American made mauser?

[30-30remchester]

Hello everyone, I was wondering if any American company ever made 98 mausers. I know Fred Wells built custom, hand made, one at a time, machined 98 mausers, but his guns start at $10,000 and go up from there. I have a real problem using guns that shot and killed so many Allies. The rumor was that Federal Ordanece actually produced the American Eagle mausers in the 1990's, but closer research revealed these were actually Chech Z24's with all markings polished off and restenciled. I have never heard of a comercial American made 98, has anyone?

 

[taylorce1]

I don't know about commercial either, don't think there are any true Mauser actions made commercially here. Granite Mountain makes custom Mauser actions in AZ thought. I don't know what they cost though.

 

[.300 Weatherby Mag]

http://www.empirerifles.com/Rifles Main.htm
Dakota Model 76
Montana Rifle Co.
Ruger M77 Mark II
Winchester Model 70 Pre 64, Classic, and New model FN manufacture..

Other Options:

CZ 550
Whitworth, made in Manchester England
Serbia (Imported by Interarms, Remington, and currently by EAA/USSG)

I'm missing some.. But this is a good assortment of them..

 

[nimbleVagrant]

The Ruger M77 action is heavily based on the Mauser action. The discontinued Remington 798/799 rifles were built on new Mauser actions manufactured by Zastava in Serbia. Are you looking specifically for an American manufactured action or just an action that wasn't manufactured for the Third Reich?

 

[emcon5]

If you want an American made one, Get a 1903, they were close enough to pay Germany royalties.

If you just want a non-Axis 98, there are options, Yugo and Persian immediately came to mind, but there are probably others.

The Pre-64 Winchester model 70 is an obvious descendant.

What are you trying to do?

 

[warbirdlover]

CZ are Mauser actions but improved versions of the 98. Made in Czech... well you know. They didn't kill anybody either... yet.

http://www.cz-usa.com/products/view/cz-550-american/

 

[Smokey Joe]

Another option...

30-30 Remchester--You want a Mauser, that was NOT shot for the Third Reich, at the Allies. OK, here is another suggestion: Look for a Yugo M-48 Mauser. As the name implies, they weren't made until 1948 or so, so they were not around for WWII.

BTW, they were made at Factory # 44, Prezduce 44 in Yugoslavian (sp? Czech? Hungarian? I dunno), and it says that on the side of the receiver, but the top of the receiver clearly says M-48 so don't get fooled by that. NOT made in 1944!!!

Nicely designed and built edition of the Mauser. NOT a k98K, however, and most of the retro parts for that model do not fit it, but there are plenty of items made for the M-48 so you can dandy it up however you like, sure in the knowledge that (1) It was never shot at an Ally, and (2) You aren't destroying a piece of history.

 

[30-30remchester]

I am a student of firearms design and have studied many makes and model over the years. Having fully researched many of these I am now studing the 98 varient of the mauser. Rumors were there were a few American manufacters of the 98 like Empire and Granite but both are quite high priced. One, and I cant remember which, isnt milled but cast instead. On either of those I have never seen the actual construction methods of the various parts so cant say for sure if they are a true replica of a 98. While there are many quite fine actions out there, like the pre 64 model 70's, 1903 Springfield, Ruger 77, they are far from a 98 in design.

 

[Scorch]

Empire and Granite Mountain are very nice Mauser 98 actions, and kind of pricey. American-made Mausers are custom rifles, with a price to match.

If you want a Mauser 98 that was not a former military rifle, look for a commercial FN or Yugoslavian/Serbian production.

Or look for the "modernized" M98 actions, like those mentioned above (Model 70, M77, etc).

 

[rbursek]

Wasn't the Inter Arms a US made mauser copy?
Bob

 

[taylorce1]

Interarms, Remington and Whitworth were all Zastava (Serb) actions just re-branded by the importer. Parker Hale and Santa Fe Mausers were made in Eastern Bloc countries IIRC as well. Ruger's are the only rifle action with a Mauser style claw extractor that I know of that are cast.

 

[MLeake]

I read this every so often, people don't want "enemy" guns that have killed US or allied soldiers.

I don't mean to point fingers, as I personally have almost all US made weapons, except for a BAR in 7mm Mag and a HiPower (both Belgian by way of Portugal).

But, we keep telling the anti's that guns are tools; guns don't kill people, people kill people (or Richard Kiel does).

My concern is that when we say we don't want Nazi guns, or Commie guns, etc, aren't we personifying and creating "Evil guns?"

Just something to think about.

And I have no desire to own Nazi marked weapons, either, although I wouldn't turn down a P-38 or P-08 sans swastika if somebody offered to give me one.

I did have a Chinese AK back in the 90's...

 

[PetahW]

[ I have a real problem using guns that shot and killed so many Allies.]

AFAIK, The Argentinians haven't shot at us (so far) with their 98 Mausers - although I can't say as much for the Brits.

The M98 Argi's WERE made in Germany, though.

Also, Browning made a LOT of 98 Mauser (FN, Belgium) rifles, before the A-Bolt, etc.

.

 

[jaguarxk120]

So it's better to use a gun that WE used to kill everyone else!!

 

[warbirdlover]

MLeake has said it all. And what about the AK-47's that were used against the Americans in Viet Nam and the middle east?

These aren't evil guns, just tools.

 

[30-30remchester]

This has turned into a wandering thread. I didnt STUDY mauser for stated reason. I was wanting to know if there was a manufacter that built American made mauser 98 actions. Their use against the civilized world had lead me to research other guns. However after some peliminary study I have came to the same conculsion many top gunsmith have also came to. That the original 98 is most probably the finest, best thought out and designed bolt action invented. While I know there are many models of 98's that have never been used in combat, I just steered away from German mausers because of their history and the fact they were crudley made. Pre war commercial German mausers are fantastic classics. And no I dont shoot AK's or SKS's. Anyhow back to the subject, I searched both Granite and Empire mausers, while they are both milled and machined actions, the granite has a seperate bolt handle welded to the bolt. Empire wasnt clear on the subject but implied that they were machined to the bolt. I would like to see the internal workings on the Empire, especially the bolt. They are both double bridge actions which is not a bonus for me. The action I recall being cast was the Montana action that closely resembles the pre 64 model 70's.

 

[emcon5]

just steered away from German mausers because ..... the fact they were crudley made

Compared to what?

Late war Kriegsmodell maybe, but early war wasn't really different that pre war, different stamps is about it.

 

[30-30remchester]

EMCON, crudely built compared to pre war commercial action. The old adage is to not buy any military gun from a losing army in the last years of the war. If you will take a close look, you will see many shortcuts, stamped tin parts, many machining marks, poor fit and finish.

 

[.300 Weatherby Mag]

I'm not going to argue about the late war shortcuts... But have a 1943 98 action that shows no signs of cost cutting or shoddy workmanship.. I have commercial actions as well... Not as nice as my FN, but not bad either..

 

[30-30remchester]

The study of mausers is a field I am just now dabbling into. However there was very shotty work being done by 1944 on German guns. Currently on Gunbroker there is a German mauser dated 1944 that shows very poor workmanship. The reciever has multiple machining marks, the rifle has a plywood stock aka laminate, as most German mausers had. The triggerguard is stamped tin as is the forend cap. If closer pictures were available of other parts of this gun I would assume they would show the same lack of detail. I know Japan had a shortage of metal and had supposedly even made some recievers from cast iron, so I am wondering if German as well had metal supply problems as well?