Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles Windfall or money pit?

Bought a Westernfield 720A EHyem at an auction last night, couldn't let a nice (metal)
308 go at $275. Ramline stock, Decelerator, sling.

It has the two position safety, someone gave it a Bold trigger with a safety.

This thing has possibilities. It needs to show me it does good work, then my bargin can start costing me.


The trigger is acceptable for me, the safety isn't. Since the safety is riveted to the housing, most likely a new trigger is in order. While I'd prefer a safety on the right side, the OEM is fine. It locks the bolt👍👍, and the striker👍👍👍👍👍.


This thing has a nice slim barrel, the Ramline is clunky and chunky.
Not opposed to synthetic, but this thing is heavy and crude.


The barrel is 24". About a pecker too long.


So, if Heym put some accuracy in it.
I need a trigger and a handle. Preferably wood.

Cutting the barrel or getting a stock first?
Balance vs stock looking funny?

Picturing a slim, Schnabel type stock.
Not necessarily with the Schnabel, but one darn sure wouldn't hurt!
Really picturing the light stalking rifle theme.


Never owned anything Mauserish before.
(Largely why this was being watched at the sale in the first place.)


What do you fans of PPM think?
Any leads on where a stock can be found? Cheap.
Something solid that fits can be ground down to my specs, I'll finish it.
I'm thinking cutting it to 20" is the end goal if the butt is light enough.

Not sure on the budget. Dollars aren't too much of an issue, I'm just too
tight to send this to someone and give them a blank check.
Sources? Prices?
Certainly willing to pay more for a stock that's ready to go.
A project is fun, but not sought.
Never tried checkering, would be cost for tooling, only to end up with
a lesser quality job.

Cart in front of the horse here, but it's been bedded into the Ramline well.
No movement at all manipulating the screws, my standards are only 1",
It'll be dang disappointing if we can't get there.

Surprising number of Heym rifles here in my area...a tire/sporting goods shop sold quite a few 40 yrs ago or more. I have had guys use my range and I have done minor tinkery things on them...they are fine rifles and I would buy one in a heartbeat if any were for sale...but none are...and that's a clue in itself.

Just like many other manufactures that use that action. Zastava, Interarms MKX, JC Higgins, H&R. Etc. etc. A commercial mauser like the FN as well. Just saw one of those for $500 the other day, with a $5-$600.00 scope on top. Basically giving the rifle away to buy the scope on top. What's this world coming to????

The added costs could end up being so much that you could have bought a nicer rifle with the features you want for the same price. With that said, I would cut the barrel and use it for awhile to see if you can live with the stock and safety. See if it shoots well. If so, look for another stock and trigger jat a good price.

Good luck with your project!

And you see what folks pay for an Axis!


A newer camo 700 ADL with a trash scope in 308 sold for several hundred more.


There was a camo Pistol grip shotgun with a turkey choke, I ignored it, figured it was a Tri-Star. Nope. Fugging Benelli! Knew nothing about it because I hadn't even looked twice at it. It brought $550!😭😭😭!

SIL told me it was a Benelli as they started selling it, I opened it at $200 rode it to
$400, but was afraid to go higher sight unseen.

Clearly you are going to make it a money pit.

I have a Heym that had what was basically a less effective imitation of the bolt stop on the Browning FNs. It simply would not work and I couldn’t find a replacement. I tried several different things that mostly didn’t work. Finally I hit on a perfect if inelegant solution and it looks pretty much like any Mauser now.

I had it in the now discontinued Butler Creek stock which might be the best cheap synthetic stock ever made. Perfect shape and form, light, and pretty stiff. Anyway I simply got a conventional Mauser box style bold stop and attached it to the stock instead of the receiver. It works perfectly and looks fine.

This one has the normal stop.

I guess.

Why in the heck is the bolt sticking out the bottom so pointy.
It's like a needle.
To line things up inside as you push it through under pressure?

To make a hole in the wood stock.

If it's bedded in the Ramline, then see if it groups, otherwise, the simple act of throwing the Ramline in the trash usually increases a rifle's value by about $100. Check your area's better pawn shops for a Mauser take-off from one of the ones made after WWII. A lot of them have very similar barrel tapers. Most are meant for use with irons but a few work well with a scope. Then bed it and free-float the barrel.

I'd test loads before deciding about the barrel. I've had several Mausers group better with shortened barrels, but I'd hesitate to go much below 22". Also, the fact that you have a working front sight might be enough reason to keep it as is.


Okie John

Hate to see the sight go.
Don't have the rear, a front sure helps when leaning against something.



Not starting off well.
Have some old Weaver rings floating around, who doesn't?
Grabbed an old 6.5x20 Leupold that I use to try guns out.
Somehow, the screws in the rings are a different pitch, try again.
Dig a little deeper, find more ring sets.


Then the scope sat too far back, too much eye relief.

Dig around until I found the Natchez Weaver Classic 2.5x8x32s I bought several years
ago. (Put one on an AR, didn't like it, not much eye relief. Perfect for this outfit!) They were dusty😉.

Finally got it all mounted up.
Forgot to slip a piece of Mylar in the rings when I slipped them over the scope.
Small scratches on the tube of a scope not even installed yet😡🤬🤬🤬


Dug around and found a box of Federal 150s I bought over 20 years ago intending to hunt the Finnwolf.(Never happened)

None of the loaded 308 would fit, the 660 has headspace issues.
A no-go needs .010 added to resist bolt closing. Been that way over 30 years.






This is depressing.
It sounds like an old man!

It appears to me for the price if it does shoot decently, you got a good deal. It also seems to me that you can quickly turn 'the deal' around as you invest as broadly as you describe possible. At todays prices, learning to live with deals that offer basic performance, Such, inherent to "such deal" - Brooklyn intonation added :), formula.

The above comment reiterated. Taking the same sum your likely to have invested according to your wishes. Adding... you could likely get a 'net' better, more resalable rifle. Such "better" described one from factory reasonably conforming to your wishes. Versus ending up with a hybrid.

Make your "Christmas shopping list." Cost it out and decide what works for you. Objectively I think you'll turn a good deal modern non-milsurp sporter, into a pumpkin.

My take and I believe echoing others above.
Good Luck!
John

Years back I won a Winchester M70 Youth Ranger in .308 Win. I was trying for the .300 Weatherby that was in first place but no such luck. Dumped the garbage factory stock and found a Ramline at a gun shot that was selling at\t a reasonable price. Good enough methinks to test the M70 with. Took the rifle, a box of factory ammo plus a box of my pet reload for my Ruger RSI and want to the range. The factory ammo did IIRC about 1,25" and my handload shot a but under an inch. I always wanted to replace that stock with something nice but the rifle has shot well with everything I've run through it. So as Mr. Murphy sez, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." It ain't broke and the ugly Ramline stays.
PJ

Major score. Heym is a first-class maker. If you decide to forgo the upgrades, give me a holler and we might could make a deal.

Cutting the barrel would be the last thing I’d do after getting everything else as I wanted it, trying it, and then, only if I felt it would improve handling significantly.
But that’s just me.

That's the plan. I want a shorter barrel, but don't want to recreate the
handling of my M7. A butt heavy gun with a wand barrel that waves in the breeze.
Normally the idea of cutting a barrel would make me nauseous.
But this thing was cheeeeeap. And not original.

The one Heym of that type I owned was a .308 Winchester, which grouped very well in the original walnut stock.

Ram-Line stocks were not the best, but could be made to work with some bedding work.

Leave the barrel alone, can't handle a 24 " stay at home watch football...mb

That is almost a match for a CZ that came to my house. I shot it before doing anything else.

It shoots 4 into 1.25 at 180 yards. I have some walnut Mauser stocks that might work.

It would be a project for me. I really like the old Mausers. Reliable, shoot good enough, rugged. Might restock it but maybe not. Bed it to the Ramline and use it in bad weather.