| Pat31 |
| (.224 member) |
| 16/09/20 04:46 PM |
New User - Old Shooter - Looking to buy a B/A 98 Stalker
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Hi All, I have bee following the forum for sometime and I thank you all for your input to the great amount of information available here. I have a collection of a number of pre 1920's rifles and shotguns and would like to add a Bolt Action Stalker to the collection. It seems like a minefield trying to identify the myriad of 98 action builds out there and determine what is really worth investing in and what is not. I am aware of the big ticket British builders but these are out of my price range, I believe (like with shotguns) there should be a range of good quality options that are more reasonably priced. It would need to be an earlier period style rifle in about 7 x 57 with Q/D Period Scope, express sights, set trigger ect. Can anyone give me advice on the key points/criteria to look for and ask about and the common flaws/problems likely to be encountered. Thanks.
| DarylS |
| (.700 member) |
| 17/09/20 02:07 AM |
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Re: New User - Old Shooter - Looking to buy a B/A 98 Stalker
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Welcome, Pat.
I am sorry I cannot help you with the rifle you seek.
Sounds above my pay grade.
| Marrakai |
| (.416 member) |
| 17/09/20 02:46 PM |
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Re: New User - Old Shooter - Looking to buy a B/A 98 Stalker
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Vintage Type B Oberndorf Mauser sporters in 7x57 or 8x57 may be significantly cheaper than British stalking rifles by 'big ticket' makers (or Mauser's own Type A variants for that matter) and can be a real pleasure to own and hunt with.
Main thing to watch out for is bore condition, pretty much everything else can be fixed, or tolerated to some degree.
I know this is a short answer but one could write a book on the subject!
| Rothhammer1 |
| (.400 member) |
| 17/09/20 05:31 PM |
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Re: New User - Old Shooter - Looking to buy a B/A 98 Stalker
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Quote:
...I have a collection of a number of pre 1920's rifles and shotguns and would like to add a Bolt Action Stalker to the collection. ... It would need to be an earlier period style rifle in about 7 x 57 with Q/D Period Scope, express sights, set trigger ect. ...
Have you considered the Mannlicher Schoenauer?
From the (U.S.) 1939 Stoeger Catalog:
| Rothhammer1 |
| (.400 member) |
| 17/09/20 06:13 PM |
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Re: New User - Old Shooter - Looking to buy a B/A 98 Stalker
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Der Mauser Stutzen:
NitroX
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| (.700 member) |
| 18/09/20 12:17 PM |
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Re: New User - Old Shooter - Looking to buy a B/A 98 Stalker
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Quote:
Have you considered the Mannlicher Schoenauer?
In my opinion one could hardly go wrong with a M-S. If the bore is not shot out for a hundred year old rifle. And as a Australian/Austrian friend said, if buying a European rifle, and they are relatively cheap in Europe, the bore may even be quite new, only fired a few rounds per year of the rifles life.
He acquired a M-S in 6.5x54 M-S for about A$1600 or even a lot less. A few years back. Main cost is getting it out of Europe and to your country!
A 6.5 mm, 8 mm, would make a nice medium calibre, maybe a 9 mm. And a 9.5 mm and dandy medium/larger calibre lower powered round.
Then there are a lot of other cartridge choices as well.
As for Mauser, great, but choosing an earlier one, and wanting its provenance exact? There can be a lot of shony sellers for a person now knowing what to look for. I can think of a few rifles over the years passed off as something else by the touts on the net.
BTW what sort of calibre are you aiming for? Or is it just for a collection and not a lot of use?
Good luck.
| Wedgetail |
| (.275 member) |
| 19/09/20 04:37 PM |
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Re: New User - Old Shooter - Looking to buy a B/A 98 Stalker
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G’day Pat, welcome to the forum. IMO one good option would be to post pics of a rifle you’re looking to buy on here and one of the aficionados on here will hopefully chime in on how original it looks!
BTW, I know of an original Type B in 6.5x58 Portuguese that I think is sort of for sale - he’s an old time Mauser gunsmith and dealer, straight as they come but won’t get much digital action out of him. I think it’s got silver inlay, not sure about scope mounts. I don’t have any pictures and old mate’s in the dark ages so getting digital pics would be slow. I’m guessing he wants about $2500 for it but I never enquires too hard. It’s in NSW. PM if you want his details or I can call him to get more info...
| Rothhammer1 |
| (.400 member) |
| 19/09/20 05:52 PM |
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Re: New User - Old Shooter - Looking to buy a B/A 98 Stalker
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From the 1939 Stoeger Catalog:
| Pat31 |
| (.224 member) |
| 25/09/20 09:30 PM |
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Re: New User - Old Shooter - Looking to buy a B/A 98 Stalker
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Hi All,
Thanks for the welcomes and replys, apologies for the delay in responding - lifes busy.
Marrakai - I believe you are very right about bore condition although it is also the hardest thing to gauge in the modern "internet gun market place". At least with shotguns, bore diameters and wall thickness allow a reasonably accurate determination of how well they have been looked after (or not). I would think strong rifling and a bright bore are the key elements but again how to determine this other than the sellers "assurance". Will a rifle with a dark bore yet strong rifling still shoot OK, or is a bright bore with worn rifling better.
Rothhammer1 and NitroX - I had not considered the Mannlicher Schoenauer at this time although they are a strong contender after some consideration. It would seem there are also many variants to get up to speed with. I had a chance to buy a caased takedown version years ago when I first started collecting shotguns and did not buy it cause it was one of "those European Rifles in a funny metric calibre" I have allways regrated that. I am leaning towards a 98 as it is a well known style of action to me, I have a 1916 Erfert Gew98 in an early build Full Bore Target Rifle - cork bedded ect, a RSA Mauser style action Target Rifle and a M77 hunting rifle. They all feed, cycle and shoot very well, I did not "chase these down" I more came across them and they were cheap so I bought them. So given all that maybe an early Mannlicher Schoenauer may be the right choice to diversify the collection. What early Model would you recommend, it would have to be a sporter style stock as I don't really like the full wood style.
Wedgetail - Thanks for the input, I'll certainly look for some input from the community on any contenders, there may be a couple at the moment. Feel free to PM me his contact.
Thanks.