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Sporterizing Mausers

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The “Elephant Gun” Scott hasn’t taken an elephant with this gun and probably won’t because they’re too dangerous to fool with using a “homemade” gun, but when guests come into town they get a “blast” out of firing this .458 Win. Mag. The Midway barrel was left in the white and the action is topped with a 2x scope. Instead of turning down the bolt handle, Scott welded on a new Brownells’ bolt handle. The Bold trigger moves the safety to beside the Brownell’s bolt shroud so the safety can be used on the scoped gun. Everything is bedded in a cheap, off-brand synthetic stock with faux wood finish.

They’re bygone days now because you can buy a quality and accurate rifle like a Mossberg or Savage for a few hundred bucks, but it used to be that if you wanted a good rifle on the cheap, you would build one from a surplus Mauser. I was fortunate to catch the tail end of that era. Actions were plentiful and inexpensive, Brownell’s had any modification part you could think of, Fajen had semi-inletted stocks and Midway offered short-chambered barrels you could thread in at home and finish ream by hand using a rented chamber reamer.

A lot of Mauser sporterizing stuff is still available from those sources, but actions are harder to come by and not so cheap. These days, sporterizing a Mauser isn’t so much about saving a few bucks, but instead about having a “guy” project to work on—though women can sporterize a Mauser equally well.

 

 

Scott Mayer

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“Shooting Guns & Having Fun”

 

Scott Mayer
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