M63 Tanker Mauser

[The Freeholder]

At the risk of needing my asbestos underwear for mentioning "Mitchell's Mausers"...

On another forum I ran across a link to an "M63 Tanker Mauser" that Mitchell's is selling. This gun is supposed to be a new production Serbian Mauser, and you can get it in 8mm, 30-06, .308, .270 or .243. From what I can see in the pictures, it looks to be a pretty nicely done gun. They're asking $495.

I've been looking for a bolt action .308 as a SHTF backup for my HK. I've not been really inpressed with all of the hunting style rifles I've seen. This one strikes me as a better fit with the intended purpose.

What do you guys think?

 

[DMK]

I don't think the quality of Mitchell's stuff has ever been in question, just the advertising practices and prices.

Now, if you don't mind spending $500 on a Mauser, then that's your choice. I'm sure it's a very nice little .308 carbine.

If it were me, I'd buy a cheap M48 for around $100-$150 and find a gunsmith to cut it down and reattach the front sight. But maybe I'm a cheapskate.

Another option is find a nice FR8. That's a very cool little milsurp .308 Mauser carbine.

 

[Preacherman]

DMK has it. There was never a "Tanker Mauser" produced by the Germans: this is a modern sales-driven derivative. Don't believe Mitchell's blurb about these being produced for a country's armed forces! Unless they were made in the 1940's, that's just not on - and Mitchell claims these are new production. Their price is ridiculously high, too.

I'd buy a surplus M48 or Mosin-Nagant or something like that, and do the conversion myself. I reckon that for under $250 (including the cost of the original weapon and all gunsmithing charges) I could end up with something just as good, if not better. For the Mitchell price, I could add a Scout scope from Leupold or Burris and a host of other bells and whistles too.

 

[mustanger98]

Tell you what I'd rather do... I'd find a FN K98 short action (just the complete receiver- not the complete rifle) like I found a while back which used to be an Israeli rifle and had the Star of David on the ring. Then I'd build up one my way- clip-slotted military Mauser action, aperture sights, my choice of lightweight stock, free-floated barrel in .308/medium-weight/20", cold blued, and Timney 2lb trigger.

 

[rbernie]

You can buy a Ruger 77MkII Mauser design, or a new production Zastava-made Mauser (Charles Daly) for a lot less.

 

[mustanger98]

You can buy a Ruger 77MkII Mauser design, or a new production Zastava-made Mauser (Charles Daly) for a lot less.

That depends on what deal you find. A new M77Mk2 will run +$500 while I know used runs a little less. I like Ruger, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't come standard with some of the features I'd want. I've looked at the Charles Daly Zastava-made Mauser and they're not a bad deal for $225 (around here), but again, they don't come with all the features I'd want. Mostly, around here, I see them sold as package rifles- scoped by the factory/distributor and no sights on the barrel. Also, the Mauser type safety- either original or as interpreted by Ruger and Winchester- has been replaced/substituted with a more Rem700-like safety and it doesn't suit me as well for some reason, maybe because I know more or less how the K98k safety works. This is just me and my thoughts on some tinkering, which I like to do anyway.

 

[rbernie]

'Round here, new Rugers run $469 and used ones about a hundred less than that. You could get a used Ruger and put a Timney on it for less than $400. That would give you a close second to a 'real Mauser', with the biggest exception being the safety (and the cast receiver).

I wonder if you could get a Daly and replace the cocking piece, bolt shroud, and safety with a K98 version.....

 

[mustanger98]

'Round here, new Rugers run $469 and used ones about a hundred less than that. You could get a used Ruger and put a Timney on it for less than $400. That would give you a close second to a 'real Mauser', with the biggest exception being the safety (and the cast receiver).

I wonder if you could get a Daly and replace the cocking piece, bolt shroud, and safety with a K98 version.....

That'd be close on that Ruger. That's a thought about replacing the parts on the Daly... have to check the dimensions between the two versions, but too, the internals would have to be checked. This usually turns into an interesting puzzle.

 

[Gewehr98]

That "tanker" Mauser...

Looks like something Gibbs would've kitbashed and marketed.

 

[losangeles]

I visited Mitchell's Sales website and wow, those are some expensive items they have there. They market it like everything's high-end and charge accordingly.

 

[Cosmoline]

For $500 you can actually get yourself a real Iranian M-49 Mauser carbine that will actually go up in value