doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Fine Mauser Rifles from Franken, Germany

Master-Gunmaker Heinrich Schiller is famous for his Mauser 98 Custom Rifles. Look, how he works:

B�chsenmacher Schiller



Gunwolf

That looks real nice.

Beautiful gun...Action looks kinda short for a 375 H&H.

There has probably been about as much debate on the advisability of opening up a standard length 98 Mauser to handle the .375 Magnum length cartridge as to the advisability of lengthening a shotgun chamber.

Both have been done on numerous occasions & while some would say it is never advisable, we just do not seem to be inundated with failures on either account,

To lengthen a 98 action to handle the magnum length cartridge some metal has to be removed which backs up the lower bolt lug, which of course weakens it. In both cases, one is depending on there being enough surplus strength built in that some metal can be removed without going into a Danger Zone.

I once was a Mauser man...custom built by the late Highsmith of Memphis built in the year of 1955, same year I was born.
Upon holding it in the late 1970's having not seen it since he built it Highsmith's eyes lit...and he mumbled "Built that gun in 1955 for a fellow going to Africa as a light rifle". Judging from the blue wear it had been drug part of the way

"Winchester test barrel"...never did know for sure what that meant. The gun was not marked by Hy Smith but look and quality and a little of the story that followed the gun and Mr. M.V. Highsmith verified it.

I actually ran into the gun two times before I bought it....first time at a gun shop or gun show in Memphis Tn. a year or so later a second time at a Pawn style West Memphis Ark. gun shop on the other bank of the Mississippi river and coughed up the $165 dollar asking price.

1939 Nazi marked action. 24" Winchester test barrel (per HighSmith) Dahl ramped front sight Lyman 48 rear sitting below a quick detach Griffin and Howe side mount. I topped it with a 1x4 Leupold scope.

I once shot a one hole 10 shot 100 yard group that barely went over 1".

It was a stalk deer hunters dream and a running deer's night mare.

I later had the Nazi markings removed metal refinished. Being built in 1939 I often wondered how many people it killed before the gun was liberated.

I grew older lost big timber to hunt and was forced into deer stands along fields...lost interest in deer hunting and sold the gun.

Interesting story Joe. Seems I recall Nash Buckingham mentioning a Mr Hysmith in some of his writings, is this the same man? Some years back an older gentleman I had done a bit of work for showed up to pick up a non-traditional muzzleloading target pistol I had built for him per his drawings. He had asked me up front if I would be interested in a "Trade" for the work & I said yes. What he had was an 1895 Chilean Mauser in fantastic condition. I was very pleased with this rifle for what I had in it. As he prepared to leave he said to come outside with me I have a few things I'd like to show you. He was driving a big Chevy SUV with the double doors on back, He opened these up & across the back floorboard was laid all matters of old, mostly pieces of guns & gun parts. To make a long story a bit shorter ha had lived in California for most of his life & worked for the US Postal Service. He had moved to TN on retirement. He had picked up these items from city Dumps, where he had made a deal with the attendants to pull out in gun parts which they saw come through. He would give them a few dollars along so had very little in them. He sais he had come to realize he would never do anything with any of them, so he just Gave them to me. Among them was a Large Ring 98 Mauser dated to 1938, the year I was born. It still had the numerical makers code rather than the alphabetical one. I ended up selling it to a co-worker. He had not done anything with it & a bit late I had something he wanted & offered it back in trade which I took, as had sorts regretted selling it as was from my birth year. One day soon after this I was looking for something in the pile of parts which it had been a part of & picked up a part & the SN jumped out at me. I got the Mauser Action out & looked & sure enough, it matched. I then went through the pile of parts & the barrel was there along with virtually all other metal parts, missing only the wood. From one of the Surplus parts dealers, I found a correct type stock & was able to put the entire rifle back together. Some years prior to this my late Father -inLaw had given my son a German Bayonette he had brought back from WWII when stationed there. My son now has the rifle & yes, it still has its Nazi Markings on it. With a bit of searching, I found it was built in the Obendorf factory, per the code letters.

The Mauser action rifle was the greatest rifle design to grace the hands of hunters across the world (obviously I'm a Mauser fan). They say the lock time prevents accurate shooting, but I've never had an issue (though I'm not a benchrest shooter). Metric or standard, I love the Mauser action rifle.

Doesn't really look like those cartridges will fit through the loading gate.

I'm not a big bolt rifle fan, but it is a nice looking rifle.

The distance between the receiver ring & the bridge is not much more than the brass itself on the .375 Magnum rounds. I know that standard length 98 actions have been opened up to use the magnums, but don't recall off hand what all has to be done. It may be the front top of the bridge is notched out to lengthen the loading opening (No Gate on a Mauser), can't really tell in the picture. I know the magazine box had to be lengthened, both front & rear.

The rifle may not actually be chambered for the .375 H&H, the cartridges could be just a "Prop" for the picture. It almost appears to be a Short action, but a large ring, short actioned 98 is quite scarce.

I have a small ring short action 98 which was made in Mexico. These actions are the same size as the Spanish 93 & 95 actions but are the 98 styles. Mine is still in the original 7x57 chambering. These are really neat little actions & many were re-barreled & sporterized in .257 Roberts caliber. Mine is still in original military condition but does not have all matching numbers as I recall.

Don't know what I was thinking. On a military Mauser, there is a cut in front of the bridge for the loading clip. I measured the opening on the Mexican Short action, From the back of the receiver ring to the front of the bridge is 2 7/8 inches. To the back of the loading, clip cut is 3�". A standard length would be somewhat longer, but don't have one at present to measure. Max case length for the .375 H&H is 2.85" with the max overall length of a loaded round 3.600".

The pictured rifle thus seems to be the standard length. It simply cannot be told from the picture if the necessary cuts have been made for it to accept the longer cartridge or not. One other alteration which has to be made is metal has to be removed from the feed ramp. This also removes metal from behind the lower locking lug on the bolt, so has to be done with caution. In going to the magnum chambering one is increasing the intensity of the cartridge, while at the same time reducing the strength of the action. Fortunately, except for some of the last ditch wartime, 98's the standard Mauser had a high safety margin built in. The best option, of course, is for a Magnum Mauser action, but they are hard to come by & very expensive. Best option today would be to go with a Short Magnum cartridge.