Allan's Armory has M1912 Milsurps for $200. http://www.allans-armory.com/aaresult.php?PageId=40

Rick, the better ones look ok to me but I can't see paying those prices for any of them. Maybe I just have too many Mauser actions laying around to buy another one. In the 60's a new, unfired FN 98 milsurp short rifle in 7x57 usually sold for around 35 dollars. Wish I had bought more of them now. I only paid 275 dollars for my Ruger #I in 7x57 brand new in thee box. Thanks for sharing. Interesting stuff. Odd how prices have gone up on some guns. It's obscene. .....Paul H

If I weren't in the "reduction" mode, I'd pick a couple of those up. I notice that most of them have VG graded bores. I suspect they will shoot pretty well.

Paul

It seems to cost more to buy a Lee Enfield in Canada now than a savage 99, Remington 760 or740, or a Winchester 101, Parker Hale bolt gun. thirty years ago it took thirty Lee Enfield rifles to buy any one of the above.

That actually sounds like not a bad deal. I don't think I could get   a 7x57 that cheap up here.

Would you butcher an original rifle like those?

I guess for $200 it is a no brainer. We pay between $500-$650 for the long rifles. Never seen a short rifle in Oz.

Cleavers in Qld had quiet a few of them and they sold like hot cakes. None with matching bolts as apparently the Chileans stored the bolts separate from the rifles. Not sure how true that is. I'd ask my old man as he served with the 1912 Steyrs at military school but he is no longer with us. Also had the Steyr pistols that fed with the stripper clip.

Actually, Jorge, the 'butcher' thought crossed my mind. As I gave it thought, I concluded that I'm not in the "make a bolt gun" mode these days. Were I to buy one or more of these Steyrs, I'd be very seriously inclined to leave them as the are and still hunt with them. Scopes can be added without permanent modification, and using them with factory open sights isn't out of the question by any means. So, the answer to your question is "No", I wouldn't cut them up, but I'd still use them for more than "service rifle shoots" at the local rifle range.

That said, it's getting tougher and tougher to find complete receivers for $200 today. These aren't 'pristine' rifles, so $200-ish isn't a bad price to start a 'project' off with for rcvr and especially barreled rcvr.

Just my 2-cents-worth.

Paul

I like the 7x57 and I would also use it for hunting with a scout scope mount on the rear sight and a EER scope. I would leave it as is or just put a synthetic stock without modifying the metal and hold on to the original stock and bits.

Would be good for Sambar with a 160gn+ projectile.

I really like the look of the South American contract Mausers (Argies, Brazilians, Chilean, Peruvian, Venezuelan). Some of the best ever made by DWM, Mauser Oberndorf, Ludwig Loewe.

Guys, those M1912's have no collectible value....or very little. The collectors are looking for all matching numbers and a pristine crest. The barreled action could easily be made into a sporter for around $200 and like Paul said, I bet they are very very accurate in a great caliber.

Hi Rick,

Granted that they may not be on top of the Mauser collectors' list due to non-matching numbers but there wouldn't be too many that do match due to what I have read about how they were stored, so from the point of having a complete collection surely some collectors may still want one in their arsenal. I remember seeing a forum that was trying to swap bolts for military rifles to get matching numbers but I am not sure if it was for mausers.

Either way I would like to have one for hunting and one in it's original form.

Cheers

Jorge

'Long ago and far away' one of the bigger milsurp forum sites started a "bolt registry" so that people could match up bolts and receivers. As far as I know, it didn't really go anywhere. On one hand, you have to match up MILLIONS of rifles, but from a practical perspective, a lot of "matching" bolts were swapped out because they failed headspace specs at the arsenal. You really wouldn't want that bolt back! By the same token, the biggest reason why the bolts don't match - at least as I understand it - is because when the rifles came in to be 'rearsenaled', they were disassembled and the "small pieces" - like bolts - were simply tossed in a bin. Then 'they' finished with the receivers, the just grabbed a bolt from the bolt bin. I don't know this, but I have heard it from reliable sources.

Paul

That sounds plausible.

I assume they didn't use the last 2 digits to mark all the other pieces like the Swedes as none of the numbers would match the actions. I haven't seen one close up to know.

The Swedes marked all their pieces including the Bolt body, shroud, firing pin safety and cocking piece, both bands rear sight and blade, floor plate, trigger, follower, trigger guard and butt plate with the last 3 numbers. The barrel and handguard were marked with the full SN. Here is my 4 digit 1900 Oberndorf. Note the only part mismatched is the front band.

Nice Swede.