I found this rifle on an auction site and got it fairly cheaply. Paid $300 for it. The seller was in Florida so I didn’t get a chance to inspect it before buying it. I did speak with him on the phone regarding condition. I figured, in a worse case scenario, at least I’ve purchased a Mauser action that can be used to build a rifle. So I just took a chance on it.

These photos are from the seller’s listing on the auction site. When I have a chance, I’ll take some more, and hopefully better, photos.

Well, the rifle arrived at my gunsmith’s (Todd) this past Saturday. He gave it a cursory inspection and then called me. The rifle is chambered for the 8x60 cartridge and is so marked. It’s probably a .318” barrel as it’s not marked 8x60S. But that doesn’t matter as Todd told me the barrel is “shot”. Lots of pitting and the rifling is almost gone.

I have not personally seen the rifle yet. The following is based just upon my phone conversation with Todd:

The stock of course is junk; some really poor woodwork by someone in the past. (I could tell the stock was not original from the seller’s photos.) Some more bad news is that the bolt serial number does not match the action and, for whatever reason, it has military bottom metal. The barrel serial number does match the action. The serial number is 104428. The action is NOT drilled and tapped for scope bases. However, there is no Mauser banner mark on the top of the action.

The good news is that it appears to be a genuine Oberndorf Mauser sporter action. (See the action markings in the first photo.) Todd says the trigger appears to be original. He also says the action locks up tight. He’s going to give it a more thorough inspection during the coming week or so. The thought now is to use the action for a custom rifle.

I’ll try to update this thread with more info as time goes by.

So, just based on this admittedly limited info at this time, what do you guys think? Is this possibly an original Oberndorf Mauser Model B sporter that got “butchered up” during the past years? Or is it maybe a "guild gun" that just happens to have an Oberndorf action?

(I do have the two Mauser books by Jon Speed but I'm far from any kind of expert on Mausers.)

Cheers!
-Bob F.