I am considering some things here. Resale value and desirability factor being equally important. The rifles are going to be built on FN Commercial Mausers and stocked in Exhibition Grade wood. With Match grade cut rifled barrels. Have open sights, full rust bluing and nitre blued appointments. Quick detach bases and rings with a quality optic. Would love to hear opinions....

R

If you do most of the work yourself and don't apply a value to your time, you may get your money back when you sell?

If those are the two choices I'd find the latter more appealing. Heck, I might even ask to pick it up and give it a closer look at a show before handing it back and saying I may be back later. Honestly, just build the one you want.

It's on a Mauser and unless it has some really beautiful wood and the work is outstanding I doubt there would even be much interest in it. There are a plethora of inexpensive Mausers both converted military or commercial that you can get rebored to either of those calibers for $200 that I don't think you could get the cost of the materials out of it.

You can buy a new CZ full stocked 9.3x62 for $800.+ and a new Sauer for just over $600.

How about the value of one on a Pre64 Model 70 Magnum Action in 375H&H? Bet that would be worthwhile....

Wouldn't buying a pre64 375 barreled action be a really unnecessary step in building an FN commercial M98 actioned custom rifle?

In the custom world, you NEVER come close to recouping your investment. I have thought about this exact project, but the numbers I crunched put me off. I did figure out that in many cases, you can buy someone else's custom for a fraction of what it would cost to build, so if you want a nice rifle to use I recommend that route. If you want an investment, you're going the wrong direction.

That being said, of the two, I think the 9.3x62 is a more fitting choice for a Mauser 98. That combination was made for each other.

Yes it would. I'll post that in another thread. Just tying to see what's worth my time and energy and what's not.

I'm an 86 Lever and Ruger 5 shot guy. To convert and restore those pays well and the value typically increases. Hence the questions about Bolt guns...

I would think they would have the same value if you sold the rifle with dies.
I don't see a need for "match" grade components when the rifle will never be in a match. A standard Douglas o r Shilen should be fine. Bypass the sights and that expense. A good quality optic is just that, good and quality, no need for a back up plan. Unless this rifle is gonna be a wall hanger, go with X or XX wood. No reason to put $1400 wood on a rifle that is gonna get rolled on when the horse falls on it.

This ^^^^ If you want to gain a perspective on custom rifle resale value, take a look at Hallowell's website below. Figure the cost to re-create some of those rifles in today's dollars.

Hallowell Custom Rifles For Sale

Custom cars, custom guns...the original builder/owner loses close to 1/2 his original investment, no matter how clean.

It seems a bit silly to worry about recouping the cost of building a custom rifle while at the same time paying 25 - 40000 for a new pickup which you will never recoup the cost of either, or your shoes, or your sujts, or your tools, or just about anything else you purchase, except if your lucky maybe your house.

Just build the damn thing and enjoy it.

Better to have it built planning on never selling it, rather planning on wearing it out.

Those are some nice looking rifles! A.O. Niedner's 86 year old great-nephew is a member of my congregation. I'd love to have that old 7x57 to show him some of his uncle's work. I wonder if the stock is a Shelhamer stock.

Yes, they are killer for sure! Loving the way they look.

If it has to be one or the other and you are using a M98 I would do the 9.3X62 without hesitation. I would swing in the opposite direction if you told me you we're going to start with an old Springfield 1903 action.

For me a 9.3X62 seems most suited for a commercial 98 large ring Mauser. 35 Whelen seems most at home on an American action like a model 70.

I recently sold a Hamilton Bowen 500 Linebaugh Nimrod for a bit over twice what I paid. I bought it from the original owner for 2/3 of what he paid to have it built. It just depends. Buying used is the way to go if you find something you like, that fits you well, etc.

I would be very happy with a .35Whelen chambering , but if I was to have a mauser assembled to make the next owner happy,
more chance with 9,3x62...

EdM,

Hamilton makes a great revolver for sure! Custom 5 shot Ruger's are a great investment if you ask me. If you can get one already done with a list of goodies it's very hard to resist. I'll post some pics of mine when it's done....

R

My experience with both bullets ( I say bullets, not cartridges, because most of my experience with the 9.3MM is from the 9.3X74R not the 9.3X62) is that most 9.3 bullets are made with fairly heavy jackets and work well on game up to about a ton. The only one I condemn is the Speer 270 grain which is basically a very big varmint bullet. I have been with a number of hunters using the 9.3X62 when they killed game and I see no difference in how it works compared to my 9.3X74R.

My experience with the 35 Whelen against game is all from observation. I have never owned one, but I have made a bunch of them, and all were made for men that shoot hand-loads. I have never seen a single animal killed with a 35 Whelen with a factory load. All my friends shoot handloads in them. If you use a 250 grain Partition from Nosler or Swift, you will be able to kill anything in N. America and about 99% of things in Africa. The Barnes bullet also work very well as long as the striking velocity is above about 2000 FPS, and I am told when they don't open up well at lower velocities they still are pretty good. Again, it's not something I have seen with my own eyes, but I do believe the men who told me.

I have read a few negative reports about the 35 Whelen against larger game when bullets with jackets too thin were used, but I personally have never seen it. I'll just have to take their word for it. All tell me to stay away from any bullet that is 200 grains and anything that is designed for the 35 Remington, which is what I would have guessed if I had not been told.

The350 Rigby was legendary in it's effectiveness in Africa for many years and it shot 320 grain bullet of .358" diameter at only about 2100 FPS. If you get a custom barrel with a bit faster twist (say 1-12") instead of the 1-16" which we see so often I am sure the Woodleigh 320 grain bullets would make the 35 Whelen do all the old Rigby did. It may work with the slower twist, but for myself, I would not take that chance. A few dollars more for a faster twist from Pac-Nor seems like a good investment so be SURE the long heave bullet will shoot well for you. And the faster twist still does perfectly well with the 250 grain bullets too.

But for me, I choose the 9.3 because I have excellent accuracy from my Ruger's 1-10" twist with all bullets so far, and 1-12" is a very easy twist to get for no extra money. 9.3MM also can be had from weights as light as 220 and as heavy as 320. I have finished my 9.3X57 now and I am going to finish my 9.3X62 this year. Both have 1-12" twist barrels.

Customs are never worth the time, energy and expense if your main concern is recouping expenses down the road. The best way to get your money back is to buy a used gun at a good price.

^^ This ^^ ..... A 9.2x62 and 7mmMauser in a couple 98s would be a very fitting combo.

Work on bolt guns rarely increases their value unless you start with something that’s already rare, and even then, most rare bolt guns quickly get a lot less valuable if you mess with them. It's not hard to find a bolt-action 35 Whelen or 9.3x62 that matches your build sheet for less than $2,500.


Much good advice thus far, especially about http://www.hallowellco.com/magazine.htm I’d also add https://stevebarnettfineguns.com/.

Most people still see bolt guns as hunting tools, so even classics have to compete with the latest stainless/synthetic Remchester. A bolt gun’s intended use determines its desirability, and its resale value is based on the chance that someone else sees the same problem that you did and wants to solve it the same way. Generally, the more stuff you add to a bolt gun, the less of your original investment will come back in resale.

It’s easy to see the intended use for the rifles on the Hallowell and Barnett sites: some are museum pieces meant to remain unfired after proofing, others have gone hunting and taken game. My guess is that all of them are priced at 60% of build cost if not less. Also, most of these guns have been on these sites for several months, so the owners are probably open to negotiation on price. About the only ones that increase in value are the ones made by guys who died, because they're not making guns anymore.

Also, how you execute details matters far more than the build sheet itself. Most rifles on the Barnett and Hallowell sites have the build sheet you described. But notice how Barnett and Hallowell tell us which rifles use off-the-shelf rings and bases, swivels, and other parts, and which rifles use parts made and fitted by hand. Then check out the price differences between rifles with each type of appointments. Then check out Gunsinternational and Gunbroker, where hundreds of rifles also match that build sheet. Many of them lack checkering, the finish on the wood and metal is uneven, the wood-to-metal fit is sloppy, their off-the-shelf parts have been screwed on without fitting, etc. So, yeah, details.

Finally, there's the matter of taste. Both Barnett and Hallowell have superb photographs of their wares, starting with undistorted full-length shots of both sides of the rifle. Buyers get an overall sense of the rifle and what the maker had in mind. These shots show the overall proportions of each rifle, how the lines of the stock flow with the lines of the metal, and whether the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Other shots show details of metal and wood work, especially checkering and engraving. All of that stuff has to add up and match what the buyer had in mind, so the more you do, the more the pool of potential buyers shrinks.

In classic-style bolt guns, all of these things drive resale value far more than the build sheet.


Okie John

Big fan of 7X57's as well. Great round in both rimmed and rimless. Big issue with buying used is waiting for the right combo. Then, you have no time to think. Sweet deals in cool calibers go quick if they are priced reasonably.

I'd be all over an original pre 64 model 70 375H&H far quicker than I would a custom built pre 64 375. However, the custom would probably be worth less/less money, unless you got a big name builder involved... Leave the pre 64 alone and build on a plentiful mauser 98. IMHO.... By the way, if you are building on a Mauser 98, it's a "no brainer" to choose the 9.3x62mm.... Just sayin.. You are also getting a lot of damn good advice here from the other guys...

Pretty much the truth there, unless you run into one of the less than expert, "Gun Experts" in a Cabela's gun library. Then you might come closer to 75% or more. LOL