I figured this would get a little more traffic up here. Dad's cousin sold his place and is offering me dibs on all his guns. One I have no clue how to value. It's a typical 1950's sportorization of a military 8mm, still open sites, has some fairly decent wood work (done by my Dad's uncle). All parts are still military, including the "base" of the stock. It is by far from a show piece, but I want to give him an honest buck. Probably never get shot, just to the gun rack with several others that are conversation pieces more than tools.

Pics would be helpful

Working on pics tomorrow. Should have mentioned that part.

It would be worth around 300-400 to me in that shape.

Maybe more or less after seeing pictures.

$200 to the right person.

Many countries had Mausers. Do you know which country it is from?

There may be a bunch of information on the top of the barrel in front of the chamber. Take a pic of that info and post it.

That's where I'd be with it.

But of course different things for different people.

Or about $2,950 on Gunbroker.

Some of the Mausers on gunbroker were found under Hitler's bed............

If it has turned down bolt $300-$500 depending on condition and barrel.

A lot of those 8mm's, after the war, had a 30-06 reamer run in them and guys shot 30 cal bullets thru them. Not uncommon in the late 40's and 50's. That .004 smaller difference would still kill a deer at 100yards. I had one years ago.I think I gave $50 for it and it didn't shoot half bad considering. You might check the chamber to make sure it was not one of them

I think the 6.5 Swedes are a lot more valuable if done right

Between 2 and 3 hundred, if the barrel is good.

Have to find the right person if doing a private sale.
Selling or trading to a LGS they are gonna give ya the people are adverse to them because of the caliber and they are not sexy in alot of people's eyes nowadays.
And offer you probably 200 max
Then they are gonna ask 375 400 and the 1st person to offer em 300 325 .
Sold......

With that one basically being a "mil configuration custom job" from the way you described it.
And not a full blown civilian custom job able to be scoped.

275 to 400 max.
To the right person.

on gunbroker.... couple of bidders might get in a bidding war on it.
But also might not.

Then ya gotta figure gunbroker fee
And shipping.



You buying it....
In what you described

Throw 250 offer.
See what his counter is if that happens
If he is fishing and don't throw a counter out.
Then 275 max.
Then see what happens.
That will give ya a clue on mindset.

If dude thinks it is worth waaaay more than that and starts saying hard to find this or that.
Or comes out with they are selling for this that or the other on
this site or place.
( which would be a big clue on things going on)
Or is attaching emotional value to it for Benjamin's.
Or combos of it all.

I would be nice and decline and not cause family friction.
Cause that is a possible dynamic that could be in play also.

I dunno...
Just going off your post and what I have seen or heard of in things like this involving family gun sales.
You have to tread lightly sometimes in situations like this.
Sometimes not.
It can go well
Or it can cause " friction" if someone gets slighted by realities.

It's not like negotiating with someone unknown.




YMMV.....

Consider it a blessing your getting offered the guns I never get offered schiit

LOL yea but it would come with a note about it being Selby's personal rifle. 😂😂😂

Huh?

On the hunter rifle market, the above replies seem to be in the ballpark. In my case, it is the action that could be desirable and a lot would depend on manufacturer, design, fit/finish, etc. You will do fine after inquiring here.

The most value would be as an anchor for a small raft.

Or as a cheater bar.

Depending on which factory made it and when it could be worth decent money for the action alone. Mauserwerk actions bring a premium for custom builds. Do serial numbers match? What metalwork has been done and how good is it. Is there any metal pitting from rust, usually below the action?
More than likely it is a war production piece with mediocre woodwork and little to no metalwork. If so it’s worth whatever someone is willing to offer for it.

Normally I just let this stuff go...but this is the height of what is bad about the internet. Utter bullschidt. Any .308 bullet will literally drop through a "J" or "S" bore 8mm. 8mm-06 loading data has been available since the beginning of published loading data. There are specifically 8mm-06 reamers ground for this, and specifically cut reloading dies. I hope you were thinking of some bubba conversion of the 7.65 Mauser.

That's what I was thinking. It would be a good start to putting it back into military config for a fun shooter.

I've got a couple of Bubba-ized Mausers that somebody whittled on the original military stock, usually cutting it off and doing a hack job to make it resemble a sporting rifle. I used to offer $100.00 at a pawn shop, and walked out with the gun more often than not. I considered them to be donor actions for a barrel, trigger, and stock swap. I've still got a pretty big stash of Turk Mausers that I ordered from Shotgun News back when they were selling for $29.95 apiece. I bought 30 of them at that price.

I beg to differ, I had one and I shot it. It might have rattled down the barrel but it was done. Right after the war, a lot of bubba things were done to old military rifles.

Were you even around then?

8mm and 7 mm mausers, 30-40 Kraigs, .03 Springfields, 7.65 Argentines could be had for $10. I bought a 1903 Springfield from Montgomery Wards for $12.

I'm surprised I didn't catch that, but I'm glad you did. Yes the 8mm is about .32, not going to do well with a 30-06 slug.

The problem with shooting the 8mm mausers in the 1950's was not the barrel diameter, it was getting brass. So the 8mm'06 was achieved by the chambering being reamed out to accept a 30'06 cartridge. The 30'06 brass was then sized to accept 8mm bullets. Not the other way around--8mm brass with 30 cal bullets.

Come on Chumley, show us some pics. There should be some valuable data on top of the barrel, near the rear sight, if it hasn't been scrubbed. Also we want stock pics, and pics of the bolt.

I've got an 8MM-06 chamber reamer. It's a quick, easy way to boost the performance of the 8X57, and brass is a lot more available. Just use .323 bullets and 8-06 reloading dies. Magazine length on the intermediate length 98 actions like the Yugo and other rifles can be a problem with long, heavy bullets. Most of the 8-06 conversions of war trophy rifles was done because milsurp 8X57 ammo was usually Berdan primed.

Lots of variables on mausers. Year and where it was made, who it was made for, matching numbers, pitting in receiver, bore condition, etc. If it says 33/40 brno it can be worth more than some others.

I have a semi sporterized Brno 1940 660 that I wouldn't sell in the $200-$400 range. It has a really nice action. I almost had it drilled and tapped and had a 9,3x62 barrel put on it but my old neighbor zollinger the mauser rifle builder said it was a nice action and would be worth a lot more if I pieced it back together with original parts and didn't drill it.

I also have some matching number 1909 argentine mausers that he said would be good to build on and a few 1908 Brazilian 7x57s. In the end we decided I was best off just doing one of my many jc Higgins 50s or 51s for a working gun. I got it already to go and then he passed away. That Zollinger knew his way around mausers. I spent several Saturdays in his shop learning a bit but never even scratched the surface of what he knew. Good old Dean is probably building mausers for God in heaven now.

Any decent 98 should be worth at least $400 these days. I still have a spot for the jc Higgins with their fn commercial 98 after a few lessons on why they were easier to start with. Lots of variations in steel and heat treating in military stuff over the years.

Bb

Might have been that, but the one I had came with a box of reloads with 30-06 head stamps. 8mm is .314, not.320

Bro, those 30-06 head stamps had .323 bullets on the end, guaranteed.

The original 7.92x57 had a .318 220 grain bullet. Around 1905’ish, the diameter was upped to .323, it was made a spitzer and the weight was reduced to 150 grains. Rifles that were reamed out were marked with a prominent S on the he receiver. Later a 195 grain loading was adopted for better performance for machine guns at range.

I have bought 4 Mauser's like that over the years. No alterations done to the metal. Just bubba hacked off the stock. I restored them all and sold them for well more than I payed.

Of course then I got original stocks for around $50, not in the hundreds like today.

[quote=JoeBob


Bro, those 30-06 head stamps had .323 bullets on the end, guaranteed.

The original 7.92x57 had a .318 220 grain bullet. Around 1905’ish, the diameter was upped to .323, it was made a spitzer and the weight was reduced to 150 grains. Rifles that were reamed out were marked with a prominent S on the he receiver. Later a 195 grain loading was adopted for better performance for machine guns at range.[/quote}

Probably so, but as I first posted, it was not uncommon for those old 8MM to have a -06 reamer run into them which others seem to agree with. I posted it and apologize for the error, but a modification such as that would make the rifle in question worth less. The one I had was not marked with anything except the original stampings and I'd wager more than one person ran 30-06 ammo thru them at one time or another.

So flame on if it gives anyone pleasure

An 8X57 cartridge will chamber in most .30-06 bolt actions. Try it sometime. Squeezing that .323 bullet down a .308 bore will get your attention if you're dumb enough to pull the trigger.

In the late 50s and 60s (maybe even later), that hunting rifle reaming/conversion of the 8x57 to use the 30:06 case opened up a bit was very common in the west. Some called it the .32:06. Actually a good deer/elk load - bit lighter/quicker than the .338:06.

8mm-06 is a well known wildcat.

Yeah, Huh is right. .004"? More like .023".