New (100 year old) scout rifle

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Space Ghost

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The scout rifle is a somewhat dated concept that a lot of people don't seem to subscribe to these days. In fact, it was always kind of a niche rifle. Be that as it may, I always found it intriguing, and wanted to have one. I never have... until now. Back story first.. then scroll down to the photo...

My father-in-law had an uncle who served in Italy during WWI. He came home with (of all things) a Brazilian Mauser in 7x57. It's been in my wife's family ever sense. Several years back (before "Unkie" passed) he gave the rifle to my FIL. It hadn't been fired in probably 30 years. My FIL put it on a rack on the wall, and there it sat... till this spring. Same story. The stock is uncomfortable, can't see with the sights... I finally talked him into taking it out on one of our range days, and after shooting it once, he gave it to me. (with the caveat that it become his grandson's one day)

Now I know what a lot of you are thinking... WHAT? This guy just took a war bring back, numbers matching Mauser and butchered it into a scout rifle? I think the term "Bubba" is floating around in some heads... Yes I did. History aside, it does nobody any good hanging on a wall for decades, not getting used. Hell, Unkie had it in the corner of his closet... Now I can use it. One day, my son will use it, and he will know that his grandpa's uncle brought it back from WWII. THAT, ladies, and gentlemen, is history. It's probably what happened to most of the bring backs, so if you are a serious collector, yours is now worth more. You're welcome. Besides, by mounting the scout scope, (and not a traditional scope) I can still see the Brazilian crest on the receiver ring...

The 29" barrel was cut to 20'. This will now allow it to fit in my gun cabinet. The Surefire Warcomp (matching my ARs) will allow for suppressor use, and possibly tame the already soft 7x57 recoil.

I ordered a Vortex Crossfire II 2-7x32 Scout Scope for it. This, I really have mixed feelings about, and all I've done so far is walk around with it in the woods on my property. At 2 power, boom, it's right there. At 3 or even 4, it's all good, but at anything higher you have to start stretching your neck out to get closer to the scope. It's practically unusable at 7 power unless you're a giraffe. Now I understand If I'm taking a distant shot, I'll be taking my time anyway, no snap shot here, but it's damn uncomfortable, and may go back. Maybe a Leupold. Also thinking about just going red dot. I love red dots... The mount is simply a left over section of picatinny rail bolted to the rear sight base that's been milled flat.

The original plan was just have the scope mount sticking out through the top wood, but I saw that Hogue stock... The Hogue stock speaks for itself... so comfy. Had to have it. I may also spring for the XS scout scope mount in the future now that I went with the Hogue stock, as the modified original sight base kinda looks clunky, but it does work...

The straight bolt handle was fine. Just got the bent bolt because the Hogue stock had a cut out for one, and would look weird with the straight bolt, but it works real well. I move my hand just the smallest bit, and the handle is right there. Good call Mr. Gunsmith. I had him spray it with clear Krylon so it would kinda match the receiver as the original did. The receivers were left in the white with the rest getting blued. There is some pitting on the front ring right along the stock line (after 100+ years) but overall, it's in very good shape. At least the bore is good.

Still undecided on sights yet. Waiting on more money, and looking for a rear peep that won't interfere with stripper clip feeding.


0ubjE08.jpg
 
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Don't worry about the magnification on the scope. On 2X-4X you should be able to shoot it fine out to 400 yards, I wouldn't worry about greater magnification being usable. I really like the basic Scout rifle concept, but I don't get hung up on trying to do everything exactly the way Cooper did. For one thing Coopers ideal rifle evolved over the years and if he were still alive I'm sure it would have continued to evolve. The basic idea of a short, lightweight carbine in a rifle can be reloaded quickly, has enough power for game up to 400 lbs at ranges up to 400 yards and could be used for defense is a good one. There is more than one way to accomplish this. I bet it works great for you
 
I really like the long gracefully swept back bolt. The knob looks like a remington 700 style bolt? Did you do the work on that?

I know right? It looks like it's from a past era. I really dig it. I did not do the work. Took it to the gunsmith. Old guy just about ready to retire. Insurance company giving him fits because his shop is on his property just 50 feet from his house, that's out in the sticks on a gravel road. I live in a small town of about 1,200 people. He is between us, and the town to the north. The bolt handle was one of about 20 he had in a box that looked like had been sitting in the shop for 15 years or more... Tried to sell me one of his dozen or so Timney triggers he has in a toolbox too...
 
Nice job. I'm kicking myself for passing on a bubbad Mexican Mauser with a cracked stock. Have fun with that 7 x 57. Nothing wrong with making that rifle a shooter again.
 
Nice rifle. It’s yours to do with as you see fit.

I like that you mounted the scope forward saving the receiver. I wish I would have considered that years ago with a 1917 Remington that I bought that had been “sporterized”. It had iron sights and was chambered in .270 Winchester. I gave it to a buddy of mine.

You have a nice rifle there. Enjoy it.
 
I know right? It looks like it's from a past era. I really dig it. I did not do the work. Took it to the gunsmith. Old guy just about ready to retire. Insurance company giving him fits because his shop is on his property just 50 feet from his house, that's out in the sticks on a gravel road. I live in a small town of about 1,200 people. He is between us, and the town to the north. The bolt handle was one of about 20 he had in a box that looked like had been sitting in the shop for 15 years or more... Tried to sell me one of his dozen or so Timney triggers he has in a toolbox too...

Might want to go back and get one of those timneys if you can afford it. While they arnt my favorite aftermarket trigger, they are a step up from any milsurp I've ever felt. Even ones that have been worked over.
 
I did something similar about 20 years ago to a Brno/Soviet capture/Israeli/FN (barrel) Mauser 98 action originally manufactured sometime during WWII.

It was in very rough shape, with a mis-matched bolt and dinged up receiver, so I reprofiled the outer surface of the receiver, had it reheat-treated by Blanchards and then cryo-treated by 300 Below with the shortened barrel reinstalled. I had one of the barrel steps turned off to a taper, figuring the shorter barrel would be plenty stiff without it. The metal was then Parkerized, except for the bolt, cocking piece and follower which I had hard-chromed. I had a TC Contender base installed where the rear sight used to be, added a Williams FP aperture plus a Tritium bead front within the scope base, Timney trigger, Fajen synthetic stock, etc. I mounted a flash hider at one point, then after shooting it awhile I decided I preferred the barrel length shorter and cut the barrel back to remove the muzzle threads. I use it with a Tasco 30mm 1.5x pistol scope that alternates with a Bushnell TRS-25 sight. Had the Steyr Scout been marketed earlier, I could probably have bought one new for roughly what I eventually sank into this experiment, but it's a good shooter and I've no regrets at this point.

MauserScoutRifle03.jpg
 
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