Gunsmithing Should I Customize my 98 Mauser???

[Joel4801]

I would like some input on wether i should have my Remington 798 mauser rebuilt or should i just sell it and go with a remington 700.

here's the scoop i have a 798 .308 mauser that i use for hunting and playing i like shooting long range with it so far out to 700 yards but want to go farther.

i have been looking at haveing a custom stock built for it as i shoot left handed and the gun is right handed, next put a full 1" bull barel 20" long with 1:10 twist and top it off with a JP muzel break.
all the work will be done by a pro gunsmith that has been building custom mauser's for over 30 years.

am i wasting my money on this 98 mauser? and dose anyone have any suggestions or tips?
thanks.

 

[x ring accuracy]

Re: Should I Customize my 98 Mauser???

For the money, it is an even gamble. The question is: do you want a right handed gun to shoot left handed? Forget the rem / mauser thing, do you want a lefty pure and simple or a righty modified?

 

[Joel4801]

Re: Should I Customize my 98 Mauser???

deffenatly want the right hand i have been shooting them this way for years.
my biggest concern is the mauser going to perform as well as the 700 after spending the money witch is going to be about $800-$900.

 

[nicholst55]

Re: Should I Customize my 98 Mauser???

Sell the Mauser. Or keep it and buy a 700 to build up. The aftermarket support is there for the Remington; it's not for the Mauser.

 

[Clark]

Re: Should I Customize my 98 Mauser???

The 98 Mauser has:
1) flat bottomed receiver to take torque from rifling
2) controlled feed
3) claw typed extractor
4) safety on firing pin, often modified to be 2 or 3 position M70 type
5) multi stage gas filter on firing pin hole for safety
6) bolt handle is integrally forged as part of bolt body
7) safety lug below rear bridge
8) integral recoil lug
9) knife ejector in bolt lug slot
10 an inner C ring to put the tenon threads in compression

The rem 700 has:
1) receiver made from round tubing
2) push feed
3) little wimpy extractor
4) safety on trigger
5) simple bolt
6) bolt handle tacked on with screw and solder
7) nothing for safety if bolt lugs fail.
8) recoil lug is a modified washer that is captured by the receiver and barrel
9) plunger ejector
10) No inner C ring, so the only thing holding the barrel to the receiver is the tenon threads in tension.

To overcome some of these short comings, the Rem700 may be modified:
1) A flat bottomed shroud may be epoxied around the receiver for benchrest work.
3) A Sako extractor modification may be made to the bolt.
5) Eye protection can be worn when shooting a Rem700.
6) The bolt handle can be TIG welded on the bolt body
8) The receiver and recoil lug may be drilled and pinned together.
10) The Remington factory often puts glue on the tenon threads.

The reason most often sited for dangerous game professional hunters preferring Mausers over Rem700 is the controlled feed.

Kent Reeves Won the Nationals at Camp Perry shooting a 300 Win Mag Mauser in 2006, but more typically the target competitions are won by Winchester M70s, which resemble 98 Mausers.

There are lots of custom Mausers in the $10k - $100k range, but no Rem700s in that range.

The book to get is "Bolt Action Rifles" 4th edition by de Haas.
Of the ~100 bolt action covered in the above book, they seem to all be on the spectrum somewhere between the simple Rem700 and the complex 1898 Mauser design.

 

[Armed Ferret]

Re: Should I Customize my 98 Mauser???

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nicholst55</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Sell the Mauser. Or keep it and buy a 700 to build up. The aftermarket support is there for the Remington; it's not for the Mauser.</div></div>

I don't mean to come across as an ass, as that's not my intention, but did you honestly just iterate that there isn't a healthy aftermarket for the large-ring 98 Mauser?

you may want to spend some time browsing brownell's or midwayusa before making statements like that in the future. I promise you, for every smith that will work on a 700 and customize it, there are 5 that will do same for Mausers.

just because it isn't used on tacticool long-range rigs like you see here, doesn't mean a lot. no offense to the guys here or their rifles, by any stretch. just getting it out there that the long-range tactical precision build is a fairly small niche of overall rifle customization.

 

[x ring accuracy]

Re: Should I Customize my 98 Mauser???

Easiest choice is to sell it to me

. I have several 98's and luv them. Happy shooting