Mausers
I have some questions for a Mauser collector/expert. I have inherited 16 Mauser pistols and I want to know if they are worth keeping as "collector items" or if I should try to sell them?
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Went to the range and a couple of guys were hammering away with a 8mm mauser, looked like fun.
Questions:
1. Why are some so cheap
2. How many calibers do they come in. 8mm, 7mm..
3. Is there a big difference between makers Yugo, turk, etc.
4. When purchasing one what should you look for? Clean bore, finish
5. What are some good models under $200
6. A good caliber but some what inexpensive and fun to shoot.
7. Mainly for plinking but could you hunt with it?
9.. I handled the one at the range and the barrel was very hot, but there was some kind of melting clear goo coming out of the wood, is that normal?
Thanks0 -
Hey bk,I just bought a Yugo M48 from Mitchell's Mausers about 3 months ago. It is in NEW condition in spite of being mfd' in 1943. I don't know much about customizing them. I just bought this to shoot. If I was going to customize one I would get a cheaper grade(mine is Collector grade-#'S match,all accessories included,Superior grade Teak wood stock,etc). There is,literally,not a scratch on it. It's a MUCH better rifle than I've seen at any shops around here and it was considerably less,too. I'll bring it when we go shooting and you can see for yourself. Doesn't kick too bad either,in spite of it's steel buttplate. You can find used ones that would be good for customizing at around $100-$200 because you'd probably ditch the stock anyway and it won't matter if #'s match,etc. Any of the pros here will probably tell you,it's one of the best actions available. Maybe we can get together in a few weeks and go shootin?
1)"Give me Liberty or give me death!" 2)"Keep your friends close,your enemies closer." 3)"Just how big'n a boy are ya?"0 -
Like Saxon - I've built a Custom Mauser only in 22-250, A word to the wise ... If you want to build a custom gun, start with a modern barreled action ... this is coming from a guy that is in the ending phase of going down the path you may be thinking about. I've easily spent more than enough to buy a new Kimber 22-250 heavy barrel varmint rifle ... and that's not counting my time.
German receiver - complete .................. $150
Parker-Hale bolt and adjustable trigger .... $189
Boyd's Thumbhole stock ....................... $179
Douglas Heavy Varmint Barrel ................ $145
Leupold rings and Bases ........................ $ 70
In retrospect, I could have saved money in several areas, but as the project progressed I up-graded on several things, to start with, if I'd bought just a striped action I could have saved about ? of that cost since I decided matching numbers weren't a concern anyway, then I went with a more appealing (to me) stock and I went with the P-H bolt and trigger (which has a safety lever similar to a Remington) instead of the modified wing safety and military trigger, (which I'd bought and didn't like). I felt its not only more modern, but also cleaner looking. After almost 2 years, I decided I wasn't going to buy the scope mount drilling jig, receiver wrench, barrel jaws for my vice, reamer and headspace gauges ... a competent and real gunsmith charges less to do it than I could buy the tools for, and since this is not a project I'm going to take up again, I opted to have him do it ... he noticed the bolt wasn't closing all the way and also had to inlet the stock a bit more for the trigger and bolt handle, everything came to another $200 ... so now were up to $933 ... and I still have to do a lot of polishing and maybe bluing. I've just finished doing some inletting to fully float the barrel and lastly it will need to be glass bedded, which I also plan to do myself.... I haven't decided weather I'm going to try to clean up the floor plate/trigger guard or just spend another $150 or so for a commercial hinged floor plate. This brings up another problem ... the floor plate/mag well! If your going to stay with a length of caliber the Mauser action was designed for its no problem, however I went with the 22-250 which is .8" shorter ... almost an inch! What happens if you use the mag well? Well, under recoil the cartridges slide around and bind up ... you can put 1 round in the mag and one in the chamber, but it's basically a single shot. What I did to overcome this is to make and install a ?" X 1" nylon block at the rear of the mag well and pin it in place, cut down the follower to the correct length for the 22-250 then got a mag follower spring for a Remington short action ... this fit perfectly in the mag well. Now then, when I cut off the back of the follower I removed the follower stop. This was easily corrected by building up the corner with a short bead of weld then shaping square ... it worked great, unfortunately about 90% of the time, after the last round was ejected the bolt would get hung-up on the back of the follower ... so back to look at the part of the follower I removed ... again! Now, I consider myself fairly observant, but I didn't notice on the back of the follower there was a sort of ramp cut at about a 20-degree angle ... so I took out my follower and just on my bench-grinder cut a ramp on the back of my modified follower and it worked perfectly!
Anyway, it looks like I'll have somewhere around $1100 plus Optics and a total of about 100 hours of my time in this puppy ... frustrating at times, but its been fun and educational. I did shoot it 2 days ago (without bedding) to "break in the barrel" and work up some loads. I mounted a BSA 6-24X44 Platinum Target scope from another rifle until I decide what to top this one with. Shooting 55 grain Winchesters, CCI primers and Accurate 2230, I started at 33 grains (2 grains under the max load) and loaded 9 rounds each of 33, 33.5, 34, 34.5 and 35. Shooting 3 shot groups, one round of each load into the appropriate target successively (to allow for barrel temp change), I ended up with groups measuring from 1.75 to 0.38 with the max load of 35 grains performing the best. If it keeps shooting like this, the BSA may stay on it and I'll find something else for the other rifle.
Well that's my experience; hope it's been informative or at least entertaining
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Chance favors the prepared mind
kimberkid@gunbroker.zzn.com0 -
For buying one, the Yugo M48 and M48A are right now the best as most are in excellant condition. Turk and Czech mausers can be had cheap but caveat empor- unless you pick it out yourself condition could be crappy. However if you plan to sporterize, and replace the barrel- which I hate to see done to any gun- either of these are fine. Be aware that replacing a barrel, drilling, tapping, etc. are generally best left to a gunsmith unless you have machining experience.
"...hit your enemy in the belly, and kick him when he is down, and boil his prisoners in oil- if you take any- and torture his women and children. Then people will keep clear of you..." -Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher, speaking at the Hague Peace Conf0 -
I am working on a 300 win mag on a mauser action right now
I used a vz action and got a almost mint one for 89.00 when I
get the project done I will have about 700.00 in gun I am
doing as much of it as I can myself but am letting a gunsmith
do some of the final fitting. I have really got a education
on this project such as bolt had to be fitted so I could use
magnum ammo. The ammo holder is too short for ammo and had to be shaved
out to make bigger ECT but when I get done I will have a gun I
BUILT with the best of everything I looked for in a gun.Good
luck on yours.
col elect1mike Illinois
volinters RRG
O give me a home where no democrats roam0 -
Thanks for the input. I was interested in doing one up for the fun of it, nothing special. Probably just a new stock and optics/sights. My main concern was the quality of the action, i.e., Turkish, Yugo, Czech, etc. Not looking to sink a lot of money into it.
BigT, would like to get together. email me at bklimecki@comcast.net to set it up.
Kimberkid, nice piece, I like the stock!
Edited by - bk0331 on 11/20/2002 18:06:290 -
You may find that the Turkish actions are less attractive because of the handguard ring on the front of the action. According to other posters they are more likely to require hand fitting of aftermarket parts. Some of the barrel threads are small ring diameter and some are large ring.I had one rebarrelled with a take off Rem 700 barrel and it looks ok.
Mobuck0 -
btt 0
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