Lee Speed

[mehulkamdar]

As far as I know Mehul the Mauser 66 hasn`t been made for years. As for `beauty in the beholders eye` ? Well possibly I suppose.......If the beholder was drunk as a Skunk ! I don`t doubt the the quality of manufacture of the M66 or its accuracy but its beauty ? Can`t see that at all I`m afraid.
I`d heard somewhere that Prechtl was manufacturing those M98s for the new Mauser Werke company.........probably from you thinking about it. CZ 527s and 550s don`t stray too far from the parent M98.....The Brnos were even closer and the Zastavas ( as imported by Remington ) definitely are M98s.
If you really wanted an M66 you could buy the gun with the damaged stock and then have a new stock CNC machined for it......that would be much less expensive than having a bespoke stock built. The barrelled action would have to be really cheap to make it worthwhile though.

Drunk on the Talkisker I must be!

The problem with using a stock duplicator for this rifle would be that the stock on it is a Monte Carlo. I don't want another Commiefornian style stock on the rifle if I buy it. The 66 is a heavy action and the Monte Carlo would certainly make it heavier. I do think that with a classic style stock the rifle would be much better. The fact that this one is a 375 H&H means that a classic style stock would also not pinch my cheeks when I shoot it, something that a Monte Carlo would be certain to do. I know that the owner is not going to be able to sell it in a hurry and I guess I could wait and see how much I could get it for. That said, the asking price at the moment is definitely very reasonable compared to the asking price for 66s in the US.

[Grumpy]

Why should a Monte Carlo stock pinch your cheek ? Don`t understand that at all. The purpose of a cheek piece is to provide gun fit and prevent any pinching or smacking you in the face.
I get on fine with Monte Carlos.....even right handed versions PROVIDING that the cheekpiece isn`t rolled. If the cheek piece is rolled over the comb then it is unusable for me - far to uncomfortable and absolutely lethal with a hard recoiling rifle. That`s a problem with having to shoot off the left shoulder......but with a right handed bolt.
An M66 in .375 H&H is quite a valuable rifle.......although difficult to sell because most people find the M66 so weird and ugly. You wouldn`t want too much stock drop with a .375 H&H........preferably none at all. A straight, high comb - especially with a Monte Carlo type cheek piece - would negate recoil as much as possible. Poor stock fit with a .375 H&H would beat you up very badly and a dropped stock would emphasise the recoil.
So what`s the plan ? Moose and Musk Ox ?

[Vikram]

The Prechtl website.


http://www.golmatic.de/Waffen_EN/jagdwa ... fen_en.htm

They claim that they stick to the original Mauser design and list out the modifications they did to the design.There is a post on AR discussing Prechtl rifles at this moment.

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve ... #234104126

"So what`s the plan ? Moose and Musk Ox ?"

Guess,most likely wild pigs.

Best-
Vikram

[Grumpy]

Wild Pigs ? American Wild Pigs which are usually pretty small ( ignoring the hormone fed super Pigs ) ? With a .375 H&H ? Seems unlikely.
Yes the Prechtls are very nice......and very expensive. Alternatively one could buy a genuine Mauser action - preferably an FN or Argentine - and build a rifle.....or buy one ready made on a genuine action. I still can`t convince myself that I should sell my FN actioned Schultz & Larsen .30-06........I will, when I have a double to replace it..........probably.
It`s easy to say that but every time I pick it up.....................

[mehulkamdar]

I must have a magnetic affinity for Mauser 66s - just found one more mint example, in 30-06 this time. Grumpy, if I buy the 375, it would see duty on Nilgai in Texas. A classmate of mine from my schooldays has a property with these beasts and with blackbuck there. I hope to hunt there soon. Somehow, Mark and I have been too busy to go hunting - that tells you that we really have been busy! We should have been hunting pigs at a property belonging to one of Mark's friends two weeks ago.

As far as heavy bore Monte Carlo pinching cheeks are concerned, I guess my experience is not at all unusual - Craig Boddington writes about this in Safari Rifles as well. Certainly no more unusual than your getting battered by Lee Enfields - my favourite rifles to shoot fast and imagine myself at Mons. My old buddy in Appleton, Wayne found himself a very nice old Lee Enfield with the early volley sights recently to add to his WW-1 and WW-2 rifle collection. Somehow, the one I like best among his Enfields is his No5 Jungle Carbine. Hope to shoot it when I go to Appleton soon.

I did get to handle the Prechtl rifles at the New England Custom Gun stall at last year's NRA Convention at Milwaukee and they are very nice rifles, and cheaper than buying the same thing with a different name from Mauser. Theya ren;t selling very well in the US because of the vastly cheaper and equally good Mauser rifles from Granite Mountain etc.

Somehow as far as CZs are concerned, I think the older Brno 600 series were better rifles despite their bass-ackward safety. The 550s are nice and very reasonably priced - I even like the triggers as they come - but I'll just wait and see if I could get the 66 I talked about cheaper. When a 66 costs as much as a CZ 550 there is something to be happy about.