Is a Belgium F & N bolt action a good rifle action to build ? Firearms International Corp ?

Be happy to have it

Matt Dillon

Are you sure you don't mean "FN" as in "Fabrique Nationale" of Belgium and "Firearms International Corporation", an arms importer from some time back? If so then you have a very nicely made Mauser bolt action rifle by one of the storied European arms manufacturers that is still making guns this day.

It's International Firearms Corp., currently in Oklahoma. Imported FN Mausers among other stuff.
There was a Firearms International Corporation in Washington D.C. too. Did the same thing. Entirely possible they are the same people.
Either way an FN Mauser is a good piece of kit.
A 7mm Mag will be a long action. Not useful for short cartridges like the .308 family. And the 7mm Mag is a belted magnum with a .532" bolt face.

Look on the left side of the receiver ring for a serial number. If it is an FN Mauser action it should have a letter in front of the serial number that indicates the year of manufacturer. Is there a letter in front of the serial number and if so what is the letter?

That is definitely an FM action and it is an excellent action on which to build a custom rifle. With the magnum bolt face you will be limited to using cartridges which require a magnum bolt face. I will try to look up the date year of the "S." I have a rifle with an "X' in the serial number that I purchased in 1972 so up front I would guess your rifle was manufactured about 1967. Those Belgium Mauser actions are very smooth and have the quickest lock time (firing pin fall) and any rifle you will find. If your trigger is bad Timney makes an excellent replacement trigger. Is your safety on the cocking piece or is it on the side of the receiver? If it's on the side of the receiver it is a trigger safety made by Sake and is called their #4. Your rifle probably has the safety on the side of the receiver.

I looked up the FN date codes and the listing says your rifle was made in 1980. That doesn't seem right to me but I'm not going to argue with the manufacturer listing of date codes. If your rifle shoots good I would leave the barrel as is and try to improve accuracy by tailoring handloads to your particular rifle. With a magnum bolt face you probably couldn't do better other than a 300 Winchester Magnum. If you don't like the stock I would recommend watching eBay for a used stock you would like better. If you want to pay big bucks for a stock take a look at the McMillan stocks. Their composite stocks are good but they are expensive.

Some of them were made without the magazine port; solid bottom for single shot long range match rifles.

Their only short coming is common to all Mauser 98 pattern actions: long lock time. Get a stronger firing pin spring and a titanium firing pin and they're up to snuff for best accuracy.

Buy a Timney #301 trigger. It's listed as FD M98 FN #301 at a price of about $112. It is a trigger & safety and is easy to install. Timney also has replacement firing pin springs if your spring is weak.

I doubt if there's anything wrong with the rifling. The barrel probably needs a good cleaning. If I clean a really dirty barrel I use Kroil and JB Bore Compound. When I see a rifle made since 1950 and it has Weaver scope mount bases that's a sure sign it hasn't been shot very much, especially since it's a 7 MM Magnum. eBay is you're best source of gun parts, but you may find some on GunBroker. I always keep an eye on eBay for the part I am looking for to be posted.

Take a look at eBay because there is an Interarms Mark X stock that looks like it will fit your rifle. The Interarms Mark X is a clone of the FN Mauser. This stock looks to be in great shape and the Buy it Now price is $160. Also it has a Make Offer where you may be able to buy it for less. Your action and barrel looks to be in great shape and this stock could be what you are looking for. If you pay for it using PayPal you can return it if you are not satisfied.

I had a custom rifle built a few years ago on an action just like that. The left side of the receiver was just like that, FN... Made in Belgium. The difference is that mine was a 1960's Sears rifle in .270 Winchester. Dad bought it way back then. I'm sure the barrel was fine but it was really light and with iron sights... so I had it swapped out for a custom Shilen. I had the same long action issues but I didn't really want anything vanilla. I went with .257 Roberts. And if I was going with that fine old girl, might as well go with the AI version.

It has worked perfectly and cycles with no issues. I went with the Dakota Arms M70 style three position safety.

It is my recollection FIE was selling these rifles in the 1950's. From the pictures yours has the early FN action features, which is better than later FN actions. The early FN actions have more "Mauser" features than later actions. Mauser designed a number of safety features in his actions, but these were costly to machine. Later FN actions externally look like a Mauser, but an inspection of internal bolt parts show differences, mainly to cut machining. You have the Mauser bolt stop so I think your action is a 1950's action.

The left side of the receiver was just like that, FN... Made in Belgium. The difference is that mine was a 1960's Sears rifle in .270 Winchester.

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Your Dad probably had a J. C. Higgins M50, which is from the middle 1950's. They were made by High Standard for Sears in 270 Win and 30-06. The Government has devalued our currency so much, that $129.00 in 1955 is worth $1,161 in terms of today's money. Almost a 10 to 1 devaluation. So, this rifle was not cheap back in the day.



I have one.I put in the stock bolt and bedded the action.




It shot well, even if every case neck cracked. I am trying to shoot up my old ammunition as that is one problem with old gunpowder, it outgasses nitric acid gas and cracks brass cases.

Slamfire, the rifle that you pictured has what was called the FN Mauser De Luxe action which has the safety on the cocking piece. This safety locks the firing pin instead of the trigger. The later version that appeared in the late 1960's was called the FN Mauser Supreme action and it has a safety on the side of the receiver that locks the trigger. The Supreme action had a Sako #4 trigger that was neither good or bad. The rifle that Matt Dillon has is called a FN Mauser Supreme action. The De Luxe action usually had a button on the rear of the floorplate that released the floorplate so it would drop into your hand when the button was pushed. Your rifle has this button. The Supreme version usually had a lever at the front of the trigger guard that released a hinged floorplate for cartridge removal. The quality of these actions is beyond reproach. One of their strong features of the Mauser was that it had a raised ring on the front of the cocking piece used to direct gases away from the shooters face when a cartridge ruptured in the chamber. The pre 64 Model 70 which became so popular has a safety that is easier to use and the floorplate catch is also easier to use, but when a case would rupture in a Model 70 chamber escaping gasses would be directed into the shooter's face. This did not detract from the popularity of the Model 70. The Mauser actions had 2 action screws which created sort of a problem because Mauser stocks were prone to crack in the web between the trigger and the magazine box. Because of this problem it is common to see crossbolts on Mauser stocks. The Model 70 did not have this problem. The Model 70 has advantages in that replacement parts are easier to find but thanks to eBay and GunBroker parts can still be found for the Mauser rifles.