RE: If you were my Mauser, what kind would you be?
 

made in Belgium is my guess... there may be more markings under the scope mount.

RE: If you were my Mauser, what kind would you be?
 

The reciever, being stamped on both sides with the "sun" symbol or star shaped insignia means that this action (not barrel) was from or for the Republic of China ... (possibly produced there or produced for them and they stamped it later).

The barrel,however,definitely carries markings of the Proof marks of the Liege house of Belgium, as kabic correctly points out. The "E" means "Epreuve" or 'proof', while the LG is for Liege. I couldn't dig up anything on the "A" with the little star over it.

So, it would appear that this is a Chinese Mauser action, or an action produced for China and stamped by them. It definiltely looks like a Mauser 98 variant. China did make some of these themselves and some they produced weren't worthy as a pry bar. Yours looks differently than that to me, like maybe produced in a decent arsenal for
Chinese use, and then somewhere along the line someone recognized it's usefullness, screwed a decent 7 X 57 Belgium barrel into it, somebody appears to have done a nice job of cutting ad turning the bolt and adding a Buehler type swing safety. From the picture it appears to be other than a military trigger, so that's probably been swapped out for something nicer. And nice stock!
All in all it looks like a real sweet whitetail rifle sporting a vintage Weaver scope in a low power ... perhaps a fixed 3X or a fixed 2.5. If they were variables or fixed4X and above the objective bell (front one) usually had a flare to it rather than the straight tube on the front of yours.
That looks like a shooter's pet!

RE: If you were my Mauser, what kind would you be?
 

Thanks for all the help. Don't know where you all find all this stuff, but I'll definately save this post for later reference. Is there likely markings under the scope mount, and if so, is worth pulling the mount of to see what they are?
It is an excellent gun. It hasn't taken a whitetail yet, but has taken a few mulies - all that I've shot. The scope is, um, well, it's going to be replaced soon. It's a Sears 3x, definately my least favorite part of the gun.

RE: If you were my Mauser, what kind would you be?
 

If it's Chinese I'd have a smith check it out as they were known for cutting corners and substandard heat treating.The gun has no collector value as it has been sporterized and appears to be an amalgamation of non-matching parts etc....................many Chinese 98's were captured in Korea.....Harold

RE: If you were my Mauser, what kind would you be?
 

That Sears scope looks like a Weaver that was produced for Sears. If it is clear and works don't undersell it's usefulness. For a woods gunor shots under 150 yards a 3X isn't so bad. And a fixed power is never going to end up on the wrong power... no fiddling to do with it.
Does the scope have the old Post and crosshair reticle?(one thin horizontal crosshair with a vertical post that extends either just up to the crosshair or just above the crosshair) Or standard crosshair? Probably not a duplex, it looks like it could be older than the duplex introduction.

RE: If you were my Mauser, what kind would you be?
 

Just a standard crosshair. My dad's old .243 hasa 4xpost and crosshair on it. I like that reticle. The 3x isn't bad outto about 100 yds., but after that it get's hard to use. Hunting in WY,a lot of shots are a lot father. On the other hand,my last buck was about 40 yds.
I'm sure the gun has no collectorvalue, but then it'sa hunting/plinking rifle, so I don't care about that so much. It shoots well. I was just curious about some of the history of the gun, as7mm Mausers don't exactly seem to be popular.

RE: If you were my Mauser, what kind would you be?
 

The 7 x 57 round is a superb whitetail round, better than the 7mm/08 in some respects. If your action is of decent manufacture and has good steel you are probably able to handload for that rifle to some very nice middle of the road velocities that will be kind to your shoulder yet pessess excellent hunting effectiveness.
The 7 x 57 is way underrated today, in my opinion. But one of the only ways to extract results above the rather dull factory loads out there is to handload.
I'd relish that gun in my cabinet.

RE: If you were my Mauser, what kind would you be?
 

I posted a link to this thread, here. It's the opinon of one user there that the action was made in Germany for contract to China. I have a chinese vz24 rifle and although rough still shots good.

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=53924&p=374741#p37474 1

RE: If you were my Mauser, what kind would you be?
 

I agree with that poster but only from what i see in the pictures posted here. The crappy Chinese produced 98's usually had almost no buff and blue to the finish, and they looked rough. The one seen in the pictures posted here appear to be of an action that was given a decent buff and blue ....
I am also aware that the many fine arsenals produced tons of Mausers for the world ...
I think SuperKirby has a real nice hunting weapon.
And superKirby, if you're gonna duimp that sears/Weaver let me know!

RE: If you were my Mauser, what kind would you be?
 

Wow, way more information than I ever expected. Thanks for all the help guys. Once we pay for the new baby, I hope to get a new reloading press and some dies for it. My press got all messed up last time we moved. If I ever do, I'll have to ask y'all about some loads for it. Is it safe to assume that it's German and not Chinese? And if it is Chinese, (actually made in China) are there any safety concerns with shooting it? I wouldn't think so, as I haven't had any problems with it so far, but still...

Thanks again for the help.