Sporterized Mausers: Doing it Right
For most collectors the idea of sporterizing a military rifle is anathema. However, when surplus was abundant (and cheap), they were a perfect way to obtain a reliable design to convert into sporting rifle.
We've all seen the crude versions of these conversions and wished ill on whoever ruined such a perfectly good service rifle. However, there are also those sporterized rifles which have been done with care and attention, resulting in a superb sporting rifle that can be cherished for decades to come.
RIAC's Matt Omerza shows us several examples of the latter which can be found in February Sporting & Collector Auction.
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Пікірлер: 83
What are the calibers?
@RockIslandAuctionCompany
2 жыл бұрын
1st (Amberg) is likely 7x57mm, but is unmarked. 2nd (Lancaster) is in .280 Eley Rimless 3rd has no caliber markings, but it measures as .30 caliber in diameter. 4th has a replacement barrel with only a single marking: "270" So, likely .270 Winchester 5th (maple stock) is .243 Winchester
@leskrug9266
2 жыл бұрын
Thank you I had one made A Mauser 98 which I'm not sure what model 98 it is but it is a 8 X 57 JS. I left the barrel as is with the steps in it and had a mannlicher stock put on it with the steps cut out inside the stock Channel. put a new trigger timney trigger in it. I put in Leupold rings and bases and a Leupold 100th anniversary 3 x 9 x 40 Leupold scope I shoot 200 grain accubond out of that gun and get three quarters of an inch group. Also the action and complete barrel was glass bedded. I only paid $50.00 for the original gun.!
@johngeddes7894
2 жыл бұрын
No
Such a sweet piece of history. I had me a mauser 98, sporterized, chambered for 30-06. I loved that rifle, shoulda never traded it.
@AIRRAID2
2 жыл бұрын
My dear father's favorite set up bless him
@landonhall9915
2 жыл бұрын
I have m48 Mauser I could never sporterize it
@ulacylon-timetrio9664
Жыл бұрын
Why the fuck would you sporterize it?? Shits as disgusting a crime as rape
@Cryptkeeper0311
6 ай бұрын
@@landonhall9915 Don't. It's a shame these guys do this to beautiful rifles. If you want a hunting rifle, buy a hunting rifle... Don't ruin a beautiful 1903, Mauser, etc.
@dannystratton7712
3 ай бұрын
I just bought one, weaver scope an all. Was 30-06 and he changed it to 25-06 beautiful condition for $500. After the war it was a hunting rifle in Wyoming. Now it's in the Midwest.
In the early 90s we bought our teens a sporterised 98 Mauser each and they are nice shooting and looking guns.
The third gun you showed with 2 triggers has not been sporterized. That is an original wartrime production sporting rifle from Mauser. Civilian models were the only ones equipped with double set triggers at the time.
@JaredAF
Жыл бұрын
Any Mauser can be fit for any number of double set triggers. If they modified the rest of the rifle so extensively, what was stopping them from putting in a different trigger?
@billbest9483
11 ай бұрын
Any civilian double set trigger Mauser fetches big buck$
We have a few sporterized Mausers in the family. The finest being a tiger striped blonde maple 30-06 with a dark rose wood cap on the foregrip. Has a palm swell and nice check comb too boot. It and its other Mauser siblings have taken many mule deer in their lifetime.
@RockIslandAuctionCompany
2 жыл бұрын
I'm a sucker for rosewood. Good choice.
Very informative video. Might have to check out the next auction
I have several sporterized Mausers. Just finished one in 257 Roberts. They make exceptionally good hunting rifles. I could tell the first one had double set triggers and a hinged floorplate. Very nice.
My favorite- a sporterized Swede Mauser in 6.55 mm. Never failed.......
For a second I thought the last one was a South Gate, CA Weatherby on an FN action. Its a dead ringer to the pre-Mark V rifles Roy Made for the well-heeled and well-connected. There were a lot of good gunsmiths that worked between the wars taking surplus bolt rifles and turning them into real works of art, not the gaudy engraved stuff but guns made to go shoot big game. A friend of mine took a pretty ratty surpluses Swede and over the course of about two years crafted it into a nice hunting rifle for his granddaughter. A real functional work of art, and that girl has shot a lot of deer with it too. My holy grail is a Springfield M-1903 30-06 that has been worked over by Griffin and Howe- the same the Ernest Hemingway took to Africa- I never had the spare cash when one would show up.
@RockIslandAuctionCompany
2 жыл бұрын
Those Griffin & Howe boys do some FINE work.
@johngeddes7894
2 жыл бұрын
Side mount sucks though
Interesting to see that the first rifle has a recocker and espeically is left-handed (cheekrest).
@benjidowning2609
9 ай бұрын
I think that’s just a safety
My Dad's brother brought back a Mauser Sporter Model B 8x57 after WW2 for my Dad. That was such a sweet rifle. The Model B models were so well made. No engraving, just a checkered little slim stock with a cheekpiece. The wood was great. It had Lyman peep sights. My Dad shot many whitetail deer and antelope with that rifle. Someone broke in my Dad's house and stole it. That was one gun I wanted to inherit.
Friend had a Mauser , not sure you could call it "sporterized " as he bought it new in a hardware store back in the 70s . I didn't know much about rifles as a teen but looking back it was a conundrum. I remember it was marked "oberndorf" but don't recall a Mauser crest , for sure it was a 98 , chambered in 303 British , and had a lee Enfield magazine. Stamped Churchill London
The first rifle you held up I noticed was sported for a left hand shooter. I notice because I am a left hand shooter but I use a right hand bolt.
I love to watch the videos put out by Rock Island Auction Company. But I would like to make a suggestion that they give the caliber of their guns they are displaying. Often times they show gorgeous antique firearms, such as Monarch Savage 99's, etc and talk about all kinds of special features of the firearm but leave out the caliber. I wish they would name them. Thank you.
i have a sporterized Gewehr 98 chambered in 22-250. it’s a tac driver.
I would love a quality sportsrized Mauser set up for left shoulder. It's so hard to find a quality rifle built for me that isn't of charged by having a left-handed action. Cross eye dominant with right hand being my dominant shooting in for pistols but I shoulder left long guns
Had a M98 mauser in cal 6.5 × 55 , it had a light varmint barrel from Shultz & Larsen , it had a target stock , it had a trigger that broke clean at 0.5 kilo
watching pretty boy floyd getting smoked in that movie got my attention on this rifle looked into it more and fell in love wish could get one
I have an Enfield no 1 mk3 1913 BSA (unfortunately sportified) missing extractor spring but retaining cool old back sight which has windage and finely adjustable elevation. The gun was given to me as a bag of parts the gun works fine except for the extraction issue but I don't shoot it as I have an Irish Contract no 4 mk2 f and a no 5 mk1 f that I can shoot ... I think the Enfield Rifles are some of the most visual appealing military rifles.
I have a decent Sporterized G-98, it is in a birdseye maple stock, not my favorite wood though. The Weaver K4 is a good scope.
How do I get notified in time for your auctions?
What kind of scope mount is the side mounted one in the beginning (first one shown)? I love the old school concept of the side mount!!
@ronkruchten5867
6 ай бұрын
I think it's a Griffin and Howe mount. At least it closely resembles others I've seen for sale that were thus identified. HTH...
I have my uncles sporterized mauser, it has the same stock as the first one he showed, with a Jaeger (sp) trigger.
@johngeddes7894
2 жыл бұрын
Jb weld
I'm looking at a Franz Sodia custom M-98 in 7x57. Double trigger with Austrian scope .
How much did the first 2 go for?
I have one that has a stock similar to the last one (just plain). Such a shame a good half inch crack formed in the stock. Replaced it with a klinsky stock
I have a pewar Model B. The main difference I've found is in the bluing and machining. The Commercial Mauser has smooth finish woth no machine marks and smooth bluing. Otherwise they are nearly identical to military rifles. A lot of firms made high-end conversions of military Mausers because of this.
My last name is Lancaster and I do have a sporterized K98 from my grandfather with his initials engraved on it
Harvey Rodgers, Alvin Linden, Adolf Neidner, Tom Shelhamer. Some names you should know!!!
Charles Lancaster & co would have bought the barrelled action direct from Mauser and then stocked and finished it in London. It's not at all in the same category as the sporterised military Mausers your are talking about.
Cutting in the frontbridge for a scope mount is a real cxrime!
Can you share how you obtain your inventory? I am not a hunter, however I have two sporterized rifles passed down from my father from WW2.
@RockIslandAuctionCompany
2 жыл бұрын
They come in as consignments from across the country and even internationally.
The last one was made by whom?
Wowsa
Some Swedish Mausers were made sporterised specifically for the hunting market, so not unusual or anathema. I have a Husqvarna 46B from 1942 in 6.5x55 calibre. Handles identical to my Carl Gustaf and if I were into hunting, would make a great deer gun due to its take-down power yet low recoil. I have a Zastava take on the Mauser design and in same calibre it kicks like a mule.
@perdidocamaronero5400
7 ай бұрын
Kimber sporterized and sold Swede's for a few years.
Are these 8mm chmabered
@mannequinfukr
2 жыл бұрын
If these are pre-ww2 sporters. Probably just a few since if I remember correctly Germany (if German gunsmith made) couldnt produce military ammo at that time
Please include the caliber/cartridge.
@RockIslandAuctionCompany
2 жыл бұрын
They'll be in the pinned comment up top.
جيد جدا
Not a gun , it is a rifle !!
I saw a 1917 Remington mosin nagant that was sporterized badly, I almost cried in the gunstore seeing a rare variant of the guns I collect ruined. And the store wanted $600 for it...
Sporterized guns are nice. I don't have a problem with them. At the time, the sporterized rifle filled a nitch. I wasn't until just the last few years that people wanted them original.
When it doesn’t look stupid or tacticool it’s actually half way decent
@baneofbanes
Жыл бұрын
Helps if it has actual skill go into it.
I'm not sure why the dislike of sporterized rifles. These were often done long ago, when they were not worth much. In the case after the wars, military weapons could not be kept, and some were needed for hunting, thus they were de-militarized. Plus a military rifle is heavy, and not what you want to carry all day in search of a deer or other game. These were tools. They were not crated by God and we told to never destroy them. It makes as much sense as complaining about all of the Model T and Model A Fords that were built into hot rods. At the time, no one cared. They were saved from the scrapyard as a result. At least this way, someone has a good rifle to hunt with or shoot targets. Isn't that the point of a firearm?
First one is so right the cheek riser is on the wrong side 😂😂😂😂 terrible finish on the wood.
Pretty don't make a Rifle accurate I have a 03-A3 Remington Spotter and it groups less than a dime with 5 shots and found it in a Pawn Shop for $300.00 .
Doing it right by not doing it at all
I legitimately DON'T get the point of sporterizing these rifles. I have two sporterized Mausers and they are LESS practical to use than the otherwise militarized ones, except one I sporterized using an Archangel 98 stock since it didn't come with a stock and needed rewelding to save it from the scrap heap anyway. That top cover, for example, exists for a reason. When that barrel gets hot (and it doesn't take long), the heat mirage will distort your sight picture and make using iron sights harder. Even if adding a scope, still no point in changing the stock as the stock typically has that hole in it to make disassembly of and cleaning your rifle's bolt easier on the field.
@mauser2134
Жыл бұрын
you know someone that disassembles the bolt while casually out hunting? you must be pretty dense to not see why some one wouldnt want those rifles to hunt with over a standard k98.
@Aeroshogun
Жыл бұрын
@@mauser2134 you must be dense if you ignored every single point I just made. If you want a real hunting rifle with better accuracy and practicality, get a Ruger M77. Several reasons to clean your bolt out on the field btw.
It’s a lefty
Get a cough drop for christ's sake ( I'm kidding you ) ... yes , not all sporterized mausers are bubba guns . Griffin & Howe mausers case in point . Don't know who would think they are all bubbas but definitely not anybody who knows guns .
@jonparkes7006
2 жыл бұрын
Agreed I’m tired of the key board warriors claiming every sporterised warrior is ruined Regards
@johngeddes7894
2 жыл бұрын
The scope side mount is challenging to look at for me. Its just worng (sp) !
Look's like shit destroyed a perfectly good Rifle.
@Cryptkeeper0311
6 ай бұрын
My thoughts exactly. Only boomers do this type of shit. Semper Fi.
Honestly, you can't "correctly" sporterize any old military rifle, in my opinion your destroying a beautiful piece of history.
It was butchered. 200$ maximum.
Sporterization is mutilation. There is no right way to mutilate something.
@mannequinfukr
2 жыл бұрын
These were probably made from spare actions between ww1 and ww2 by gunsmiths during that time. Those do exist. Like a G98 rifle being made in the long obsolete 8.15x46R (scheutzen cartridge)
@johngeddes7894
2 жыл бұрын
Sporters rock