ORIGINAL: Vapodog
Your thoughts would be great!! I keep getting new thoughts pop into my head every day, the clock is always ticking
The '98 mauser and it's variants have been turned into justabout everything from actual .222 rifles to (that I know of) .404 Jeffery and possibly bigger stuff.
I'd venture to say absolutely anything can be done with one given enough MONEY......and this is where the wrinkle is.....can it be done?????....GUARANTEED...given enough money someone will do it. Is it financially advisable?.....certainly not for me.....maybe it is for you.....but you need to decide that. I'd venture to say that anyone can buy a new M-70 or other popular bolt action for less than the cost of a good alteration of a Mauser'98.
Yeah, cost started to come into play when the mention of the feed rails, mag box, and all that happy stuff. I keep seeing these new things come out, and it just gets my wheels turning like none other, lol. I have talked to a couple of gunsmiths, and they have quoted me around $800 or so to take this action I have sitting here and turning it into a feasible shooter. This would be no fancy work, just putting the barrel on, doing the necessary modifications to the action, truing eveything, blueing the rifle and action, and drilling and tapping for mounts. I also saw something in the Cabela's shooting magazine for 2005, page 65 that is a Mauser Conversion Bolt handle, which may or not be cheaper or easier than having it bent, but who knows. I also got to thinking of a larger diameter cartridge with a shorter barrel (approx 20" or so) in something like the 358 Winchester and a good set of Williams Peep sights. That would make a good gun for packing in tight spots where shots would be close. My other thought, and most practical so far, would be having a barrel put on in 6.5x55 for deer and antelope and such.