a strange Mauser Sporter - authentic ?? or not

[buckstix]

hello All

could you take a moment to look at this rifle listing and give your opinion

I'm wondering if this authentic or some put-to-gether

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1034173843

thank you

 

[Wishfulthinker580]

hello All

could you take a moment to look at this rifle listing and give your opinion

I'm wondering if this authentic or some put-to-gether

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/1034173843

thank you

I’m sure someone far more knowledgeable than I will come along and comment but the bolt handle isn’t original. I don’t think the bottom metal is either. It’s a travesty that someone drilled and tapped it for scope use. Also, like it’s been refinished to me (could be wrong).

 

[Aaron N]

Sweet Jesus that ad is painful to read, it’s like a twelve year old was in charge of the fonts. Also, wasn’t this round built to fit in a standard action?

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

Stripper clip slot?

 

[wvfred]

It appears to be a standard type A Mauser that has had the bolt handle and safety altered for a scope. I have had Mausers in 10.75 and none of them had a magnum action.

 

[Captain Jack]

Sweet Jesus that ad is painful to read, it’s like a twelve year old was in charge of the fonts. Also, wasn’t this round built to fit in a standard action?

Agreed, that listing is atrocious. I would run away for that reason alone - it just screams "used car salesman/BS artist" to me. However, I am not an expert on these rifles, and at least one person on GB thought it was worth $5k.

 

[Red Leg]

Nice rifle. If the rifle were re-blacked it was done very competently. The white highlighting tends to really accentuate buffed areas of any lettering or proof marks. I do not see that in this case.

What I am confident is a fairly recent modification is the bolt handle and what looks to be a replacement safety flag or mod of an original to allow the use of the safety with a scope in place. Note how far it rotates downward in fire position.

As @wvfred notes, the one 10.75 I owned was also built on a military style .98 action.

So, I think it is original rifle that has been modified for scope use. Likely safe to assume that the stock was cleaned up at some point.

 

[Neil Molendyk]

Agreed, that listing is atrocious. I would run away for that reason alone - it just screams "used car salesman/BS artist" to me. However, I am not

I think that the only thing missing is the standard line added

"BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE. BUY NOW IN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES AND WE WILL DOUBLE THE OFFER, TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE, PLUS FREE SHIPPING"

 

[Red Leg]

Nice rifle. If the rifle were re-blacked it was done very competently. The white highlighting tends to really accentuate buffed areas of any lettering or proof marks. I do not see that in this case.

What I am confident is a fairly recent modification is the bolt handle and what looks to be a replacement safety flag or mod of an original to allow the use of the safety with a scope in place. Note how far it rotates downward in fire position.

As @wvfred notes, the one 10.75 I owned was also built on a military style .98 action.

So, I think it is original rifle that has been modified for scope use. Likely safe to assume that the stock was cleaned up at some point.

And no, that is a standard military style 98 action that was used on the vast majority of commercial Mausers of the period - not a MAGNUM. The seller is an idiot.

 

[John Telford]

Wood , bolt and safety not original Orbendorf Mauser. Also Mauser used a different scope mounting system. They never drilled and taped. Also serial number too high for an action with Wafenfabrk marking . This was stopped after WW1 .

 

[Rez Exelon]

And no, that is a standard military style 98 action that was used on the vast majority of commercial Mausers of the period - not a MAGNUM. The seller is an idiot.

Hopefully the buyer figures it out and wins the claim they should submit when it's not as advertised.

Not sure if they'll be able to see clearly enough though --- my eyes got cancer trying to read through that listing. If the buyer did went through it for more than a few seconds they might not have retinas left to use when inspecting the purchase.

 

[wvfred]

It is a commercial Oberndorf action.Jon Speeds book dates it to 1930-31.

 

[buckstix]

Yes .. I saw that its 1930-1931 BUG proofs ..... and that, if original, the bolt handle was ground to clear a scope .... and later low-profile fafety ... and that the receiver has been drilled and tapped .... if its actually a magnum length action is not known from the pictures ... or is it ....

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

The bidding sure did go ballistic

 

[wvfred]

I have never seen one with a magnum action but it's possible.

 

[Aaron N]

The bidding sure did go ballistic

View attachment 588468

Remember; the bidders had to add on the 100% premium for the “magnum” action

 

[Huvius]

That is 100% NOT a magnum action.
All magnums have straddle floor plates - that’s the easy tell from the bottom view.

The rifle was once a nice TypeA but has the bolt modified, stock notched for the modded bolt, safety modified rings drilled and tapped for scope bases, the rear bridge poorly ground for the rear scope base.

Somebody bought into the hype on the ad and paid double what it is worth IMO.

 

[grand veneur]

I have never seen one with a magnum action but it's possible.

Me neither, and it would be pretty illogical because the cartridge was designed to fit in a normal Mauser 98 action. Very cheap rifles were produced for this cartridge, which also explains its widespread use in Africa. Using Mauser magnum actions would have pushed these rifles into a completely different price range and are also absolutely unnecessary for this relatively small cartridge.

 

[Rez Exelon]

The bidding sure did go ballistic

View attachment 588468

Interesting that the people bidding 2k and under had the highest feedback (except for "czg" user). One might assume that the people that buy the most looked at it and tossed some value bids out then bailed when it went stupid because they knew it went stupid over value.

 

[Dewald]

Another sodomized Type A. Pity. Bolt handle and stock altered, new safety and perhaps new wood, or a cleanup of a oil soak stock, that should have been done using some alkanet root to give it a more red colour.