Price = accuracy/group

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Red Cent

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I was in the library this morning doing some research on rifles. One magazine had a custom rifle based on the Mauser 98 action and, of course, everything was hand made, hand lain, hand engraved, hand checkered, handjo....................................
The price was over $13,000.00

Another article showed a new entry in to rifle arena offered by a company that I had never heard of but supplies the long gun makers barrels of all sorts. This rifle price is less than $900.00.

The accuracy/group test on the Mauser showed that the worst group was around 3" at one hundred yards and the "cheaper" rifle was around an inch. Two other groups from the cheap rifle was well under an inch. None of the tests showed the Mauser got to an inch group.

I guess it comes down to priorities and/or money. Certainly would not take the Mauser to a turkey shoot.
 
Some of the custom Mauser pricing will depend greatly on the smith that built it. There are a few that command very very high prices. I would not, however, trust an accuracy test by most magazines. In any case, most of those were designed to hunting rifles, not bench shooters. For the record, the Mauser action it's still one of the best ever made. My commercial build from the 60s is a laser.
 
Not knocking the Mauser. But to see a price tag of $13,000.00, I would expect, at least, MOA guarantee. Barrel and/or bedding apparently sucks.
I built a 7MM Mag, Douglas barrel, and an MKX Argentine Mauser action in a Fajen stock and it will do better than that.
The rifle in the article was exquisite and would be a rifle to be proud of. That is until some one challenges the owner to a shoot off against the challenger's Savage Axis (less than $400.00).
Kinda like when they started putting six cylinders in Camaros :)
 
Red Cent;n68998 said:
Not knocking the Mauser. But to see a price tag of $13,000.00, I would expect, at least, MOA guarantee. Barrel and/or bedding apparently sucks.
I built a 7MM Mag, Douglas barrel, and an MKX Argentine Mauser action in a Fajen stock and it will do better than that.
The rifle in the article was exquisite and would be a rifle to be proud of. That is until some one challenges the owner to a shoot off against the challenger's Savage Axis (less than $400.00).
Kinda like when they started putting six cylinders in Camaros :)
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A $13,000 rifle is a wall hanger not a shooter.
 
There are quite a few out of the box rifles out there the can hold 1 MOA with match ammo (with decent glass and the person behind it doing their job) like certain Savages to Sako and such now with the abilities of newer production technologies. Now the 1 MOA barrier is broken to tighten groups up costs go up exponentially. With that also comes the dialing in of pet handloads and the shooters ability to read the wind and other little factors. There are some who chase that extra shrinkage to a point logs include weather factors, load info and such. The case prep is pure OCD to even where brass stays with the same rifle. It reaches a point where it almost becomes a dark science ... but the challenge is damn fun.

Now that $13K premium wood engraved beauty is likely a "gentleman's" rifle and not reallynwhat we see today. The other rifle is likely a production rifle coming from a production that has machines dialed in to get tolerances tighter than we had even 25-30 years back. Like said above the $13K is art you display and the $900 is a shooter.
 
JBoyette;n69049 said:
A $13,000 rifle is a wall hanger not a shooter.
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Depends on what 13k means to you. If 13k is OK to bang away on and use than it can be both. Although if I had spend 13k and could get the thing to shoot better than a savage axis, I'd be pretty passed and it would be going back.
 
A 13,000$ 3 moa mauser rifle likely still belongs to the gunsmith that cant sell it.......
 
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BurnedOutGeek;n69201 said:
Depends on what 13k means to you. If 13k is OK to bang away on and use than it can be both. Although if I had spend 13k and could get the thing to shoot better than a savage axis, I'd be pretty passed and it would be going back.
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Agree
 
NCFubar;n69067 said:
There are quite a few out of the box rifles out there the can hold 1 MOA with match ammo (with decent glass and the person behind it doing their job) like certain Savages to Sako and such now with the abilities of newer production technologies. Now the 1 MOA barrier is broken to tighten groups up costs go up exponentially. With that also comes the dialing in of pet handloads and the shooters ability to read the wind and other little factors. There are some who chase that extra shrinkage to a point logs include weather factors, load info and such. The case prep is pure OCD to even where brass stays with the same rifle. It reaches a point where it almost becomes a dark science ... but the challenge is damn fun.

Now that $13K premium wood engraved beauty is likely a "gentleman's" rifle and not reallynwhat we see today. The other rifle is likely a production rifle coming from a production that has machines dialed in to get tolerances tighter than we had even 25-30 years back. Like said above the $13K is art you display and the $900 is a shooter.
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Sadly, I got my 10/22 Takedown to fairly accurate status... and I still suck so much at holding my aim still with light rifles that it barely helps at all! Time for a bit more practice.
 
I have quite a bit more than $900 in my precision rifle, and a whole lot less than $13k.

When posting pics and initial accuracy tests on Snipers Hide I had two offers by PM to buy. There is a much larger market for precision tactical rifles, than custom Mausers. The 70s called, they want their custom Mausers Smith's back.

Nothing wrong with a mauser, but there have been a few improvements to modern gunsteel. The action will never be as strong as a Stiller, Surgeon, Defiance even the Remington 700 or (gag) Savage.

It's all in what you want and expect. Personally if I thought I needed the attributes of the Mauser but much improved, I'd build an FN.
 
Hahaha nothing to do with steel strength at all. Quite a few big caliber rifles built on Mauser actions because of the strength. The FN and Doumalin commercial actions are outstanding. Now I'm going to have to build one into one of the latest wonder calibers just to prove the point :)
 
mckenziedrums;n71322 said:
Hahaha nothing to do with steel strength at all. Quite a few big caliber rifles built on Mauser actions because of the strength. The FN and Doumalin commercial actions are outstanding. Now I'm going to have to build one into one of the latest wonder calibers just to prove the point :)
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I am not gonna argue with you tiger. Prove me wrong with your pocketbook, that'll show me.

You know Drummie, not everyone gets their experience from reading.
 
And by the way, "gunsteel" was no reference to the strength of the steel itself. Coloquialism, it's the word of the day.
 
You said the action won't be as strong as the Remington r700. That's just not true. I thought I saw someone that was going to make a modern precision Mauser action... That would be awesome. My out dated 60s varmint gun is an amazing rifle by any standard. Only cost me $600 though since it's a lefty stock. Maybe if I'd paid more it would suck.

Bottom line is the quality can vary greatly but the commercial actions are known to be very good. As I said, I own one, I didn't just read about it ;)
 
Look Drummie. If you take a Yugo 98, and build a rifle off of it, it won't be as strong as a 700. There are torsional forces at work on an action far beyond "will it hold without opening like a tuna can". Those forces affect accuracy.

The Mauser is the blueprint that resulted in most, if not all, of the improved modern actions in use today. The FN is a modern Mauser. Mauser still makes rifles today, as far as I know.

I too have owned several Mausers. The one I wish I had back was actually a bit dangerous. I had an FR-8 Mauser and it was my favorite, but it wasn't a 98.

Look at the list of top shooters in the country, in any rifle discipline. Even FN is low in the pecking order. Those stats aren't just fads. The best shooters are using the best equipment, always.

btw And I would love to have a CZ 550, for hunting and plinking.
 
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mckenziedrums;n71400 said:
I will own a .458 CZ... I sold my custom shop r700 458 figuring I wanted the CZ action in the big bore one day. Totally impractical but fun.
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I want the 9.3x62
 
There are a lot of really accurate, yet affordable guns out there. The savage model 10's are known for being sub MOA and you can find them all day long for under $800. I've seen lightly used ones under $500 before. Savages' cut rifling and barrel nut are cost saving measures that also increase the accuracy of their rifles.

You can spend a lot more to build a more accurate rifle, but you get into the area of diminishing returns quickly. How much are you willing to spend to drop that group size by another 1/10 of an inch? $100? $1000? $5000? This is the very reason I got out of benchrest shooting. I was looking at what it would cost to get smaller groups and realized that for me, the cost/benefit ratio just wasn't worth it. But for some guys, it is.

Generally speaking, when you're looking at rifles that cost $10K or more, you're not looking at a rifle built for match winning accuracy. You're looking at one built for show-winning beauty. Nothing wrong with that, if that's what you're into.
Personally, I'm into practical guns. Accurate enough, and hopefully not ugly.
 
"Schueler Magnum 500. Muzzle velocity 2460 fs. Striking energy 7230 ft. lbs. This is a typical Mauser-modified magnum action. Projecting hinged box magazines are used where very large calibers make a standard box magazine impracticable. Generally, however, in design, Short, Standard and Magnum actions differ only in size. “Square” receiver bridges do not affect design. Receiver sizes are varied as required by cartridge dimensions."

http://sportsmansvintagepress.com/r...ols-table-of-contents/german-anti-tank-rifle/
 
Like others have said, they are moa or less factory guns out there and cheap!!!! Still need the right nut behind the trigger to make it happen.....
 
RedneckFur;n71430 said:
Personally, I'm into practical guns. Accurate enough, and hopefully not ugly.
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I'm willing to tolerate a little more ugly if it makes it more accurate. Better than trading dollars for accuracy.
 
"custom rifle based on the Mauser 98 action and, of course, everything was hand made, hand lain, hand engraved, hand checkered, handjo"

Being purty doesn't mean it can shoot..................
 
Jayne;n77870 said:
I'm willing to tolerate a little more ugly if it makes it more accurate. Better than trading dollars for accuracy.
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well I agree with you on that. Never cared how ugly something was if it got the job done. Glock is the perfect example of this.
 
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