FN 30.06 ?Questions??

[Wood and steel]

Hello to everyone here.
I recently acquired a rifle from my father that he acquired from a good friend of his father. It came with a JC Higgins pump 12guage that was my 1st hunting gun when I was 14.
My father and I were bird hunters but never used this rifle.
So it has sat, wow for 35 years now.
I fired a couple rounds years ago into a hill just to feel it kick and know it worked.
It has a Weaver variable power scope and a Kuharsky Bros scope mount that contains the adjustments for sighting in the scope.
The scope has a little movement in the mount and looks like someone tried to tighten the rings and chewed up the screw in the mount. Nothing to bad.
But I am not sure why it wiggles. It is not much but obviously this is not ready to use.
It is a little banged up
So my questions are:
What is this gun? Make and approximate year.
Is it a valuable gun?
Is it a good platform for getting it in shape for modern hunting?
Is this style of scope/mount (if able to tighten up) capable of being accurate and reliable?
I will post some pics here for you guys to refer to.
thank you all for your help.

 

[Wood and steel]

couple more pictures

More for further clarification.

 

[bainter1212]

Is that one of the FN commercial Mausers that Sears sold back in the 50's? My FIL has one in .270.....it is a gorgeous rifle that drives tacks.

 

[rcmodel]

It's an excellent old rifle.
Late 1950's / Early 1960's I would guess.

With an antique scope & mount on it.

The Weaver V-8 scope was poor to start with.
It was one of the very early variable scopes made.

(And I never even knew they made one without internal adjustments.)
(The mount has the scope adjustments instead of the scope!)

My advice is, lose the old scope & mount, and have a gunsmith fit it with a modern scope, in a modern mount.

You can probably recoup your losses by selling the old Weaver & old mount separately on eBay.

But by then, you will have a Really great rifle with a modern scope on it!

For far less then anything comparable you can buy today!

rc

 

[Float Pilot]

Yeap FN commercial Mauser action. Already drilled for a Williams side Peep.
Gets me all hot and bothered.

I have one of those scope mounts around here someplace. B&L used to make a similar mount. They really did not work so great.

Clean that gal up and have somebody install either a single piece or two piece scope mount bases and use a modern scope.

That is an excellent and nearly indestructible rifle.

 

[Jim Watson]

It is an FN DeLuxe, made sometime between 1948 and 1964 if I am reading DeHaas right.
Impossible to beat as a hunting rifle, although target rifles have progressed beyond the Mauser action. I can't guess a dollar value, but it would probably not sell for as much as you would think.

I did not know the old Weaver V8 was so bad. It has a trick reticle to try to make up for the first focal plane installation and depends on an external adjustment mount. The Weaver outside adjustment mount was pretty sad, but I thought the Kuharsky was ok. It wiggles because the scope is held down into the adjustment cones by a spring plunger, so the adjustments can move the whole scope.
I would shoot it carefully at a target before discarding the scope outfit.

 

[rcmodel]

I had a V-8 on a .222 Remington many years ago.
It was an alright scope for the time.

But the zero moved about an inch for every 1x power change.
I think I zeroed it at 6x and just left it there from then on.

Maybe it was just that one??

rc

 

[Sunray]

"...getting it in shape for modern hunting..." Change the scope(only because it's elderly and doesn't adjust internally) and mount, work up a load using 165 grain bullets, sight in and it's ready. If you're not reloading you'll have to try a box of as many brands as you can to find the ammo it shoots best.
E-Bay is owned by people who want to take your firearms away from you. Buying or selling there gives money to the likes of the Brady Bunch.

 

[johnnydollar]

Jim is right as usual. Not just a commercial FN Mauser action, it is/was a complete commercial sporting rifle made by FN. The commercial FN '98 action is about as good as it gets (though I like the Supreme a bit better than the Deluxe) and with a quality barrel (also from FN), it should be a fine shooter. In good shape, those rifles go for $800 and up, but to echo Jim's thoughts, there are very few rifles of higher quality available for that price. I would keep the rifle and add a modern scope and be very, very happy with what I had.

 

[natman]

I was thinking it might be a JC Higgins Model 50 or 51, but the stock isn't quite right. Are there any Higgins / Sears markings on the barrel? If there aren't it's probably an FN sporter, a very nice gun indeed. If there are it's a 50/51 with a different stock, still a very nice gun.

I'd replace the scope and mounts with something more modern and go hunting.

 

[Wood and steel]

scope mount

If you look at this picture under the Kuharski scope rings mount it says Bausch & Lomb on the portion that mounts to the rifle itself.
The rifle is in good shape.
What would be a good scope for this rifle that won't cause me to dip into the kid's college fund?
Are there some good old standard scopes I should keep my eyes out for used that would work well with this rifle?
The good news is I got this rifle in a group of nice old guns from my dad.
Also came with good factory ammo for all of them.
The only gun without at least 5 boxes of ammo was an old 38 short Colt pistol.
It was a nice thing to see these guns handed over a couple years before he passed. He was happy to give them up and the wagon was riding a little lower on the trip home with all that steel and lead.
The step mother is not as giving, and I think he knew that. I got 6 long guns and the old 38 pistol.
He kept the JC Higgins pump 12 and a .45 Gov't issue. Property of US Army stamped on the side. I may never see those but what I did get was enough and I am grateful.

 

[Wood and steel]

Oh and what would be the most stable mount to attach to this rifle?
Would it need to be drilled and tapped for this?
Thank you all for your help with this.

 

[rcmodel]

No, it was drilled & tapped by the factory.

Modern 98 Mauser mounts should fit it.

Any standard high quality mount should bolt on.

And any modern scope from Leupold, Nikon, or other reputable company will fit right on it too.

I would suggest you take it to a gunsmith who IS a gunsmith, and he will fix you right up with a modern mount & scope.

rc

 

[sage5907]

As said above it is an FN DeLuxe action. Leupold STD steel two piece scope mount bases for an FN Mauser will screw right onto the receiver without any changes. Leupold STD rings will then fit right onto the bases. You can use medium rings without any adjustment to the rifle. If you use low rings you may have to remove a small amount of metal from the top of the safety lever so the bolt will not touch the bottom of the scope. I would buy bases and rings that have a matt finish. I can tell that the trigger is the standard open type trigger made similar to a Model 70 Winchester trigger and they work good. Later versions of the FN action have a Sako No. 4 trigger but your rifle has the earlier trigger which is a better trigger. The original safety lever has been replaced to a right hand version. The original safety lever was a lever that worked up and down on the left side of the bolt shroud. When you push the magazine cover release button the magazine cover will pop out into your hand. It works well when you get used to the design. It should be an excellent rifle.

 

[johnnydollar]

Sage, I find it interesting that you think the trigger on the FN Deluxe is better than the Sako #4 trigger that came on the later Supreme actions. I have one of the Supreme actions myself, and the Sako is a fine trigger. What do you like so much about the earlier trigger? BTW, I'm in Ok, too.

 

[sage5907]

johnnydollar, that's a good question. I have used both the FN DeLuxe action and the FN Supreme action. What I like most about the DeLuxe action is that the safety is on the bolt shroud so it locks the firing pin, and the DeLuxe trigger is a simple open version that is not affected by dust, dirt and moisture like the enclosed version design of the Sako No. 4 trigger. I have a rifle built by Paul Jaeger on the Supreme action with a Sako trigger safety and I was using it for hunting in NW Oklahoma with constant dust, dirt and moisture getting into the trigger I was having trouble with a sticking safety and an inconsistent trigger pull. I finally solved the problem by replacing the original trigger with a Timney, which was also enclosed, but it didn't seem to foul as much as the Sako version. I think the Sako would have been fine for target use or in less severe condition but it didn't work for me. I still have the original Sako trigger but it now resides in a drawer. What I like about the FN Mauser rifles is the quick firing pin fall that is almost amazing. Glad to see a fellow Oklahoman answering the note. We live in a really good State.

 

[uofudavid]

It has a few scratches and surface rust. It might not be safe at all. I am willing to pay for shipping to keep it in a nice safe place. ;-)

 

[johnnydollar]

Sage, thanks for the reply. I'm down in the SW portion of the state, so I don't think I'll have any trouble with the Sako trigger on my .243, but I do appreciate you sharing your perspective. I've just ordered a Timney trigger for my .30-'06, which is built around a VZ-24 action. I 've heard good things about the Timney trigger. And, wow, a Paul Jaeger Mauser--that must be pretty cool!

 

[Mauserguy]

Really, you don't want that rifle. There are better guns out there today. It's all steel and will rust. It's got no polymer. It's not worth anything.

I'll tell you what, I'll give you $200.00 for it tonight. I could use it for parts. That's a fair deal for that old junker, right?
Mauserguy

 

[sage5907]

johnnydollar, the Timney trigger is a really good trigger. When you install the trigger get the pull as close as possible to the way you like it while the action is out of the stock. After you put it back together and go to the range you can adjust the trigger in 1/8 turns on the trigger pull screw. Every time I go to the range I ask myself if it is too hard or too weak and adjust it 1/8 turn. On my FN Supreme action I didn't like the way the Timney safety knob stuck out so I took a pair of duck bill pliars and bent it down so it matched the contour of the stock and it really looks better. Timney also makes a firing pin speed spring for a Mauser that really works good.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

My guess.

A small ring Mauser receiver "High Power" being 30-06. Some of the "High Powers" were Sako receivers but I have yet to see one in 30-06.
What's the serial number for date?
Is there a front sight and tap filling screws for the rear sight in a "Safari" location?
The scope/mount set-up is interesting but the rings look kinda poohy. These can be problematic to scope these days as the fitting of the mount presents on problem and the scopes these did get set-up with back in the day have smaller than currently common ocular diameters.
To keep the scope low, one needs less common dimensioned scopes.

 

[Wood and steel]

I ordered some mounts and rings for the rifle.
I went with the medium Leupold rings and the matching matte 2 pc mounts.
I am considering a Leupold VX II 3-9 x 40mm.
Seems like it is a well regarded US made unit in my price range.

 

[johnnydollar]

Excellent choices all around. I recently put that scope on my .30-'06 barrelled VZ-24, and couldn't be happier.

 

[Wood and steel]

Thanks johnnydollar. Love the feedback.
I don't mind spending money for the right stuff.
But I hate making mistakes with my pocket book.

 

[Slamfire]

Clearly an FN Deluxe.





My 270 Win FN Deluxe likes 150 grain bullets. 130 grain bullets are not sub MOA, but I am still testing!