Weatherby Southgate Mauser Help Please

[eywflyer]

Hi Folks, I just purchased a 1956 300WBY SouthGate Mauser and have a few questions for some of you who may be so kind as to offer suggestions.

1) The stock is in pretty nice condition with no checkering damage or other dings. However, the finish has seen better days and I am going to strip and hand rub a finish back on. Does anyone know if the white spacers that were used between the ebony tip and grip caps were wood (maple or birch?) or God forbid... 1950’s plastic? The stripper would most likely destroy plastic if that is the case. If they are plastic, I will probably tape them off during stripping and gently sand the finish off afterwards.

2) Next, the trigger has quite a bit of creep but breaks at about 3.5 lbs. I don’t know if this is really creep or a two-stage trigger. I realized many mods may have been done to the rifle, but were two stage triggers installed on these rifles originally?

3) Finally, I think it is odd that the barrel has a front sight but no sign of a place to mount the rear sight. No tapped holes anywhere between the receiver and the front sights. I have seen this setup on some rifles when I searched “Southgate Mauser” images on the web, but can’t tell why only a front sight would be installed.

Thank you in advance for any help you all may provide!

 

[sage5907]

I owned a similar rifle in 270 Weatherby Magnum for many years and gave it to a good friend several years ago. I went through the process of refinishing the stock with an oil finish and it turned out well. The spacers were plastic and I carefully sanded the stock to remove the old finish. If you do this make sure you don't sand the checkering so it retains the sharpness. The rifle came out with a excellent single stage Timney trigger that is easily adjustable. The trigger was like the Timney triggers they are selling today. I always liked the trigger on the rifle I owned. It was popular at that time for open sights to use an aperture site mounted either in the side holes on the rear of the receiver or on the rear holes on the top of the receiver. I think it was Buehler who made a scope mount base with a flip up rear aperture sight. The safety required a little getting used to. I learned to just lift the lever half way to the scope so it could be pushed down easily. Ask more questions if you need more information.

 

[eywflyer]

Thanks for the info sage. I'm looking fwd to the project. I've completed a couple shotgun refinish projects with a hand rubbed finish and am excited to get started on the Southgate. I'm glad yours looked good in oil too.

 

[sage5907]

eywflyer, if your recoil pad is hard you need to install a Pachmayr decelerator pad so you can work the sides down at the same time you sand the stock. Also, if the swivel bases are loose it would be a good time to fix the problem. On the rifle I had I drilled out the sling swivel holes to 3/8 inch and glued in short pieces of 3/8 inch walnut dowel with two part epoxy and then re-installed the studs. The job lasted for another 20 years. If I had the same problem today I would install flush mount cups with 1 inch push putton swivels of the type available at McMillan. Those flush mount cups are great because they can flex and twist without damaging the stock.

 

[eywflyer]

I will put a better recoil pad on the rifle. But because I am 6'6" with 38" arms, I slide a slip on pad onto anything I shoot for LOP anyway. I have some of those recessed european mounts that you are speaking of. That would be a good upgrade. I am not really worried about resale value. I will refinish it....probably keep it for MY duration and let the kids deal with the value after I am gone. Thanks for the ideas sage! I will try to post before and afters when I finish. Rob

 

[Coyote3855]

I believe I read in one of Jack O'Conner's books that some rifles came with a front sight and no rear because it was assumed a scope would be mounted. However, some users thought the barrel looked "naked" w/o a front sight. May be an urban legend.