Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats FN Mauser Action

I found a J.C. Higgins rifle for sale. Looks like 60's vintage (just a guess). The action is stamped FN Mauser. The gun as a whole looks about 75-80%. The safety is Win 70 style. Caliber is 30-06. Bore is great. Action feels tight. The price is $500.00. I was thinking about buying it and using the action for a rebuild in 35 Whelen. The gun is good on it's own, but I have a couple of 06's already. Is this a good price? The J.C. Higgins markings are only on the barrel. The action markings are where they should be.

For the whole rifle that price isn't bad , not sure if it is worth that just to gut for the action. If you plan on using everything but the barrel it is decent.

If it has a side-swing safety, then someone has done that as an upgrade. That would cost a bit over $100 for a two position, and more than that if it's a three position safety. If that modification has been done, there's a reasonable chance the original trigger that is not ideal has also been replaced. If so, the price gets more reasonable as a basis for a custom. The prices on J C. Higgins Model 50's has been sliding upward a bit. You may find a better deal, but these rifles without the upgrades sell for as much as $400 lately.

Hard to say if it's a good deal or not without more info about the safety. Some of those are scary accurate.

So it is just an average deal? The trigger was pretty good. Zero creep, roughly 4 pounds. It is a two position side-swing safety. The barrel is a lightweight 22" large single step @ receiver. The stock is a trim straight profile. It is a lightweight rifle. Nothing fancy, it might be worth just getting rid of the J.C. Higgins barrel.

It's a bit hard to say if it's a good deal or an average deal. Many consider these rifles a great way to get an FN action for a custom. With the side-swing safety, and if you would want that anyway, I don't think it's a bad deal. The original trigger is quite unique and most folks who plan to do something with these rifles replace them with a Timney or something similar. I can't do a good job of describing the trigger -- it levers off the bottom metal somehow. If you take the action out of the stock and see a trigger that looks nothing like one you have seen before, it's probably the original. Also your description of the stock as trim makes me wonder if it is in original configuration. The original stocks are a little "clubby" to me and have considerable drop to favor the use of iron sights which were much more common when these were manufactured.

I looked for one a bit more than a year ago to use for a custom. (Since then I got another rifle that I used to get what I wanted.) At that time, I thought if I found a Higgins (without improvements to trigger or safety) for $300 it would be a screaming deal, $350 would be a good deal, and I would pay $400 just to have it over with. But I actively wanted one. It sounds a bit like you came across one and are wondering whether to buy it or not. I found one for $380 with a cheap scope and mounts that I will not use, but have some value, so I was happy. My sense is that these rifles have increased in price since then, but I may be mistaken.

I put a Timney trigger in mine. As suggested above, some of these rifles with original barrels are very accurate. I have played just a bit with mine to see if the barrel was "good enough" if I simply decided to make a camp rifle out of it. I haven't really worked up a load, but just shot some groups with 165 grain Ballistic Tips and 168 grain TSX's that I had on hand. I've gotten 5-shot groups of an inch or a bit less. That has motivated me to get a side-swing safety installed as a next step. Who knows where I'll end up? Maybe next is a new stock. TC1 who posted above commented a few weeks ago about using one of these that would shoot accurately as the basis for a "bomb proof truck gun" in 30-06. I think he was considering cerrocoating and a McMillan stock. I believe he said he didn't particularly mind the original left side safety.

IMO, average to high. I'm not a big fan of the 2 position safety conversations though. I bought one (all original) about a year and a half ago for $330.

The J.C. Higgins barrel was made by Hi-Standard and is chrome lined. Probably as good or better than you will find. I would clean it good and then see how it shoots.

Yes, I actually like the left side FN safety (just weird I guess.)

Mine is going in a McMillan stock and plan on keeping the factory barrel.

I just paid $425 for one, all original. If the upgrades have been done (safety and trigger), then $500 seems to be a pretty good price.

One thing to consider, is that REAL, new, FN actions today, cost more than $400 alone. I've had 2 of these rifles, and both were stolen, but sure liked the way they shot, when I had them. If I were looking at building a custom rifle, that I wanted on a Mauser action, I'd sure consider one of the Higgins rifles a good basis, to get an excellent action.

Shouldn't say FN Mauser... Should say FN action Made in Belgium on the left side of the receiver.

Also if you Google and look at a pic you will see the factory safety which is not to be confused with a Winchester 70 style... even though it does swing, up and down.

Geo

Bought one a few years ago for $250.00. Kind of a basket case in 270 win. Sent it to jkob and it is now my 9.3x62 . #3 Shilen and a side swing safety ceracoated by Chalie Santoni , stuffed in a Mcmillan. My favorite rifle. Matter of fact its going on a LR gong shooting day along with my 7mm rem mag. Expect to hit gongs to about 600 with it. Fun!

Nice actions. I usually replace the trigger and sometimes safety (although I like the factory safety just fine). Contrary to others, I haven't had good luck with the factory barrels on the 8-10 I've owned so I have gotten where I replace those too.

Good place to start a custom in my opinion.

I am glad I posted here. I have learned a lot.

It did say " FN action Made in Belgium"

My description on the safety was not clear enough. It would work for me if I decided to scope it. If the barrel is chrome, that would explain why the bore looks "great".

Hell, from the info I have gained here, it might be worth buying. Not the deal of the century, but not a rip-off either. It might be a shooter as is. In any case, I have never had a rifle built from the ground up. Another way to go. In my limited experience with these actions, I do like the words "made in Belgium". I know "FN". I do want a medium caliber. 9.3 x 62 ! , now it just got more complicated.

I picked up this FN for $550 on the Fire Classifieds, but it already had a lot of custom work done, like a three panel Oberndorf type handle, Canjar trigger and M-70 type safety. The bottom metal had been prepped, the trigger guard narrowed and shaped.

This action is from the 50's and is the "H" pattern, contrasted with the older "C" pattern. I think the CZ's are "C" pattern. You can see the two raceway cuts rather than just one for the extractor, thus the "H". "C" is actually better for gas control.

DF

Gibby, if you have the time to have the work done, and if you compare the Higgins to anything that you can buy new these days, for $500, it's a win-win situation.

Another note to keep in mind. All JC Higgins are C&R eligible, if that makes a difference.

Geo

I would put the FN's second on the aftermarket Mauser action list, right behind any of the myriad of Zastava mauser importers. (interarms, whitworth, remington, P.O. Ackley etc) My dad had one (belgian FN) built into a custom rifle in .308 Norma Mag in the 80's its a sporterweight, and shoots a little over half an inch at 100, its his favorite rifle, and he shoots it at all game.

I always kinda chuckle when I see a post about someone looking for a donor action for a "custom" build and them fretting over whether the asking price is $100 too high or not.

Seriously, when all is said and done, $100 will seem like nothing. Besides, how long will you be looking for in order to find that $100 savings? Time is money.

I have learned not to look for nice donor rifles. Too nice and the temptation to keep them as-is increases. I had far too many "donor" rifles at one time, none of which ever became customs.

Now, I look for a sound action but busted stock or worn out bore, etc. To be sure I use the action for what it was intended.

Even for a donor action alone, the asking price isn't outrageous. You might be able to find a better deal (getting harder these days) but you may be glued to the monitor for some time try to do so.

Dirtfarmer, while that was indeed a good deal you got on the FN action, I don't think I'd agree with your calling the bolt handle an Oberndorf type.

z1r,

From my earlier posts on this thread, you can surmise that I completely agree with you. Time is money when searching for an action. I've paid premiums more than once to get what I wanted. Probably the extreme example is what I paid a few years ago for a "sporterized" Mauser G33/40. I won't even admit publicly what I paid. But it was what I had decided I wanted as the basis for a 6.5 x 55 custom, nothing else would suit me, and those actions don't come along every day. And I knew I would face a wait time for the build after I got the action. So I bought the rifle, sent it to Roger Biesen, got my project started, and never looked back. The "premium" I paid hardly mattered in the overall cost.

My J. C. Higgins is a bit of a different story. I bought it thinking I would have a 375 Ruger built on it. But then the real traditionalist in me came out and I knew I had to go with a 375 H&H. Rather than use the Higgins, I found a used Whitworth in 375 H&H and Jim Kobe did a beautiful job of modifying it to my wishes. So I'm thinking along the lines of TC1's "bomb proof truck gun" for the Higgins, especially since the original barrel shoots so well.