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Gentlemen,
I have had the opportunity to handle a Rigby Highland stalker in 275 Rigby at $12000 AUD as well as the new Mauser 98 Expert (Equivalent to the old Model A) in 30-06 at $10000 AUD. I didn’t get to shoot them, only handle them in the shop, however I thought some of you might be interested in what I found. Please remember though that these are my opinions only.

- The Rigby is a very nice looking gun that is well finished and handles beautifully. The Mauser is also well finished and handles beautifully but is let down by the stock. I will get to that later.

- Both guns use the same 98 action and floor plate. The Rigby has a Nitre blued extractor and a polished and blued bolt handle, the bolt body appears to be nickel plated. The Mauser has a bolt and handle that are bright polished and possibly hard chromed. The handle on both guns are ergonomic and work well, are easy to grab and cycle.

- There is a small lug to the rear of the bolt handle which rests against the extractor to minimise bolt slop which seems to work well.

- The firing pin fall has been reduced to about 7mm and therefore the bolt handle is very easy to lift and the action is easy to cock. About the same effort as a Model 70.

- The bolt shroud is modern interpretation of the old style and is probably the ugliest part on the gun. It works well and is nicely machined but its appearance takes some getting used to.

- The safety is a 3 position side swing type but it is nothing like a Model 70 or a Recknagel Mauser type. While the latter two operate through 90 degrees with the middle position being zero and therefore 45 degrees forward to fire and 45 degrees back for safe, the new Mauser is 45 degrees forward to fire and about 85 degrees backward to safe. It is stiff and hard to use and you cannot just throw the gun up and flick the safety off in one move. It must be a deliberate move sideways or else nothing happens. Even though the lever is longer than a Model 70, it takes more effort to move. The argument used is that it is less likely to be knocked of safe if you are going through scrub, although I have carried my Model 70 through extremely thick scrub many times and never had it knock of safe even once. Interestingly, on the Rigby London Best they use a Recknagel unit, which apparently is less safe.

- I have read several write ups on both these rifles and they all mention that the action is buttery smooth to operate, however both these rifles were anything but. I am sure that over time they will become smooth but both of these were brand new out of the box and failed to impress. It was if they had been nicely machined but not polished afterwards at all. You could feel resistance and they were quite easy to bind. I know that they are a semi-production gun and not a full custom but for twelve grand I expect buttery smooth.

- The trigger was very crisp with no creep but set to light, at least for me. Apparently they can be adjusted.

- The floor plate release worked well but the floor plate doesn’t open up wide enough to let the follower or the ammo out of the magazine box.

- All the screws are timed on both guns which looks very nice, but of course with CNC is easy to achieve. They certainly won’t be done by hand.

- The finish on both guns is very nice, a sort of bright satin finish and while it is not a cold rust blue, it is very nice and looks functional, and of course far more corrosion resistant. The finish complemented the gun, it didn’t detract in any way.

- The engraving on the Rigby is very tastefully done and perfectly executed, it looks superb.

- The barrel is probably the biggest let down of all. They are beautifully machined but are a sort of light varmint profile ending in a muzzle of 17 mm diameter. In other words they have used a barrel suitable for the 9.3mm and used the same profile down to 7mm which makes it look sniperish, especially at 22 inches long and makes it unnecessarily heavy as well. It suits the 9.3 but not the 275. My Model 70 Featherweight in 308 has muzzle dimeter of 14 mm which looks really good and you can see a nice amount of taper. The Rigby and Mauser look almost parallel.

- Proof marks are laser engraved which looks cheap but at least the Rigby had 275 Rigby/7x57on it so you can take it to Africa more easily.

- The sights and sling swivel base on the Rigby are very nice and look very much like the original. The Mauser are all straight from the Recknagel catalogue but are very nice and tasteful. Interestingly, as the sights are nitrided along with the barrel and action it is not possible to inlay the gold line in the traditional manner as the gold line would be nitrided black as well. Instead they drill a hole down parallel to the face of the standing leaf and allow the drill to break through the face. The sights are nitrided and afterwards they insert a small brass pin which shows as a thin gold line. Quite clever.

- On both guns the open sights worked perfectly, as well as I could try them in the shop, but they came up perfectly every time and on target.

- The stock on the Rigby is superb, it feels great in the hand, was finished in a lovely reddish tone and the checkering was perfect, no flaws and felt great, not to course or fine, just right. All the pores were sealed and the finish used looks really nice. The recoil pad is perfectly fitted and looks superb. The length of pull and the recoil pad final shape can be adjusted from the factory to suit the buyer. The stock is definitely the best part of the whole package, it is the strongest selling point.

- The stock on the Mauser was terrible, nicely made and shaped although it could have been a little trimmer. It has a nice cheek piece and a nice shape but the finish is disgusting. It looks like something on a gun for under a grand, very plastic and a strange coffee colour. The checkering is laser cut and looks like shit. If you ordered in a Mauser and saw that stock for the first time when you opened the box you would be really pissed off, especially if you had paid a big deposit or even in full. Interestingly there were half a dozen M12 Mausers on the shelf, all of them had a much nicer looking stock in every regard, and that on a gun worth $2000. The stock was the worst part of the Mauser and it would put you of buying one for sure. At least for me.

- The stock on both guns were very well fitted and although free-floated, the gap was very small and even all the way around.

- Both guns were nicely balanced and handled well, came up to the shoulder nicely and the sights line up perfectly. Both guns were too heavy for their size, especially the Rigby 275.

- As the factory scope bases for both models are hideous I asked the Rigby importer if it is possible to supply your own bases and rings and have them sent over to Rigby and have them finished in the same nitride finish. The answer was an immediate yes. I also asked if the engraving could be changed to show 175 grain bullet instead of 140 grain. Again the answer was yes. Finally could the sights be factory regulated for the 175 grain bullet, again yes with a small surcharge which is understandable. With the Mauser I was just talking to a sales guy who of course said no to everything but maybe if one spoke to the importer the answers would be different. It definitely seems as if Rigby are happy for a certain amount of customisation.

- A quick inflation check of the Rigby showed that a Rigby No.2 sold in 1924 for 26 Pound and 5 Shillings, which equates to roughly 1500 Pounds today. I took an average from several websites. The Highland stalker sells for 5413 Pounds plus VAT today, so a difference of 4000 pounds plus VAT.

- Are the guns good value, hard to say? If you base it on the inflation calculator then the answer would be no, but if you look at them today and base it on what we pay for other items it gets closer but I would still say no. While the Rigby has some very nice touches which make it very desirable, there are too many things which are designed around mass production, such as the barrel and the rough cycling which for me reduce the value of the gun. Is it a $12000 gun, I would say no. $6000 to $8000 is probably more realistic, but then they are selling like hotcakes so obviously I must be wrong. The Mauser is definitely not worth $10000 as it is a glorified mass production gun, nice but not worth the money.

- Hope everyone found this interesting and of some use. Remember, these are my opinions after looking at the guns for no more than 15 minutes each, however first impressions count for a lot.

- Enjoy.

Waidmannsheil.

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