tailfeathers Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 I have 2 or 3 Mauser actions and I was thinking about building with an Idea toward resale potential. Any thoughts on chambering/barrel length? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkerfive Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 top of mind would be 30-06 & 308 then there are 7mm, 243, 22-250. If you are looking for something less common that I think would be a fast sell, I'd suggest 25-06. I'm sure others will have suggestions. I'm just throwing out calibers that come to mind first on the assumption that top of mind would be most popular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustvyper Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 What do you want? wal-mart caliber (30-06, 270, 308, 7mm-08, 243); bass pro caliber (25-06, 300 savage, 257, etc); internet/handload territory (any wildcat, 6.5x55, 7x57, etc.) There's not much you can't do with a 98, although I would stay away from magnum cartridges if this is your first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacrat Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 I have 2 or 3 Mauser actions and I was thinking about building with an Idea toward resale potential. Any thoughts on chambering/barrel length? Which model of Mauser actions? Pre 98's are not suitable for use with higher pressure cartridges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan859 Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 I think if I were looking to build a few Mausers for resale, the first thing I'd do is some research. Look at sites like gunbroker and auction arms, see what they're actually selling for. That will give you a price range to work in so you can make sure you don't end up with more money into a gun than you can sell it for. As far as calibers go, I would look at some of the newer calibers that are building popularity, like 7mm-08, 260 rem., or maybe 338-06. There's a couple metric calibers like 6.5x55 and 7x57 that are making a bit of a comeback as well. The problem I see with something like a .243, 30-06, or 308, is that there's so many of them for sale that it's hard for you to make yours stand out from the crowd. Just my $.02. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donmarkey Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 I don't see any profit in building mausers for resale unless they are custom built to a customers specs. Generally you can take a sporterized mauser and tear it apart and sell the parts for more than the rifle will sell for. I've done that many times. That said why spend the time putting it together in the first place. Most of us build for the fun of it and to have something exactly the way we want it. Not to make money. If you want to learn have fun and then sell off because you don't have the need for the rifle, I'd say go for it you can sell them off and recoop some of the money, but I doubt you will make a profit. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken98k Posted February 5, 2012 Report Share Posted February 5, 2012 Several years ago I considered building and selling Mauser rifles for profit and I came to the realization that 1. you have to be really fast, and 2. you have to be really good. When you start buying barrels and stocks and triggers the inestment cost goes up quickly. It's pretty easy to sink $600 dollars into a milsurp that will only be worth 4-5 hundred on the market. Now add to that your labor. Then things really start getting spendy when you start buying machine tools like a lathe or milling machine. And then there's tooling and fixtures for the machine tools and---. My God! I must be crazy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemski4 Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 I just finished building a rifle last summer, nothing overly fancy, the parts cost me 775.00 complete with used scope, and I did all the work myself, except the two position side swing safety, donmarkey did it for me as I don't have a mill, yet. I suggest building a rifle in a caliber that you like, and might be appealing to others, and when it's all said and done, if it doesn't sell for what you need to get out of it, enjoy your new rifle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken98k Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 What caliber? If you're building for resale, ask a couple dealer in your local area what the hot sellers are. Or,just build heavy barreled 308win and call them "tactical rifles". All the wannabies are buying "tactical" these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustvyper Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 What caliber? If you're building for resale, ask a couple dealer in your local area what the hot sellers are. Or,just build heavy barreled 308win and call them "tactical rifles". All the wannabies are buying "tactical" these days. There yah go. Put it in a ATI stock, .308, duracoat it multicam pattern, hang a rail & bipod on in & call it a tactical, sniper rifle. Final price: $10,000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailormilan2 Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 There yah go. Put it in a ATI stock, .308, duracoat it multicam pattern, hang a rail & bipod on in & call it a tactical, sniper rifle. Final price: $10,000. You mean like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken98k Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 You mean like this? Yup, I'll bet that would sell real quick and fetch a good price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diggerdanh Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 Yup, I'll bet that would sell real quick and fetch a good price. I was thinking the same thing after the ATI stock / duracoat comment. I just finished one of those last fall and working on a second one right now. Of course I don't want to sell either one, but those might actually be something you could make some money on. Probably not $10K each but maybe closer to $2000 especially if you have a nice target to show with a very small grouping. I saw a Rem 700 in a similar style stock (forget what it was, but it wasn't really high end) with the typical blueprinting done on it asking $2000 on GB a couple days ago. I can't remember if it had any bids or not. If a guy had purchased a bunch of the PH sniper barrels from Sarco a couple years ago when they were originally selling for $35/ea he'd be in really good shape to do something like that (unfortunately I only purchased 2). Might be able to get away with around $500 in parts (minus scope) if you stick to inexpensive stuff (bold trigger w/safety, redfield jr one-piece mount, etc.) and you could do all the hand/machine work yourself. If you had 40-60 hours of work into it and could make around $1000 that wouldn't be too bad. Not good enough to do full-time, but pretty nice for a hobby. All that said, I don't know the legalities/technicalities/differences between a guy selling off a couple of his guns that he customized/modified and a "firearm manufacturer" - where you draw that line. The above definitely pushes the limits of the intent of a C&R (buying for your collection). Common sense-wise, I think that once I went beyond selling a couple I'd worry about being perceived as a manufacturer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailormilan2 Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 The black "plastic" ATI stock makes a decent starting point, but needs a bit of work. I filled the barrel channel with expanding foam, then covered that with epoxy. I replaced the rock hard butt pad, with a decent Hogue recoil pad. I should have filled the grooves in the butt and the forearm with body putty and then sand smooth, but I will do that on the next one I do. Which may be a heavy barreled 300 Win Mag. Initially I used one of the Sarco Parker Hale barrels that I had shortened. But I am changing it out to an Adams and Bennett heavy barrel. I will be fitting it and installing it this week. The stock is painted in "Stone" paint which gives a stone like texture to make it slip resistant when grabbed with sweaty hands. Interestingly, the ATI stock has a profile very similar to the Steyr made Tactical stocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diggerdanh Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 I filled the barrel channel with expanding foam, then covered that with epoxy. I replaced the rock hard butt pad, with a decent Hogue recoil pad. I should have filled the grooves in the butt and the forearm with body putty and then sand smooth, but I will do that on the next one I do. Filling the barrel channel with expanding foam and then covering it with epoxy is exactly what I'm doing at this moment - the stock is hanging in my garage. I had not thought about filling the grooves in the butt and forearm, that is a pretty good idea. I did not replace the butt pad in my previous build and I probably won't consider doing so for this build either. My first one weighs in at somewhere around 15 pounds (I don't have an exact number because I haven't weighed since adding scope). I built for heavier weight because I new it would be a target shooting rifle. With that kind of weight shooting a .308 it just barely pushes my shoulder back a little, definitely no "kick". It wouldn't matter if the original butt bad was a metal butt plate. Of course 300 win mag might be a little different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailormilan2 Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 I got the mods done, but unfortunately, i ddn't have enough stuff to make a proper home park solution. I have a recipe that gives a very black, fine grain finish. Either it wasn't strong enough, or I didn't get the metal clean enough. Oh well, I can do it over. That is what retired is all about, I have time to do stuff like that. I have modifed the bolt handle from the original photo. I ground down the ball, threaded it, and used a tactical screw on knob. Gives me about and extra 1 1/2" of bolt handle length, so the bolt lift is much lighter. Different bigger scope too. Though I may need to get some taller rings. No clearance for a lens cover. Rifle is lighter with the A&B barrel over the Parker Hale barrel, but with the faster twist it will handle heavier bullets better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.