I have a Belgian Custom Sporter-K98 in 8mm that is great rifle. I went to mount a scope on it and ya'll all know about the bolt/scope issues. I looked locally for a gunsmith with no luck and the wait time was months. I found this specialty service on Ebay and decided to try them because they had VERY good feedbacks. The job itself was amazing and I showed it to our local gunshops and now they use them. They are in Texas too so shipping time was fast. I Priority Mailed it to them, they had it a couple of days or so and they Priority Mailed it back. So the whole deal was a little over a week. If I remember right the job with shipping back to me was $50-55. I have never had this quality of work turned around this fast. They specialize in this and are good at it. I am pulling all my Mauser bolts that just barely clear and am sending them all to be done. If you want to scope an old Mauser, it starts here. Featured Products - Fincher's Corner
Mauser Bolt forging and Polishing
- Thread starter knc1105
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specweldtom
Well-Known Member
Fine rifle.
The bolt job is not rocket science, but can be royally screwed up. They did the job well enough that I couldn't tell if it was forged over, or cut off and turned around if it weren't for the checkered flat on the knob. $50 is a very fair price.
What did you do about the safety?
I hope they get a lot of work off your post.
Thanks, Tom
The bolt job is not rocket science, but can be royally screwed up. They did the job well enough that I couldn't tell if it was forged over, or cut off and turned around if it weren't for the checkered flat on the knob. $50 is a very fair price.
What did you do about the safety?
I hope they get a lot of work off your post.
Thanks, Tom
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shortgrass
Well-Known Member
I bought this M94 Carl Gustav carbine in 6.5x55 in 1992 as my oldest son's 1st deer rifle for $125 without scope and base. Both my sons (now 26 and 23) started with this rifle.
The bolt was already configured for a scope.
Not pretty but it shoots pretty well!
specweldtom
Well-Known Member
Shortgrass is an excellent source for precision gunsmithing. I've been to his shop. He knows what he's doing.
Tom
Tom
WOW!!!! great rifles and your bolts look great. I have never seen a 6.5 Swede that was in good shape that did not shoot like a house of fire. In Europe it is one of their most popular calibers kinda like our 270 Win. here, but it still has not really caught on here yet. An inherently accurate round with very little recoil and plenty of knockdown for deer sized game. In our local Service Rifles Matches we have every other month that alternate with a 3-Gun, if the wind is not howling I shoot one of two M96 Swedes in the bolt gun class. Both have -0- bores and one has a modified Mojo sight and since pic I added a front sight hood, the other was a team rifle with Soderin Diopter sights with front hood and interchangeable inserts and a factory pistol grip. They are fun and incredibly accurate. We shoot standing at 100 yds, sitting at 250 and prone at 500. If the wind is gusting bad, I shoot some other rifles because all those matches are won or lost at 500. I shoot a Custom National Match M1-A in the semi-auto class. I have a very nice FN-49 that I do not have enough range time on yet to shoot in a match, but It's a great rifle with a factory elevator peep sight. Happy Shootin, Ken
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shortgrass
Well-Known Member
I don't do mine like the guy on e-bay, and he works alot cheaper than I do. There's a "pile" of hand work in mine. The tear drop is machined but all the thinning of the handle is done with files, then buffed on a buffer where it can be reached and polished by hand where it can't. Hand work, much more needs to be done to make a nice bolt handle or to make a rifle feed properly than most, who visit these forums, seem to think. Seems the prevelent notion is that everything is machined 'quickly'. Not looking for any work as I'm going in for back surgery in January.
J E Custom
Well-Known Member
Best wishes and a fast recovery from your surgery.
No matter how good the machine work is, Hand work is required for fit and finish. And it's called "Craftsmanship".
J E CUSTOM
Shortgrass, good luck on your surgery. Don't try and get back too quick like my brother did. Yep your bolts are really nice. I did not know about you when I sent that bolt off. I could not find anybody locally that would get to it in months and no price quoted, my guess is they would end up wanting at least 1/2 as much for the bolt work as I gave for the whole rifle. That is why I posted this specialty guy, he was very reasonable, did the work quickly and the experts around here that know a lot more than me were impressed with their work. They do not offer many other services so this is their specialty, and as much time as I spent looking, they probably stay busy. Good Luck on your surgery, when you get back going again what other gunsmithing do you do?
etisll40
Well-Known Member
Shortgrass, good luck on the surgery.
I'm gonna post a bolt on a K-98 I bought, the only thing I don't like about it is the bolt handle and wonder how I can get mine to look like yours. I'll hire someone, I like the action and I want to keep it.
I'm gonna post a bolt on a K-98 I bought, the only thing I don't like about it is the bolt handle and wonder how I can get mine to look like yours. I'll hire someone, I like the action and I want to keep it.
shortgrass
Well-Known Member
My license comes up for renewal in April and after 20 years, I'm thinking about finishing up what's here in the shop and calling it quits. Get a 'real job' with somewhat regular hours (and, hopefully, some benefits). I spend so much time with the business I haven't time to shoot my own or hunt , for that matter. I've got a 6.5mm x .284 that I've had finished for close to a year. I still haven't had time to mount a scope and take it to the range. With the business as it is I have no personal time. Heaven forbid a family member have medical issues, let alone have any yourself. My 85 year old uncle passed away this past August. A 2 day drive there, an evening at the funeral home after driving all day the second day, funeral the next day and visit with cousins I hadn't seen in 27 years, drive back home the next two days. I ended up a week behind and had to e-mail a customer a copy of the news paper 'death notice' to prove my uncle had passed and wasn't just screwin' off. Dealing with the public,,,,,,,, well, I hope you get my drift! Between that, the long hours and mounting regulations all business are facing, some things become 'not worth it' at some point, no matter how much I enjoy gunsmithing work. I guess time will tell after I've had the surgery. I'm a fair CNC machinist , can write a simple G code program and make the set-up. I've got a life time of manual machine experience, my real strengths are in tooling and fixturing, knowing what tool and what you can and can't make it do and how fast. How to hold a part so many can be done in a repeatable fashion (jigs & fixtures) and what to do in what order. Like I said, time will tell what comes next. What other can I do besides bolt handles? I'm school trained, graduated MCC class of '93. I make stocks by hand from blanks or pre-inlets to some simple repairs and much in between. Learned long ago to turn away the 'junk',,,, still learning .......
Shortgrass your post just spooked me. It could have been written by the best gunsmith in Texas, he said what you just said almost word for word and he has a Super Duper 6.5x284 that he wants to shoot too and is sick of the regs and surprise Fed Inspections and just has had enough and surrendered his license. And that is why I was looking for a smith for the bolt fix in the first place. He has done all my work for 31-years and has built and fixed stuff that you would not believe even with pictures. He did not like dealing with the public either and the past few years a handful of his old customers had kept him busy and he turned the others away. Sounds like you can do it all, so when they fix you up, just work for the people you like helping and ignore the rest. There are so few good gunsmiths left, you'll be able to stay busy and lower the stress level. Anybody you had to show an obituary to, I would never help them again. If you are ever in Central Texas bring your 6.5 to Best Of The West, their rifle range has plates all the way to a 1,000 yards and are great folks. You and your 6.5 will feel right at home.
