Shot my 98' Mauser , .280 Rem. today.

[Ben]

Load was 8.5 grs. of American Select. A Fed. 155 large pistol primer, The RCBS, 145 gr. , g/c, bullet sized to .2865". The nose of the bullet lightly engraved by the rifling when the bolt is closed.

10 rounds at 50 yards.

I just love it when a rifle shoots just as good as it looks ! !

More pics of my rifle :

 

[Spindrift]

Perfect rifle and shooting! .280 rem is really an interesting cartridge. Do you use original brass, or do you form your own?

 

[Jeff H]

I love the form of the '98 and a traditional peep sets it off beautifully. If that stock were spray-painted "zombie-green," it would still look great because the lines complement the beauty of the 98 action perfectly.

Perfect rifle too, because it DOES shoot as good as it looks!

 

[Ben]

Perfect rifle and shooting! .280 rem is really an interesting cartridge. Do you use original brass, or do you form your own?

I use original RP brass.

Ben

 

[Uncle Grinch]

Every time is see your pics of this rifle, I get energized and want to improve my Mk X Mauser 280. Don’t think I’ll be able to reach your level of skill though.

None the less... that’s one good looking Mauser.

 

[Ben]

Many thanks for the kind comments.
You've always heard......Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Go for it.

Ben

 

[Brad]

That is one fine looking rifle. Love that wood.

 

[Ben]

It is very unique, it was cut by Fajen.
I bought five of these when I got this one, all the same pattern.
They sold it as the " Stalker Pattern ".
Today, I still call my rifle the stalker.

Ben

 

[Ben]

Here is the 2nd stock of the 5 that I bought.
This one is a 7 X 57 , in these photos the stock
is finished but the metal is not .

Unless you've tacked building a custom rifle, it is hard to imagine
how many labor hours go into a project like this.

 

[Jeff H]

..........Unless you've tacked building a custom rifle, it is hard to imagine...............

I have - hours you can't even count and my work is maybe 10% the quality of yours it I were to be very generous to myself. I think my stocks would look better if for more patience - exponentially more, but I've still never learned the part about finding all the right curves within a bulky "piece of wood."

I am by no means "good at" anything - I'm just very persistent (stubborn) and sometimes embarrassed at how long it takes me to do something like this even reasonably well - or how for many attempts it took.

Stocks are particularly difficult because they are three-dimensional and all curves. I can recognize good lines in a stock which is complete and well done, but I can't visualize it in a block of wood, let alone dig down into it to find it with edged tools. Furniture and cabinets I like are different because of straight lines and simple math to get you from an obvious datum to anywhere on the piece. On a stock, I have to just keep trying (removing wood) and have still never achieved lines like you do.

I won't even start on finishes. Again, I just keep trying until it's not a repulsive mess.

Oh, beautiful shooting!

 

[Jeff H]

Separate point - I see you have the left-swing safety. Those have not been easy to find form me and I grabbed half a dozen once from Numerich as anonymous rough castings for $5/each. Just that silly little safety lever required an extraordinary effort to make it look nice, fit and FUNCTION. They were quite soft, so filing and abrading was not horrible, but I did have to case harden the two I have used. The bearing surface that cams the cocking piece would gall with two turns while fitting/trying. I used Casenite and did the whole piece once it was done and polished.

That point is not to compare my "skill" to yours, Ben. It's simply to acknowledge the amount of work which goes into something like that. I know what it takes me to get a rifle which doesn't look like a horrible mess, so I have only a general idea of what it takes to get where you end up with yours. There's a lot more than "being good at" something like this and some compliments regarding one's work demean the hours and effort by assuming you were lucky to be born with such talent. Doesn't work that way - it's WORK. Hours upon hours of dedicated effort both physically and mentally. Your rifles epitomize what I envision as the appropriate artistic respect the old '98 deserves.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but your work deserves more than a passing "attaboy," Ben.

 

[35 Whelen]

Outstanding Ben.......wow, the fit is truly amazing !!!!!! That would be a dream rifle for me especially in 7X57

 

[CZ93X62]

Beautiful rifles, and beautiful photos of said rifles. You spoil us terribly with your photography, Ben.

That 280 Remington is one of the better cubs born of the lion we call 30-06. My former barbers closed their shop in mid-September through late October every year to spend those 6 weeks hunting in the West. Both were retired servicemen, I think they ran the barber shop to keep themselves out of the bars-off of the streets--and to gather whatever hunting intel and scuttlebutt they could from their customers. They both had 98 Mauser long action (Husq, IIRC) built by a GREAT local gunsmith Ellis Simon as 280 Remingtons. 3x-9x Leupolds to point them right. Pictures of their elk, deer (some monsters), pronghorns, and a couple moose graced the walls of the shop, all taken with the 280s loaded with Nosler Partitions.

 

[Ben]

Thanks fellows

 

[Ben]

Allen,

You mentioned the fact that the .280 was a good killer.
If one really studies the reloading data available for the .280 Rem, you'll find that it nibbles on the edges of 7 mm Mag. velocities. A very potent round.

Ben

 

[Ian]

Unless you've tacked building a custom rifle, it is hard to imagine
how many labor hours go into a project like this.

Yep.

I've said it before but I'll reiterate how I like the way you cut a groove in the stock for the striker rather than slope off the tang to blend it per the "supposed to" way. The shape and feel of the wrist is much better if left the way Paul Mauser intended.

 

[Spindrift]

.....it nibbles on the edges of the 7rm, with significantly less powder charge. Very "powder efficient". Ah, now I have to get one myself

 

[Pistolero]

Beautiful rifle, as usual, Ben. You have an amazing group of beautiful rifles
there, sir. Gorgeous wood and then the carving to make the stock come to life,
beautifully done.
Thanks for sharing.

Oh, and yeah, not just lookers but real shooters, too.

Bill

 

[CZ93X62]

Allen,

You mentioned the fact that the .280 was a good killer.
If one really studies the reloading data available for the .280 Rem, you'll find that it nibbles on the edges of 7 mm Mag. velocities. A very potent round.

Ben

The barbers held forth on the merits of their pet 280 Rems in depth and detail. There were on-going Caliber Wars during haircuts--good-natured, but insistent. I grew up using and knowing the 30/30 and 30-06 as THE centerfire hunting calibers, The End. The first version of Frank Barnes' Cartridges of the World really opened my eyes at age 13. 50 years later, there is a COTW on the shelf above my keyboard right now. To this day, though--I have never owned a 27 or 28 caliber rifle. I think about getting a 6.8 x 43 upper half for my AR-15 just to torque off the hoplophobes, but haven't so far. So The Gap between 6.5mm and 7.62mm remains unspanned at my house.

 

[Ian]

I think it was Von Gruff's signature line that used to read "7x57 and 416 Rigby, all anyone needs anywhere, ever". Seems like we need to have either a 6.8 somethingoruther (preferably a .270 Winchester) or a 7mm somethingoruther in the stable, but in lieu of that have at least one smaller and larger than either of those to cover the same essential need.