Milsurp After Hours

Interested potentially in this Mauser: https://gunhub.com.au/listing/fn-98-mauser/

Was this a particularly common variant? I've never come across a Mauser in 30-06 - unsure if its just not common in this part of the world or whether they were just low production.

Sounds like one of the rifles that originates from France after WWII.
Because the French government were afraid that people could use bolt action rifles and the mass of military ammo that was floating about they banned the ownership of military bolt action rifles. To get round this the French trade re-calibrated many rifles in hunting calibres - perfectly legal!
I have an Enfield No.4 MkI which is in .303 Sporting - the case being 4 mm shorter that the .303 British round.
It's a good shooter but the last 2 rounds don't feed too well because the OAL prevents them from filling the mag properly.

You can find Schmidt-Rubins in .30-284 Win instead of 7.5 x 55 Swiss, Mosin Nagants & MAS 36 also in 30-284 Win
Carcano in 8.57JS.

Rindfleis, welcome to the forums. It's good to see some new blood after the site repair and revival. I'd say what you are seeing is a re-calibered configuration of an original rifle. I think you are seeing a variation of the Yugo VZ24. I'll attach an image of my VZ in original 8mm. A German K98k would have a take down disk in the butt and the top wood would be different.

Here is a link that can tell you more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_Model_24_and_Model_30

Rindfleis,

Just in case the time zone allows, every Sunday a few of us ( 4 from the US, 1 from Scotland and me in France ) have a Skype on line video chat. It starts about 20:30 hrs European time and can last for over 2 hours if we get going!

If you are interested look for me on Skype. Duncan Andrews Studying the local wines..... I live near Blaye, SW France.

Duncan,

We had the same problem with military calibres being banned, I have two Lee Enfield (No!) that were rechambered for the 7.7 x 52mm, which is a shortened .303 Brit.

Had a mate who rechambered his P14 for his own version, which was a normal .303 that had the shoulder moved back 2mm but kept the original case length.
He made a die up that he simply dropped a loaded military round into, pulled the loooong lever and reformed the loaded round; the setup was out in the back yard!!

Never had a mishap and the rifle performed OK but was legal within the law.