 2 pos low on my sako 98.

Getting the info in for it.

Thanks guys.

Keep it coming if anyone picks up on something they know

Ok I'm getting ya kinda
So are you saying it headspace off the bullet ogive or shoulder

If off the shoulder shouldn't a dumped round with just a primer go snap?

If off the ogive I should look for faint leade or rifling marks if I color the bullet itself with a sharpie.


This is all in absence of gauges of course.

The primer should not go off at all. If the firing pin ignites the primer when closing the bolt,you have a serious problem.

It should headspace off the shoulder and it should chamber with little resistance.

Clear as mud,right?

Renegade,
Your Mauser looks nice. I would suggest a Timney trigger, you can get them for around $50.
Also on the headspace you can take a sized case and put scotch tape over the casehead and chamber it, keep adding layers until the bolt is hard to close. I cant remember the thickness of each layer of tape but if it takes more than three you could have excessive head space.

Nice. I'd rebarrel and surface grind the action except for the left side of the receiver. I like that script. New safety maybe trim custom bases. 7x57???????? 6.5x55???????? Oh, baby.

A Mauser has enough camming power to squish scotch tape. Use sheet metal shims held on by a dab of grease.

I personally could not see paying any more than you would for an interarms Mark X.

No no no
I have worked the action, safety and dry fired it.
Slamming the bolt
Perfectly safe
Function check is gtg.

What I'm saying since it head spaces off the shoulder is
Chamber a dumped round with just a primer in it, on safe
Take it off safe squeeze trigger and snap the primer
That should confirm headspace is Gtg.
And the ogive from Sami spec factory ammo is gonna sit its given distance from the leade .
So if barrel is screwed in too tight into chamber
And factory ammo chambers overly tight , it would indicate a problem



I'm fugging confusing as fugg right now I geuss

I'm gonna go put 2 benjamins on this gun in a little bit after I feed the dogs.
Make a dummy primer round and touch it off in the parking lot
And chamber a live one on safe a couple times

I think I'm way over thinking this
Trying to convince myself what we are both saying is correct.
And it is...
Gawd....

Ok I just looked at a bunch of prices on them
450 otd seems really Gtg

So it figures to around 400 410 for the rifle
10 dollar background check fee
And tax

For the 450 otd price

Are you saying 450 otd is to much???

I wouldn't pay $450 for it.. $400 max, unknown barrel, we all can assume, but it could be a shilen, Douglas, Apex etc.. it could be a tack driver, or not..

no. Just no. You can not confirm headspace by whether it ignites a primer or not. Even very loose dangerous headspace will still fire, because the firing pin sticks out of the bolt face.

If you want to check headspace, do it right with go/no go gauges. Or don't bother and just shoot it. Not much point in fooling around with bubba solutions that give you a flawed answer.

I'm hearing what your saying also.

+++
No reason at all to bubba this.

I think it's well worth the price. From the pics, it's done pretty well. Not sure why the headspace question even came up, unless
I missed something. Buy it, shoot it, or buy it and have it checked or buy your own gauges. I've got a couple of FNs, an FI and a Husky, that could use triggers. I'm leaning towards Dayton-Traistors for the simplicity and price. My FI came with a lefty stick too. I put a B&C on it, but the lefty has nice wood, so may whittle it down at some point for grins, or to replace the one on the Husky, which surprise surprise, has a crack at the tang, and needs to be refinished and the checkering touched up.

Ok,take it easy,use the go/no go gauges.

Problem is the rifle has only been out for about 2cweeks

When I bought my sako 98 from em
It had been out for 2.5 yrs.
They had 400 on that
I was otd for 250 on it.

No one wants ta buy old bolt rifles around FTCKY
Joe wants buzz light year schitt.

They dont see what they are and how they can be given a 2nd life.

Fugg half of my rifles are pawnshop gems inthe rough I refinished and refurbished.

Might be an option to let it sit for awhile also.

If someone snags it . Oh well
I already got a nice sako 98.

Just get go/no go gauges...it'll run you all of $70. If it is too deep you could always punch it out to 30/06.

Problem is the rifle has only been out for about 2 weeks.

When I bought my sako 98 from em
It had been out for 2.5 yrs.
They had 400 on that
I was otd for 250 on it.

No one wants ta buy old bolt rifles around FTCKY
Joe wants buzz light year schitt.

They dont see what they are and how they can be given a 2nd life.

Fugg half of my rifles are pawnshop gems inthe rough I refinished and refurbished.

Might be an option to let it sit for awhile also.

If someone snags it . Oh well
I already got a nice sako 98.

[/quote]

If you're willing to risk losing it, let it soak in the rack. I usually just buy something I want if the price is fair, or try to dicker. If you got a Sako FN High Power for $250, you don't need buying lessons from me, that's for sure!

If you're willing to risk losing it, let it soak in the rack. I usually just buy something I want if the price is fair, or try to dicker. If you got a Sako FN High Power for $250, you don't need buying lessons from me, that's for sure!
[/quote]
The one I got is the ones sako 1st started making immediately after ww2 in the mid late 40,s and very early 50,s
Before they used fn hi power actions.
Alot of em were sold at px,s on american bases thru the 50,s and early 60,s
Someone brought it back here and stuck it in a fajen french walnut stock.
Did some other stuff to it also added a buehler safety and after market bottom metal


Sako turned down the actions outer profile and sporter profiled the barrels on Kar 98,s to get back in manufacturing game.


I got one nazi eagle on the right side of the barrel sleeve.
With half its body above the stock line.
Faint but its their.
Then the bottom of the receiver has sako and sako worker proof marks randomly all over it.

I did alot of recontouring sharp angles and lines on the stock.
Kinda wanted my mod 70 and the 98 to look similar.
Did alot of trigger polishing and minor mod work
Biggest thing was a cut and recrown job I did to restore accuracy.
Thing was a shotgun before I did that.
Read the copper fouling after a slight cleaning.
Fouling went all the way to the end at the 3 and 6 oclock lands
Stop at about 5/8ths inch down at the 9 and 12 lands.

Turned it into a .75 to 1 moa rifle after that

Not bad for a 1939 rebuilt kar 98.

Wheeler ceramacoated and cooked at 1st in this pic all metal.
Then I discovered that Montana extreme copper killer dissolved a large pea
sized portion of it away under the muzzle.
So about a month ago I had it graphite black cerracoated

It looks way better now actually.
This is the wheeler ceramacoat on it and an old picture.


Gawd knows why Ithink I need another mauser......

Found one on Ebay for a Springfield, $12 to my door.

DF

+2 ... Use the proper gauges...

While you were takin' pics and posting questions I'd have already paid for it and walked out the door with said Brno in hand.

i have used about a dozen Douglas barrels on Mauser or 03 springfield builds over the years and the contour, finish just says Douglas to me.
don't know why you are worrying about headspace so much , that rifle looks like it was put together by a good hand, but go/nogo guages are the best way to go.

More like three fifty

He’s more like Turdy turdy kinda guy

$450 would be top dollar to me. Everybody's right re: checking headspace. It's a 75-80 year old army rifle which we don't know its provenance, what kind of crazy hot handloads it may have been subjected to in its life, who customized it, and if they knew what they were doing. Looks little fired you say? Could be headspace is excessive and the previous owner got tired of having case separations and after a few mishaps tucked it away- there's just no way of knowing. Whenever buying something like this it's always a good idea to check headspace, and not just with go and no-go gauges, you need a field gauge too. If the bolt barely closes on a no-go gauge it may still be sort of ok to use, but don't expect long case life. The kiss of death is if it closes easily on a no-go and then also closes on a field gauge which indicates way excess headspace. Still ok to buy, if you can at that point get it for a steal of a price, and you have access to a bucket full of M98 bolts that you can mix and match until you find one that fits better.

You do know also to check headspace with the extractor removed? Leaving it in place makes it impossible to feel how the bolt interacts with the gauge, and can easily mislead you.

Trying fresh factory brass in it tells you nothing.

??????

Good info
Specially about removing the extractor .
Thanks.

Dayum...It was the 5 Artillery Lugers that got my attention.