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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,361
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,361 |
I have a 798 in 300WM that cost me $479 used in 2016, made in 2007, but looks unfired. The receiver looks cast.
I have converted surplus military Mausers, like the VZ24 to many cartridges including the 7mmRM and 300WM. Surplus Mausers, except some Swedes and Yugos, look worn.
I was working on surplus Mausers from ~ 1965 to ~ 2005.
Lately I have mostly worked on pre 64 Win M70s and Rem 700s. I put on new barrels, stock, triggers, bolts, etc.
If I can get an old M70 for $500 or $600 or an old Rem 700 for $300 or $400, I have a much better starting point.
Those old surplus Mausers I hoarded are getting sporterized slower and slower.
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. -Ernest Hemingway
The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.-- Edward John Phelps
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Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 2,653
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 2,653 |
798s are definitely not cast. They are good quality commercial guns...h cut, no thumb slot etc. pretty good barrels too iirc
I hate the stocks...but spend some coin on a nice custom stock and a trigger job and your really cooking...of course a nice stock is a grand by the time you buy a “Richards never fit” in nice walnut and have inletting and checkering etc done maybe more
Last edited by Quak; 11/27/19.
GOD Bless America
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 151,031
Campfire Savant
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Campfire Savant
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 151,031 |
I would like another 7 mag 798 with the laminate stock. I had one, but son in law talked me out of it.
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Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,202
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 1,202 |
Like Quak sez - definitely not cast.
Made by Zastava ..... as in Mark X, Chas Daly, etc.
Last edited by WTF; 11/30/19.
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,701
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,701 |
Like Quak sez - definitely not cast.
Made by Zastava ..... as in Mark X, Chas Daly, etc. Yup, not cast.
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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 3,909
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 3,909 |
They were not cast but I think he was alluding to the finish work. Doesn’t look machined well.
Just my thoughts as a machinist.
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 11,911
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 11,911 |
Generally they are good shooters but sometimes they need to be smoothed up a tad.
I have chambered many Mauser 98's in many caliber/cartridge.
The only one i will ever make one of is the 300 WSM.
Getting it to keep 3 down and feed without popping them out was enough.
It does shoot darn good.
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,507
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 5,507 |
Don't need to climb Everest a second time, right?
"Live like you'll die tomorrow, but manage your grass like you'll live forever."
-S. M. Stirling
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 28,731
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 28,731 |
The finish quality varies a lot, but most of the issues I've seen were below the stock line or on the edges of the bottom metal, bolt release, etc, easy to clean up during a build. Still, my experience poking around on GB indicates that nice examples often run as much as store-brand FNs like the Higgins 50, which are somewhat preferable to me. FN Deluxes are fairly common below $1K, as are decent, not perfect, Brownings, Huskys, etc. I probably paid a bit too much ($600) for my 1948, but I was hoping it was a C-ring, and it was. The barrel is pretty stout, and it goes about 9 3/4 pounds in a B&C Medalist, but it's a solid shooter.
What fresh Hell is this?
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 23,624
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 23,624 |
Yeah, back when that rifle was built, 98 actions were very inexpensive, even the coveted G33/40. Gunsmithing was much less costly so it was an economical alternative to buying a production rifle. These day, the opposite is true. While the cost of Mauser actions dropping in many areas, the cost of gunsmithing, barrels, and things like safeties has risen. Those with deep pockets and time and willingness to wait or the overwhelming desire to have a rifle built on a Milsurp 98, like the VZ24 will still commission them. But for most others, starting with a commercial action is usually more cost effective and more expedient. Also, in 1948, the only commercial 98 action available would have been the FN and I'm not certain it was widely available to the public yet.
When I started, all my rifles were built on Milsurp 98 actions. As I get older and time seems to speed up, I find myself gravitating toward building on commercial actions because I can get a new rifle into the field that much quicker. 100% true & in addition, today, starting with a commercial action will almost end up being cheaper to build into a nice rifle...................and the action metal is much, much better for high pressure loads. On the Mauser's I've built for myself, I check headspace regularly..............some are heat treated, some not. MM
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