Which Mauser to get?

[Clark]

The 98 Mausers were made in Orberndorf Germany until WWI was over.
From that period I have lots of 1903 Turks. I love those guns, but they short actions and are worn.
Also from that period I have 1908 Brazilian Mauser. These are longer, but worn.

When the Czechs got the German tooling the made Mausers.
I have VZ22 and they are nice.
I have both 7mm and 8mm VZ24s and they are nice.

When the Germans started making them again they made good Mausers right up to the almost the end of WWII and then they went downhill.

I have ones with the swastikas and they are good rifles.
I have JP Saur, and that is a nice rifle.

I have a 1938 Turk [k.kale] made by the Turks, and that is not very good.
I have Spanish Mausers, but some of them have a two piece inner stop ring that were late commerical Mausers.

I have FN commercial Mausers, I wish I had more.

 

[ping]

I got a K98 a couple of months ago and it is terrific. I paid $450 for it and was very much worth it. I shot mine on the 200 yard range. I am using sierra hpbt 220 with imr4064 41.5 grains and getting terrific accuracy. On an sr-1 target they are almost all in the 10 ring. Great rifle.

 

[HEAVY METAL 1]

As far as 98's I have a few including 2 Turks which are accurate, accurate enough to do head shots on deer @ 100 yds generally grouping 2" on targets. I have a 98/22 Czech which is scary accurate. I can shoot ragged 1 hole groups just larger than my thumbnail @ 100 yds, (all of this with open sights) granted this is all with handloads, but it is telling of the quality of the guns. The 98/22 is a poor man's version of the Persian Mauser I have read. The Turks aren't as finely finished as the others, but mechanically they are sound. I don't own one, but the various South American Mausers I have worked the actions on are smooth as silk just like the Swedes.

 

[Phaethon]

Thanks for the advice guys, I just put in my order for a VZ-24. I think I'll get a can of ammo to go along with it - I can't wait to finally get my hands on her and get her clean and shooting. It'll finally be my first German Mauser, I've wanted one since I was a little kid!

 

[dirtyjim]

you should be happy with a vz-24. i have a pair vz-24's and a pair 98-22's. both of the vz's were romainian contracts, one shot very good and the other thought it was a shotgun and has since been rebarreled with a take off vz barrel and its back to shooting like a rifle now.
all of my czech rifles like yugo surpluss ammo

 

[snake284]

I don't know about all Mausers, but I do know that Yugos are pure large ring 98s, however they are about .25 inches shorter than a regular 98. They are just as strong and most I've seen are in excellent condition. I have four of which one is at my gun smith's right now getting the bolt bent, drilled and tapped, a 3 position Model 70 style safety, a Timney sporter trigger, and a 26 inch Shilen SS barrel reamed to .257 Roberts Ackley Improved screwed in. Also, it's getting a Leupold VX-3L 4.5-14X56 MM scope with 30mm tube. That's setting me back some bucks for sure, but this will be a special build for me. I've been wanting one of these for nearly 30 years.
Anyway, the Yugo being .25 inches shorter than a regular 98, it is perfect for the 57mm Mauser case, of which the .257 Roberts is built on. The parent case was the original 7x57 Mauser, then the 8x57, which all 98Ks and Obendorf Mausers were chambered in, plus the 6mm Remington. So if you want a great sporter in these mid length cartridges the Yugo is perfect. Like I said, it IS actually a large ring 98 Mauser.

One more caliber that will fit in the Yugo very nicely is a 6.5x57 Mauser. A derivative of it is the 6.5 Japanese with the chamber reamed to the 57 mm case size. This was done after WWII Because many GIs were bringing these Jap rifles back and they didn't have ammo. So the 6.5x.257 Roberts was born.