Rigbymauser,
By no means permit that to happen! I truly feel for the man who has every gun he needs- because you can always use another. In any case I did want to address a portion of the original topic concerning the new Mauser M-98s. I do have one in .416 Rigby and as previously stated it is a fine rifle. I contacted Mauser USA (San Antonio, TX) and inquired about another one- this time chambered in an 8x68S. It seems the Euro/Dollar rate has had a large impact on prices and my understanding is that the Mauser M-98 in both standard and magnum is now hovering at $14,000- a good bit more than I wanted to pay! The rifle is made by Prechtl of Germany and they have a good English language web site (google Prechtl), the barrel apparently is made by Heym. Mauser's web site states they have drafted the rifle on the original 1936 drawings however when looking at Mr. Speed's Original Mauser Sporting Rifles I did not find a reference (anyone in the know please enlighten me- thank you!). I have not yet, but intend to, have it sent back to Germany for claw mount preparation as the rifle has a double square bridge receiver just perfect for such an application. The stock and all other components are top notch construction and I particularly like the sites- simple and as sturdy as I have ever witnessed. Overall a phenomenal rendition of a 112 year old design- amazing how something, in this day and age, that was developed that many years ago is as relavent today as it was back then. In fact deviate from the M-98 design and you are most likely doing something wrong. Mr. Paul Mauser was quite a man.