Mitchell's Mauser

[wgg]

Can anyone give me an idea of the quality and worth. This rifle is a kit, bayonet, oiler, ammo pouch, sling. The rifle is new still packed with cosmoline.

[Electric88]

My father-in-law has one, and it looks like brand new. Though I had heard that they had taken some and gone through top to bottom and refinished them. He didn't seem to care. It is a beautiful rifle, and shoots great!

[Wayne Smith]

Not a collector if that is what you are looking for, but as a practical shooter they are fine.

[Adam Helmer]

wgg,

Occasionally I see a Mitchell's Mauser at the local gun club. It seems they sell different grades; the better ones costing more. I have seen good to very good 98ks and a mint 98k.

Adam

[Kraschenbirn]

None of 'Mitchell Mausers' are 'new'. All have been refurbished and refinished and most are out-and-out 'parts guns' assembled from whatever bits and pieces were available at the time. So far as value, as shooters they're not worth any more than any decent M98 milsurp...but good '98s are getting more and more difficult to find.

Bill

[FredBuddy]

My Yugo 48 looks mint and shoots great (once I get used to the sights).

I got the Lee mold this past summer and started casting for it.

It seems to like my cast and powder coated boolits over some Trail Boss.

To bad winter is here with a vengeance!

[Soundguy]

No collector value, but as a shooter, you are getting clean parts and usually like new bores.

[dverna]

And for not much more money you can buy a new commercial bolt action in your caliber of choice, ready for scope mounting, and with a warranty.

Don Verna

[Electric88]

True, but sometimes there is just nothing like shooting a warhorse, even if it has been refinished. I love my modern bolt actions, but every so often I pick up an old WW2 bolt gun, and let myself feel history.

OP, if you want a beefy bolt gun of steel and wood that reminds you of past wars with no thought to collectors value, get a Mitchells Mauser. You certainly won't regret it

[wgg]

I went back this morning and it was sold.

[Electric88]

There will always be another one ;)

[hc18flyer]

I see M-48's and M-24/47's really often. Picked one out for my brother, clean, very good bore and stock, all matching numbers, $280. I think you just need to keep looking. Love Mine! hc18flyer

[Texas by God]

My nephew has one and it's the most accurate military 8mm I have fired. Even with the Barleycorn sights. A "genuine" Mauser in the same price range will most likely have a cobby bore. Get one while the getting is good IMO.

[Uncle R.]

And for not much more money you can buy a new commercial bolt action in your caliber of choice, ready for scope mounting, and with a warranty.

Don Verna

True, true - but beside the point.

The days when a milsurp bolt gun served as a low-cost substitute for a sporting rifle are long gone, if ever they really existed.
I have lots of commercial bolt-action rifles, but I wish I'd grabbed some 03A3s, 98 Mausers and 1917 Enfields back when I was a young man. Those that survived the "sporterization" craze and remain in original condition are becoming rare, and have a "cool factor" that's just off the scale. Not serious hunting or match rifles, they still serve as fun afternoon-at-the-range rifles, and are dripping with history as well.

The risk of getting a basement-assembled parts gun when you purchase any historical rifle goes ever higher, and the majority of gun show finds are probably in that category today. Mitchell's Mausers may not be considered collectible now, but I'd call them a "shootable representative specimen" in today's market. They may look better and better to future collectors as completely original rifles grow ever more rare.

My .02 for consideration.
Uncle R.

[LAGS]

I too would rather have a Shoot able Representation of a rifle from days gone by , rather than some wall hanger original.
There are good condition Originals out there , but they are not easy to come by or easy on the wallet.
But why do I need an original perfect specimens.
I was not there, nor was it carried by anyone that I know or was related to.
It is not my history.
But I do like keeping the past alive , and shoot the stepping stones of what we have evolved into now.
The Mitchell Mausers allow us to do that at surprisingly a lower cost than building one from parts ourselves to the same condition.
Unless you are a Gunsmith like myself and the labor doesn't factor into it.

[Soundguy]

Now what I would like to see is mitchels spitshine some Turk mausers.

A "like new" Turk would be very nice. Even renumbered, polished and reblued with a solo stock and good hardware.

[Shiloh]

On the MSRP end of the price scale. Expensive but nice. They have a mixed reputation. It has been said that the matching serial numbers are created my Mitchell. Google Mitchell Mausers to see reviews. Commercially refinished rifles.

Shiloh

[Tackleberry41]

Would depend on the mitchells mauser. Early ones I saw were all German production rifles. My brother in law bought one, and it was just an over priced Yugo M48. He paid something like $400, comes with the extras. I paid $100 for mine.

[Shiloh]

Would depend on the mitchells mauser. Early ones I saw were all German production rifles. My brother in law bought one, and it was just an over priced Yugo M48. He paid something like $400, comes with the extras. I paid $100 for mine.

$120 shipped years ago when the Yugo's first arrived.
I have only seen a few Mitchell Mausers. All 98 K's. Very nice to be sure, but expensive.

Shiloh

[Tackleberry41]

Yea I got in on the M48 train when it first came to the station. Nice tight one for $100.

[Shiloh]

Yea I got in on the M48 train when it first came to the station. Nice tight one for $100.

My bore is mint, mirror like. Shoot great with cast. I'm pleased.

Shiloh

[CLAYPOOL]

The "SHOE POLISH BLUEING" on mine is starting to have problems. Daubed on over some rough finish also. Live and learn, althoughI have it. They also missed a place on the stock while cleaning.

[opos]

I think the advertising that whirls around the Mitchell Mausers might be a bit deceptive..As I understand it they are "restored" parts rifles that are frowned on by collectors..might be great shooters and nice lookers but nothing special at a very high price with a really "iffy" story.

[dragon813gt]

Are they even advertising anymore? There ads used to be everywhere but I don't remember the last time I saw one.

[Powersgt]

I looked at one at a "Dunhams" sporting goods store last week. It was originally priced at $500+/- a couple years ago. It was on sale for about $330 now. Not the first one to take a look at it either, the numbers match and the bolt is butter smooth; that's the good. The stock look like it belong to a M1 carbine, didn't fit at all and the serial number was stamped in it. Bottom metal and the rear receiver tang had tons of metal sticking out. If that wasn't bad enough, the crown looked like an egg. The rifling look strong and what I could tell the chamber looked ok.

I guess for the right price, you could re-crown and look for a better fitting piece of wood as long as the chamber and rifling are true, otherwise that is still pricey for a parts gun.


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[marlin39a]

I've got a Mitchells Mauser M-48 I purchased in 1998. It was covered in cosmoline. I cleaned it up, but never fired it. The rifle is new, never issued. The stock is rough to the touch. It came out of Lew Hortons. I'm thinking about shooting it.

[Shiloh]

I've got a Mitchells Mauser M-48 I purchased in 1998. It was covered in cosmoline. I cleaned it up, but never fired it. The rifle is new, never issued. The stock is rough to the touch. It came out of Lew Hortons. I'm thinking about shooting it.

Fire it up!!
Mine sat for about 7 years. Last Sept, I finally got it running with cast. And it shoots great!! We had several weeks of brutal weather up here and couldn't shoot. That being said, my first package of gas checks is a few dozen from being gone.

Shiloh

[Larry Gibson]

Yeah, when the Yugo M48s first hit the market Scharfschuetze and I picked up a couple shooter M48s with excellent bores for $105 apiece at the Puyallup Gunshow in Washington with some Turk ammo thrown in. We got a bunch more Turk ammo along with a bunch of Columbian 8x57. I calculated that I could shoot up all the ammo I had and throw the rifle away and it would have cost me 6 - 7 cents per shot.......

But that was 23+ years ago.......still got a case+ of the Turk and most of the Columbian ammo........I see it goes for a lot more now.......

I gave the "shooter" M48 to a grandson. Still have a M24/47 Yugo along with a KAR 98 take off barrel in excellent condition and another M48 in New condition with all the accouterments. Still thinking about shooting all that milsurp 8x57 up........

[Buckshot]

...............I got one at a Big 5 sporting goods store on clearance in the early 2000's for $159.

http://www.fototime.com/79DAE87BBF8BE29/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/EB6FB73225EA2DD/standard.jpg

I think the stock may be Elm, but I've been wrong before .....just ask my wife :-)

http://www.fototime.com/AABE7B670EA6ED9/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/3C56D4E565C03DD/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/1C4D4161B83B2D1/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/1D8EC3B370AC953/standard.jpg

The bore is at least VG++ condition and slugs .314" x .325" with a .327" throat. Best part is the crown is near perfect, which can be unusual in some due to energetic use of the steel cleaning rod, cleaning from the muzzle.

http://www.fototime.com/B793B9D77F31C73/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/566180B726E79D1/standard.jpg

On the other hand we have this one, also from a Big5, but in Arizona this time. My next younger brother bought it at some point before I owned the other one. He gave it to me after I told him the bore in it was absolute toast. It's matching but the crest has been buffed. Sound, but somewhat dinged stock. It now sports a M98 replacement contoured bbl chambered in .308 from Brownells, and is a fine shooting rifle.

When they were cheap these things were an absolute gas to fool with.

.............Buckshot

[goryshaw]

My first milsurp was a Model 24/47 from Impact Guns in Salt Lake for around $260 in 2011. Bore looked horrible in the shop, I was expecting to rebarrel, restock and drill and tap for a scope. Got it home and ran a patch with Ed's Red that came out brown with cosmoline, a check of the bore afterwards looked pristine. Left it unmodified after that. Took a few days to get the cosmoline out of the rest of the gun, and it still weeps from the stock when it gets hot.

Haven't shot any cast out of it, still have about 500x 1990s PPU heavy ball milsurp and a 580 rd case of Romanian light ball sitting in my stash. I did pick up some PPU brass from Powder Valley this year, may order a mold from NOE to reload it, right now it's loaded with Nosler 200 gr CC and 47 gr of Varget to try in vintage military matches.

[Buckshot]

My first milsurp was a Model 24/47 from Impact Guns in Salt Lake for around $260 in 2011. Bore looked horrible in the shop, I was expecting to rebarrel, restock and drill and tap for a scope. Left it unmodified after that. Took a few days to get the cosmoline out of the rest of the gun, and it still weeps from the stock when it gets hot.


................This is the perfect time of the year to help that! Stuff some paper towels into the action cutout. Roll some up fairly tight for the bbl channel, then wrap the entire stock in paper towels. Secure with making tape. Then stuff it into a (preferably) black plastic trash bag and lay it outdoors someplace where it will get plenty of sunshine.

That evening take it out while still hot/warn (be prepared with more paper towels) pull off the oil soaked towels and wipe it down with the clean ones. You might have to do it a couple times. I had a Turk Mauser and might honestly have gotten a freaking pint of oil out of it:-)

...............Buckshot

[fjruple]

I purchased a like new M48 from a older gentleman who had to get rid of his firearms because his son was coming home from prison and he could not keep any firearms in the house. The M48 was rebuilt at some point and had a new barrel installed. I found the front sight blade was adjusted way off which made the rifle shoot 3 feet to the right at 100 yards. The refurnishing job was done when Yugoslavia was united. The M48 appears to have been shipped for storage in that part of Yugoslavia that became the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. Tito had supplied cache of firearms all around Yugoslavia in event of war breaking out. I am beginning to think when the rifle was refurnished the front blade was deliberately moved to make the rifle shoot way off. I fixed the front sight blade and it was dead on now. In the process I also picked up two brand new M48 8mm barrels for future use for $45.00 each. I cast NOE 325-216SP with GC and load with 14.0 grains of Long Shot with the rear set at 700 meters the bullets are dead on at 100 yards. I can shot 50 rounds of this load without feeling like I went several rounds with Mohammand Ali. It's a ***** getting old. LOL!! But I love to shoot old centerfire rifles.

--fjruple

[Shiloh]

Yeah, when the Yugo M48s first hit the market Scharfschuetze and I picked up a couple shooter M48s with excellent bores for $105 apiece at the Puyallup Gunshow in Washington with some Turk ammo thrown in. We got a bunch more Turk ammo along with a bunch of Columbian 8x57. I calculated that I could shoot up all the ammo I had and throw the rifle away and it would have cost me 6 - 7 cents per shot.......

But that was 23+ years ago.......still got a case+ of the Turk and most of the Columbian ammo........I see it goes for a lot more now.......

I gave the "shooter" M48 to a grandson. Still have a M24/47 Yugo along with a KAR 98 take off barrel in excellent condition and another M48 in New condition with all the accouterments. Still thinking about shooting all that milsurp 8x57 up........

Still have several hundred rounds of vintage Turk ammo. Shoots about 7" high at 100 yes. At the 500 meter setting, cast bolts drop into lslightly left center of a 13" 200 yard gong. LEE 175 gr. sized at .325.

Shiloh

[Huffmanite]

A couple of years ago, one of my shooting buddies at range wanted to participate in our monthly surplus military rifle competition. I wrote the rules for this event as to what condition/type of surplus rifle could be used. I'd had a C&R license and owned my share of surplus military rifles. So, we attended one of the larger gun shows in our area looking for a rifle and would find a dealer with at least 4 boxed Mitchell's mausers. I wasn't too happy with them being Mitchells, but thought the Prices were reasonable and dealer had one that met my approval. It was an early WWII manufacture and in pretty nice condition. I thought it was an Oberndorf made K98. We haggle price with dealer and when he reduced price and then threw in four boxes of new manufacture 8x57 ammo to make the sell, my buddy bought the rifle. Think he paid a little under $400 for it. Later that night, curious, I'll check its manufacture code. Egads, it was one of the rarer German manufacturers, JP Sauer and Son. While I didn't need another Mauser, I'd have bought the darn thing, just to have a Sauer.