What will $60 get you ? ?

[Ben]

About 15 years ago, my friend and I were in a local gun shop.
The owner had just received a fairly large shipment of Turk 8X57 mm Mausers.
He must have had 30 + of them in wall racks. They ranged from 40% - 90% condition.
I managed to buy one of the 90% rifles ( with a 99% + , near mint bore ) for $60 that day.
I used it to make me an 8 X 57 mm, " Scout Rifle ".

This rifle really likes the Lyman 323471 , sized .325"






You can see below that my base is mounted DIRECTLY to the barrel. This helps keep the scope low. In my opinion, that is very impt.

Notice that the rear eyepiece of the scope is missing the receiver by maybe 1/8" or so , that is about as close as you'll get a scout scope in mounting height.

Notice the sling stud is mounted on the end of the fore end !
No problem shooting off bags with this arrangement.

 

[Ben]

Ah, so you want to know if it shoots ? ?
Yep, it shoots ! !

My friend Jason and I were shooting my favorite load of 12.3 grs. of Alliant Unique , with the IDEAL, 323471, sized to .325 " at the range recently. The bullet has my own .014 " thick AL gas checks.

I couldn't be happier with my rifle. Best $60 I've ever spent on a rifle ! !

I fired the 1st 5 rounds in the group below :



Then Jason shot a group with 8 rounds :



The rifle is glass bedded. The barrel is free floated.
The rifle has a Timmney trigger set at 1 lb.
In this day of plastic Tupperware stocks, aluminum, etc. It is nice to hold an accurate rifle that is made of walnut and steel ( even if it only cost $60 ) .








By the way, I can switch from scope to peep sights in about 2 minutes.

 

[JWFilips]

Hi Ben,
I have always envied that rifle of Yours

. For me too my absolute favorite rifle is my "Not too Turked" GEW98, But I shoot mine stock with Redfield aperture sights.
The reason I call it "not too Turked" is because from what I was told by Buckshot after he seen all the markings on it that Mine wasn't worked over in the Turkish armories but was Restamped for the Turkish market by a European armoury Most Likely Chech. At least that is the info I'm told.
Going to have to start looking for one of those moulds Way different they anything I shoot

 

[Ben]

Jim,

The 471' is a type of a Loverine. Many say it is one of the most accurate cast bullets
available for the 8 X 57 mm rifles. It is a real shooter in my rifle ! !

Ben

 

[smokeywolf]

Could you even find a Mauser today with a near perfect bore?

I've said it before, "Hate to have to make that in the machine shop for" $60.00.

I think a lot of people fail to understand the value of a collection of parts that all fit and align together so very nicely and perfectly, until they have to manufacture those parts themselves in a foundry or forge and machine shop.

Great write up and pics Ben. I don't own any plactic rifles or pistols. Not to say I won't sometime in the future.

Unique is almost as versitile as 2400. I load 10 grains of it under a 9 to 10 BHN 405 grain plain base to shoot in the trapdoor. Rainbow trajectory, but consistant and predictable POI out to 200 plus yards.

 

[Ben]

Could you even find a Mauser today with a near perfect bore?

Not likely. If you did you'd have to pay a king's ransom to get it.
This one will go down as the best $60 that I've ever put into a rifle !
______________________________________

There may very well be something " Magic " about 10 grs. of Unique.
It shoots accurately in dozens of cartridges.

Ben

 

[frnkeore]

I also have one of the GEW "Turked" 98's. Mine still has the straight bolt handle. It had a dark bore with strong rifling. I took it off after I bought a 8.15 x 46R barrel for it.

I've yet to shoot it, because I need to work out a extractor that will push over the rim of the 8.15 case. I can't use a controlled feed extractor on a single shot application.

I did well on buying it, the shop thought it was Turk 38 and I got it for $125 out the door.

Frank

 

[Brad]

60 bucks today won't get near that kind of deal.
Ben, is this one of those "If I woulda known then what I know now I woulda bought a bunch at that price" type of thing?

Looking around the last year or so I sure have noticed gun prices going up pretty fast. Heck, everything is getting a bunch more expensive. Well, primers are now what they were 3 years ago but powder sure isn't.

 

[Ben]

Ben, is this one of those "If I woulda known then what I know now I woulda bought a bunch at that price" type of thing?

Actually he only had a couple that I thought had " potential ".
If the bore in a Mauser isn't near pristine, I'll lay it back down.

This day and time, I lay a lot of them back down.

Ben

I also have one of the GEW "Turked" 98's. Mine still has the straight bolt handle. It had a dark bore with strong rifling. I took it off after I bought a 8.15 x 46R barrel for it.

I've yet to shoot it, because I need to work out a extractor that will push over the rim of the 8.15 case. I can't use a controlled feed extractor on a single shot application.

I did well on buying it, the shop thought it was Turk 38 and I got it for $125 out the door.

Frank

Frank,

Keep us in the loop on this project.
I'd like to see how this one turns out.

Ben

 

[Ben]

Brad,

As to your comments about gun prices going up.

I'm glad a have a few nice guns now, if I had to start all over at today's prices, I wouldn't have very many in my safe.

Ben

 

[fiver]

yep I wish I hadn't of bubba'd up a few of the ones I did now.
ehh actually I don't regret it a single bit,, sept maybe that one mauser that still had cartouche marks in the stock.
I probably shouldn't have cut the sights off it's barrel with a Dremel tool.
I might regret [nope I won't] okay maybe one of the kids will regret me cutting up that 98/11 and K-31 and making them light enough to actually carry hunting.
hey I paid 20 bucks for the98/11 and 90 bucks for the K-31 [plus I got another one I left alone]

if we don't mangle and butcher them they won't go up in value [same as base-ball cards, if we all had rookie Hank Aaron cards they'd be worth 2 bucks] and we won't have all the fun of shooting them and playing with them to see how they work.