I want to build a bolt rifle

My most recent Mauser based rifle had a $1000.00 worth of work done. I had provided a nice BYF 43 Mauser action that had been skillfully converted years ago. Note this money went for parts and labor. Later I did have a bolt handle welded onto a Mauser Banner military action at $100.00. Incidentally, these actions were salvaged from poor condition rifles or Bubba jobs. Point being if you really want a built up Mauser have at it but do some figuring beforehand. Sure, I got a great shooting rifle. I can go buy two great shooting rifles for the price of this gun. Would I do it again. Yes.

Addendum: To many of us cutting off the clip slot etc. off the receiver bridge is an act of desecration. We used a currently made Leupold base that leave the receiver bridge as it was. Mauser made, the original, sporters had this hump in the receiver.
 
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I don't think the OP is talking about installing a new barrel on a Mauser action, but using a barreled action from a military rifle in a custom wood stock to make a sporter in order to save money.

Unless he falls in to a rifle that was already modified for a scope for a great price, which by some miracle meets his accuracy needs, I don't think he is going to hit his criteria of "something beautiful and accurate" and less expensive than a factory rifle. He mentions a Remington 700, and says he has a Savage. Beautiful might also be hard to hit with a military barrel, which will most likely be stepped.**

It really depends how he defines "accurate". I have a bunch of old military rifles, all of which (aside from the Scout pictured above) are still in the original stocks. There are a couple that I would consider accurate for what they are, but none of them are better than about 1.5 MOA at best. Pretty much any modern production rifle will beat that easily, and already be set up for a scope and have a better trigger.

If the end goal is to have a custom rifle on a military action, go for it, but you will spend more money than if you just bought a new hunting rifle, which will be (at worst) just as good in every way except looks, for less money.

I just looked at Cabelas there are seven bolt action centerfire rifle choices under $400, and three of them come with scopes mounted.

J.G. Terry said:
We used a currently made Leupold base that leave the receiver bridge as it was. Mauser made, the original, sporters had this hump in the receiver.
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Warne makes a steel base that fits an unmodified bridge as well. I used one to make the rear peep sight on the Scout rifle above.

https://www.brownells.com/optics-mo...e-sku947000172-24131-50359.aspx?sku=947000172


**I have seen one rifle with a military barrel that was truly beautiful, a friend's father converted a German K98k to a sporter when he was in Europe with the military in the early 1960s. He evidently had some serious OCD and a lot of free time, because he put a perfect taper on the barrel using a hand file. :eek: He put a amazing deep blue on it and put it in a beautiful custom Walnut stock. Crazy story and beautiful rifle, I wish I had a picture of it.
 
This was forty or so years ago. A pilgrim came into the store wanting work done on his military Model 98 Mauser in 7x57. This customer assured us the rifle was accurate and to proceed with the work. He had a bunch of good quality work done on the rifle. He took the thing out. It shot screen door size groups. He tried to blame us. We reminded him of our accuracy discussion. Point being don't spend any money until you find if the donor rifle shoots. I wonder what level of accuracy OP wants from his project gun?
 
Well, I've done a few on Mauser actions.

Commercial FN with bad barrel $100. New barrel in 30-06 $100 (From a friend) McMillan stock $250. D&T for scope $80 and I already had a scope bases and rings I took off a rifle I was selling. I'll admit I made out like a bloody bandit on that one.

Commercial FN Mauser (J.C. Higgins M50 .270) $250, barrel to 7x57 $400, Found stock as gun show, $50 $150 to have gunsmith fit to barreled action. Factory D&T and had bases, rings, scope etc from another rifle. Figure I did OK on that one.

1909 Argentine Mauser in .280 Rem. I found the barreled action and the stock blank at a gun show for $300. Gunsmith charged $2,500 to put it all together. Farmed finishing stock work out to Sterling Davenport which surprised hell out of me. Rifle came out a bit heavy but is very accurate. Was the price worth it? I think so especially as it's accurate and pretty enough to give great pride in ownership.

Current project is a Husqvarna M640 barreled action, basically an FN action slicked up by Husqvarna and chambered to the 30-06. $350. Picked up a stock from a Mark X for $40 that is immaculate. I haven't decided if I will rebarrel to another cartridge or leave it in 30-06. I prefer 24" barrels and this one has 22". Probably be a couple hundred to have my gunsmith put it together and D&T for a scope. Might turn out to be a pretty nice rifle. The action is as smooth as butter.

My point is the OP should look around. Find something like a J.C. Higgins M50 but be advised, they're no longer really cheap. I've seen a few running at $450-$500 here at local shows. If .270 Win. or 30-06 is doable, the barrels on those rifles have been very good. FWIW, the .270 seems to be a bit on the scarce side and most I've seen for sale have been 30-06. I've only seen on in .270 other than the one I had rebarreled and while the chrome lined barrel was good, the exterior had a lot of rust. I passed on that one.

Dunno if I've helped or not but all the above was based on my experience doing for the most part home customs. I have a couple of the Higgins I've just redone the stocks a bit to slim them down.

Paul B.
 
Easiest is a Savage followed by a Remage (Rem action with the extras thread and a nut added as Remington uses fine thread for their barrels like Savage) with the nut on the barrel you can set the head space yourself and easily .

Buy a low cost Savage rifle. Any one in the cartridge you want.

Yes you can do 7.5 Swiss if you want .

The get a Boyds stock (I like the Thumb Hole Featherweight) and order a barrel.

If you don' want to ream your own Lother Walther will do you a custom barrel around $600 with a bull size, length to what you want. You can get a .30 cal blank from Shilen for maybe $350 and ream it yourself. Buy or rent the reamer.

The face of the bolt requires a bit of milling out but easily done with a dremeil tool (yes I did it)

Whalla, Custom Rifle. Cost?

Depends on what the action cost you, if you buy the tools for the barrel work ($100 to 150)

350 maybe for the action, barrel $350 to 600, stock $150, tools $150 max (you can forgo the torque wrench , you do need the nut wrench and a barrel or action vice both available from Northern Shooter Supply and high quality)

With hand loads accuracy 1/2 MOA to maybe 1/4 MOA though that gets deep into shooter ability.
 
What has been suggested is to get an action where little or know additional work needs to be done. You are less likely to get a dog if you use a factory action. I have built up one rifle using a Savage 110 action.

I like to remove the barrel from military actions. Years ago an individual shared with me having gotten Springfield drill rifles from a school. He added that they had to get the receiver ring red hot to remove the barrels.

We found a High Number Springfield receiver at a flea market. We used that receiver to show serious receiver damage from over charge. I'd suggest considering using a Savage action for your rifle. One more thing is to pass on scrubbed actions with no marks showing the maker.
 
I am in the camp of buying a budget rifle for the barreled action. The Savage Model 12FV can be had from Cabella's for under $400. Around Christmas it will drop to around $325 and there usually is a $100 rebate from Savage. So you are out Under $250. Also the Ruger American Predator is a good low priced option if you want a lighter profile barreled action. Also the barrel is already tapped on the muzzle so you can add either a brake, or suppressor. The savings from not having to pay for action truing, and bolt face squaring. As well as the price of drill and tap for the scope would put it into a cheaper range than the old surplus actions. All you have to do is work up a stock, and you get what you want.

If it were me building I would go with either a Savage, or Remington 700 action. The ease of doing things on the Savage tend to push me in direction of the Savage. They seem to be a lot of accuracy for less money.
 
Don't discount used, Gun Brokers sells large numbers and local sales internet networks have them up for sale all the time (usually at even better prices)

One guy lists a 10T for what he bought it for, $250. That really does not need a buy as the 10 and the 12FV come with a heavy barrel.
 
I'm leaning towards starting out with a Savage Axis II XP with a threaded barrel in 30-06. Which after applicable rebate is only going to set me back less than 3 bones
 
That is probably a wise choice.

Where are you located? Not a bad idea to keep an eye on Armslist and a local-ish shooters web forum, or even the used racks at some of your local gun stores. Great deals can be had, with patience and a little luck.
 
Now, after exploring Savage's much smaller world of aftermarket parts and especially the low and seemingly unupgradable magazine capacity, I'm back toward the 700 ADL, getting a BDL stock for it and adding the floorplate replacement part that accepts box mags to essentially end up with a 700 BDL.

1 Will that work?
2 is it cheaper than beginning with a BDL?
(Note I've been linked to an ADL that costs $315 and change and every BDL I've seen is at least 2x that
 
700 will work great.
Choose your flavor depending on what you want to do with it.
Internal magazine (ADL) or bottom opening (BDL).
Make sure the bottom metal comes with whichever one you choose or you will be buying that as well.
 
Quick to give up on the Savage.
Too bad...
E-Sarco, and Pacific Tool & Gage both have bottom metal to accept magazines.

Ahh well, more used Savage actions for me!! :D
 
Or at least what are my options?
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Detachable magazines will add a lot of cost, my opinion is that is what you want, you will be better off starting with a rifle that already comes with one, and your options open up considerably there if you go with a short action .308 Win, over the long action .30-06. Most shooters will never notice the difference between the two, they are really similar ballistically unless you are using the heavier (180gr+) bullets.

To be honest, I have never really understood the need for a detachable magazine on a bolt action rifle, particularly a hunting rifle. For what it's worth, I have been on several extended, many-hundred-rounds-fired varmint hunts, and never once did I think "If only this rifle held another 5 rounds" or "If only this rifle had a detachable magazine"

The Ruger American Predator series still seems like a good fit for what you are looking for, except that it is not available in long action, so you would have to go with .308 if you wanted a .30 caliber, with a AI type detachable magazine.

Boyds makes wood stocks for them, if you want to upgrade at some point in the future.
 
Old Mil actions can be made to be very accurate, even sub MOA. But, they do not usually start out that way. Most off the shelf rifles today are MOA or better. Even price driven models like the Ruger American are better than the majority of rifles built 20 years ago. I dont want to discourage the OP, I have built a few rifles myself. Buying a current Rem, Howa, Weatherby barreled action or rifle with cheaper stock is probably your best bet. Bed it in a nice stock of your choosing and you will have a fine rifle.
 
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