NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40458
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Now gentlemen, please do not rush orders for restocking of Mauser 98's to me, I can only do work of this quality about once every thirty years ...
Very rough attempt to put together a .30-06 for a sambar hunt for a friend way back around 1987 or 1988. A friend and I were going sambar hunting in the Big River Forest area in Victoria and he did not have a rifle suitable to use. I had purchased a Mauser 98 barrelled action about six years earlier chambered in .30-06 for the princely sum of $100. For a future custom rifle project. Still have it for that purpose. Anyway it needed a stock to be used so acquired a stock for $5 inlet for a Lithgow 7.62 single shot target rifle and used a heap of epoxy to make it fit and fill in the gaps. And the stock was for a lefty at that.
Superb result I hope you all agree! Well it worked and shot and was able to be used for that one hunt.
But the original purpose for the action still applies. A future custom rifle project. I am wondering if this action would be suitable for my never ending story of a .318 Westley Richards "Tiger" project.
The barrel is currently chambered for .30-06 and is engraved with a motif and "Ejercito de Columbia". I believe it was a Columbian Police rifle. I assume it was rechambered in 1952.
Would this action be suitable for a custom rifle project?
How does one determine when the action was made, assuming it wasn't in 1952?
Any comments? Thanks.
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John aka NitroX
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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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casper50
.400 member
Reged: 18/10/07
Posts: 1508
Loc: Alaska
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My .318 is my 2nd favorite rifle behind my .404 Jeffery. A few photos to either inspire or show what not to do.
as I received it.
After shaping a $100 piece of ebay wood. I've since changed the rosewood tip for an ebony one.
Forge ahead Nitrox
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DarylS
.700 member
Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 27501
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
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Pretty rough and deeply punched.
Looks fine right now, keep in the truck rifle.
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Daryl
"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V
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Jim_C
.300 member
Reged: 09/08/14
Posts: 179
Loc: USA
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NitroX, I based a 22-250 on a Columbian Mauser. On the plus side, the action held up well to thousands of shots (some of which were almost certainly over-pressure). No setback of the locking lugs, etc. But the actions do tend to be rough (yours is typical, with pitting below the wood line, etc), and there is no way to hide the notch cut in the front ring to allow loading the '06 cartridges. You'd have to decide if you could be happy with the action cleaned up but still showing traces of past wear/pitting/etc.
"Ejercito de Columbia" is "Army of Columbia". "R. Famage" is the arsenal that converted the formerly-7x57 rifles to .30-06; 1952 is the date of the conversion. The rifle was probably originally made by FN, but might be a CZ or Steyr. Probably dates from the 1930s.
Were it mine, I'd probably cut the barrel down to around 48-50 cm, fit some decent iron sights, and maybe paint the stock with bedliner. It would make an excellent work rifle/rainy-weather hunting rifle.
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NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40458
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Thanks for the reply and good information.
But the stock is a write off. Once off emergency use.
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John aka NitroX
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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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500Boswell
.400 member
Reged: 21/07/06
Posts: 1279
Loc: Queensland
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I would swap you a Searcy double rifle for it, but then i would feel guilty that i was ripping you off !!
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NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40458
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Quote:
I would swap you a Searcy double rifle for it, but then i would feel guilty that i was ripping you off !!
Ha ha. Sorry to laugh about that, but it was your joke.
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John aka NitroX
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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40458
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Now what to do with this action ???
One option is to dispose of it. That way I would reduce the number of firearms I have registered ... which might help in the future ...
Or perhaps stick a synthetic stock on it, new barrel, trigger, safety, also would need to be tapped for mounts ... starting to add up ... if it ends up being a clunker ...
What chambering/calibre?
Any suggestions?
Something useful which is not too difficult and perhaps does not duplicate something I already have too closely ...
8.5x63mm is of some interest, but would be close to the 8x68S and if I get the .318 WR, all in the same range ...
A .338/06 - same range.
Something smaller???
I have several 6.5 mm already, so won't do another one unless it is a 6.5x68 and that won't be a clunker. Same for a .250 Savage, would need to be a classic.
A bigger bore???
A 10.75x68 might be of interest, but already have a .404 Jeffery ...
Something that might be of real interest - the 9.3x62mm. And perhaps even a full wood shorter barrel version. Expensive??? Can you get full "wood" synthetic stocks? Never heard of them. A carbine 9.3x62 would be a useful rifle especially in a knock about model rifle.
And probably cost less than a new African model M03 9.3x62 barrel for my M03 believe it or not.
Comments and suggestions please.
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John aka NitroX
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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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DarylS
.700 member
Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 27501
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
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A 6.5 or 7mm on an Improved 57mm case would be a nice wildcat to have.
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Daryl
"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V
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VonGruff
.400 member
Reged: 08/02/09
Posts: 1119
Loc: South Otago, New Zealand.
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I just got word from the gunsmith that my 6.5x57 barrelled action is about ready and so I second that as a recomendation although mine is on the standard case but the chamber is cut with a German match reamer and throated long to suit the 120gn TTSX to the base of the neck.
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Von Gruff.
Exodus 20:1-17
Acts 4:10-12
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NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40458
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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If I had my way, I would have a 6.5x54 mm in a classic original Mannlicher-Schoenauer Stutzen rifle.
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John aka NitroX
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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
Edited by NitroX (01/06/16 03:18 PM)
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Rell
.375 member
Reged: 03/12/04
Posts: 642
Loc: Oyster Bay, NY, USA
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There is a synthetic mannlicher available from MPI. I have one on a Ruger African 375R.
http://www.mpistocks.com/manlk.htm
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450-400, 9.3x74r and 7x65r.
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NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40458
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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Those look workable.
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John aka NitroX
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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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Rustyreel
.224 member
Reged: 05/11/14
Posts: 1
Loc: Florida, USA
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My first post (I think) and my first attempt at a pic! Here is my Colombian R.Famage 1957 in 30/06 that I picked up at a local pawn shop for $225, tax and background check included. Not anywhere near as nice as most of the stuff I see posted here, but I like it.
I'm also in the process of putting a Husky 46A in a previously butchered sporter stock....not quite that much epoxy but.......
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DarylS
.700 member
Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 27501
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
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Rusty- THAT is a great looking hunting rifle - can't really see the need for the double set, double throw triggers, but the stock appears perfect for a scope!
A nice looking rifle, nicer than my old clubs.
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Daryl
"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V
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tophet1
.400 member
Reged: 15/09/07
Posts: 1873
Loc: NSW, Australia
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I've just junked two R.Famage actions due to excess previous floggings and bad previous gunsmithing I did not recognise.
Not classic, but I'll go a early CMC/Zastava action in the future.
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NitroX
.700 member
Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 40458
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
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If aiming, pun intended, for a working, non fancy rifle, can pitting be filled in.
I'm not worried about the front action ring cut out.
I'd leave it as a .30-06. See the other thread "tactical" stock discussion. A tactical rifle would be better as a .308 for scavenged ammo when the apocalypse comes. But a .308 won't feed from the magazines for that stock.
http://forums.nitroexpress.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=312316&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1
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John aka NitroX
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Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"
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