sestoppelman
AH ambassador
I have bought a couple of these of late, one an 8x57 and the other more recently in 7x64 Brenneke. Both are looking to be real good shooters. Both were also in need of a little work, which I enjoy doing and at the going rate of around $400 or so bucks, I consider them a good value for a rough and ready rifle.
The 8mm had sheered off the top of the recoil pad shelf and was split in the trigger well area, which is very common on Mausers and an easy fix. The recoil pad area was a bit more work. I at first tried just gluing it back together but that failed on the first shoot. So I went back and drilled a couple of holes right down thru that area and doweled it. I have done this before with other rifles. Trigger well was repaired by drilling it from side to side and gluing a brass rod thru it similar to how Remington used to do, albeit not as pretty! I also chiseled out some wood and glued it up with JB Weld.
The 7x64 had no damage in particular but the wood was very dry, so I just bedded the recoil lug area also with JB Weld, I was out of AcraGlas, but JB works fine. This rifle came with the double set trigger setup, not a fav of mine but it works and I will get used to it. At some point all of the wood in the trigger well had been removed so that creates a weak point. To alleviate this, I drilled it from side to side and then glued a 3/8ths inch dowel thru it to keep this area from opening up.
With these repairs and tinkering both rifles are showing MOA groups even with less than ideal optics in place. I now have a nice Zeiss on the 7x64 and while the 8mm is wearing an old Redfield , I have other plans for it as well.
I think these rifles are a good value if one doesn't mind doing a bit of work on them and can do it yourself and can get past the rough looking stocks and live with a little freckling. I can.
Here is a few pics to show some of the work done. Light colored stock is the 7x64, as is the grey bedding job.
The 8mm had sheered off the top of the recoil pad shelf and was split in the trigger well area, which is very common on Mausers and an easy fix. The recoil pad area was a bit more work. I at first tried just gluing it back together but that failed on the first shoot. So I went back and drilled a couple of holes right down thru that area and doweled it. I have done this before with other rifles. Trigger well was repaired by drilling it from side to side and gluing a brass rod thru it similar to how Remington used to do, albeit not as pretty! I also chiseled out some wood and glued it up with JB Weld.
The 7x64 had no damage in particular but the wood was very dry, so I just bedded the recoil lug area also with JB Weld, I was out of AcraGlas, but JB works fine. This rifle came with the double set trigger setup, not a fav of mine but it works and I will get used to it. At some point all of the wood in the trigger well had been removed so that creates a weak point. To alleviate this, I drilled it from side to side and then glued a 3/8ths inch dowel thru it to keep this area from opening up.
With these repairs and tinkering both rifles are showing MOA groups even with less than ideal optics in place. I now have a nice Zeiss on the 7x64 and while the 8mm is wearing an old Redfield , I have other plans for it as well.
I think these rifles are a good value if one doesn't mind doing a bit of work on them and can do it yourself and can get past the rough looking stocks and live with a little freckling. I can.
Here is a few pics to show some of the work done. Light colored stock is the 7x64, as is the grey bedding job.
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