Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Once in a Lifetime Mauser?

That Norin Mauser is very nice!

bsa1917hunter

This is a 7X57, not the 7mm Remington Magnum you were yearning for, but it's a pre-War Model 70 by Al Biesen and is one of the pride and joys of my gun room:

That sounds like a fun project, Bruzer.

If I was going to spend years and many, many thousands of dollars building a mauser that wouldn't be ready until I was in my 50's, I'd expect it to be not only beautiful but fun to shoot - a lot of fun. So likely I'd be in 7x75, .257 Roberts, or .223/AI mode.

TC1's .223 is gorgeous and I expect it's a heck of lot of fun to shoot - that's bang for his (considerable) bucks. You didn't list a .223 in your holdings, so a .223 would merit consideration.

Another thought is maybe spend the money on hunts. Go after that bighorn or moose or bear you've always wanted, or take the kids on an antelope hunt. As much as I enjoy rifles, the memories are made in the field.

Good luck! I hope you'll keep us posted.

Dean Zollinger lives just a few miles from me. He does nice Mauser work.

Bb

I'd do a Satterlee. He did my Mex Mauser in 338 Fed. Great work, he is slow though. He could do the whole thing, and depending on wood, come in at about 15k.

I'll soon be starting on one that will be very similar using a 1912 Chilean Steyr action.

Craigster sounds nice! Seems he makes a nice rifle.He even built some Mausers from scratch.

A one time custom is like a one time trip to hunt Africa...unlikely. Have done this many times and plan on 10-15K. Use a single builder not many. Call Steve Heilman.

Wow! Al Beisen fan here too. Nice rig xausa

There have been a lot of excellent suggestions made so far regarding actions and gun builders. But I have a few suggestions that may be of help to you. I have done a custom rifle exactly as you are planning. It took me a few years to make it happen but i was able to use a similar budget of yours and it worked great for me

Action - Being that you are looking at a budget i would set aside the custom mauser actions that have been mentioned. They are beautiful but would use up at least 2 years worth of your budget. There are a lot of really good options for you that are in your budget. A Winchester M70 Classic would be a good place to start and would require the least amount of work since so much of the work is already done. (donor cost $600-1000 depending on what caliber and variation you buy) But a custom mauser is hard to beat. If you choose a 98 Mauser I suggest sticking with either a DWM or Oberndorf action since they are the most sought after and are as a rule very nicely finished. (donor action plan on $300-400) They do require the most work but the finished product is well worth it. Another option would be to use a CZ 550 action. The donor rifles are readily available (donor cost $800-1000) and the safety/shroud, bolt handle, and trigger are easily swapped out by a competent builder - and you then have a very nice double square bridge when done. i have a CZ 550 in 458 WM that I had the action surface ground to get rid of the massive CZ markins, Oberndorf bolt handle welded on, LaPour safety, and Timney trigger installed. When completed the metal work looked amazing. You mentioned wanting a square bridge receiver - a good builder can make you custom square bridge scope bases that look amazing and are easier and cheaper than welding up a square bridge. Zollinger has made me 3 sets of bases with 2 of them being "square bridge" bases and they look awesome. Any good builder can do the same but each one tends to have their own style they like to use. Regarding your safety - I am a huge fan of the Satterlee. it closely resembles the factory 98 but is a bit pricey at $250. A dakota is nice and run around $150. In the middle you have LaPour and Gentry. NECG is also available but not sure of their pricing.

Builder - Going with any of the top well known top shelf builders like Wiebe, Hielman, Martini, etc... will cost you 15k and up. A good alternative is going with a lesser known builders but who have excellent skills and reputations. I am a huge fan of Dean Zollingers work and he has done a stock for me as well as having a couple in progress right now. His prices are outstanding and his work is top shelf. Take a look at some of my other threads and you will several examples of his work. James Anderson is another favorite of mine and his work is second to none. He did all the metal work on my custom M70 and i have to say it is perfection. Tip Burns in TX is another one that jumps to mind as having excellent work and reasonable prices. Depending on what all you have done you should plan on a budget of $2000 plus parts.


Stock blank - start shopping around now. It can take a while to find just the right blank for the rifle you have envisioned. Being that you are interested in rifles that generate a bit more recoil - all 3 of which i am a big fan of - I suggest you stick with the this shell walnut species. English and turkish are the most common and easiest to find. I have picked up some amazing blanks off of Ebay for bargain prices in the past but that can be risky. Takl to your builder as he may have a blank you will like on hand or know of one that fits your tastes and may be able to save you a few bucks on the blank. Luxus happens to have some amazing blanks on sale right now with massive discounts. If you do not see on on their listings that you like call and talk to Adam and tell him what you are looking for and odds are he can take care of you very well. I would budget $500-1000 for a top end blank. but with some shopping around you should be able to find a bargain out there.

Stock - I like my stocks just like you mentioned - open grips, slim profile, and made from fine walnut. As I mentioned with the blank I would stick with the thin shelled species since they allow the finer checkering and are generally preferred by the stock makers for a variety of reasons. I am very partial to Dean Zollingers stocks and he is reasonably priced. Another option that may suit your budget is a lesser known stock maker. One I think is excellent is Canyon Creek. They have done a couple for a buddy of mine and come in a fraction of a prominent builder. If using someone like Zollinger i would plan on $2500+. And for a builder like Canyon Creek you can get a beautiful stock in the $1500 range. Those prices would be plus wood costs also. The price can go a lot higher if you start adding elaborate checkering patterns, leather covered recoil pads, skeleton grip caps and butt plates, etc....

barrel - there are a lot of great barrels out there. Shilen, Krieger, Lilja, etc... are all top shelf. The barrel is the heart of your rifle - dont try and skimp on the barrel to save a few bucks by using a bargain basement barrel. Stick with a top name and you will never regret it. James Anderson did my octagon barrel and it is a very graceful contour. he could do an amazing job on one with integral sights, rib, etc.. - but it wont be cheap. you can easily drop 1k into a barrel like you are describing. But to be honest - by the time time you pay for a quarter rib, banded front sight and banded swivel base you are probably sixes on the cost.

trigger - just depends on what you are using for the donor action. If using a M70 - stick with the factory and have the smith tune it up. 98 mauser - no contest - nothing but a Blackburn. They are available through Swift Bullets now. CZ 550 - you are pretty much locked into a Timney, but it is a huge improvement over the factory.

Bottom metal - A lot depends on what exactly what you want to build. Wiebe, Blackburn (now available through swift bullets), Sunnyhill all offer super nice bottom metal in standard and drop box configurations for the 98's and M70. Wiebe also makes beautiful metal for the CZ 550. The Williams Oberndorf pattern for the M70 is also very nice. Depending on what you buy the cost will run $180 for the Williams to $500 for the Sunnyhill. I have used all of the above and can find zero fault with any of them.

i hope my comments have been of some help to you.

One final comment - A lot of suggestions have been made to buy a factory gun and spend the money on a hunt. While that has some merit - they are really missing out on what a custom rifle is all about. It is a rifle built just for you to your tastes and specs. And the feeling of enjoyment that comes with hunting with your dream rifle makes it all worth it. A lot of suggestions have been made and I hope they offer you some good advice. but in the end dont cave in to the nay sayers. build the rifle that YOU want and enjoy every step of the process from the build to the hunt.

Difficult to get overly mushy over another person's work and being 'proud' of a thing that all you did was hand over greenbacks for.

Now if you are the builder of said rifle I can understand the feeling.

So a guy who likes nice cars should not enjoy his Mercedes just because he did not build it? Or Michael Angelo's David should not be admired because I did not carve it? And so a guy who knows exactly what he wants should not enjoy a custom rifle because he does not have the skills or machinery to build said rifle? What a load of crap. Fine craftsmanship in all its forms is meant to be admired and enjoyed. just because it is commissioned to fulfill a persons specifications and tastes rather than built by ones self does diminish its enjoyment at all.

Pride comes from doing for me, not from handing over money.

I guess some consider themselves playboys because they banged a couple $500 hookers.

You are correct M1Tanker! We know Buttheads only function on the forum is being a troll. He loves doing it.

how many of those 99s did you build yourself??? You sure seem proud of them based on how many time you post pictures of them (and often not with some dead critter)...

For me a custom such as the OP desires really should start out with an old Mauser action that allows the builder to execute his fine work transforming it to perfection. Starting with the fine GM, Satterly and such kind of takes away from the whole concept to me.

No pride over the ship building you managed? I'll bet you did not do all the welding or pulled all the wiring.

To get this back on track...

My first "Mauser of a lifetime" was a BRNO 21H by Dennis Erhardt. I had it chambered in .30-06 cuz I figured I'd only ever do one, and there's not much one can't get done with the old ought six...if I had that one to do over it would be a 9.3x62

My next (and latest) was a 7x57 on a Mexican Mauser (I just cannot chamber a 7x57 in a long action) by David Christman.

My next will be a G33/40, most likely a .280 Remington or a 7x64.

I love the look of a mauser barreled action,especially when their mine,the start of a dream.

Satterlee magnum mausers with .750 diameter bolts chambered in 416 & 450 Rigby,with Krieger 26 inch barrels,with intergral rib,recoil lug,front and rear sights.
I have a matching 505 Gibbs also in process.