Dear Guys,
Having fired bolt actions and gone to gunshows for 45 years now, I am ready to pronounce the commercial sporting mauser dead. By that, I mean not one in 100 bolt action rifles being sold (new or used), has a 98 mauser action, and hunters under 40 years old just don't give a rat's butt about them.
When I was growing up in the 1960s, the mauser action was considered top of the line, whether an FN Supreme, a Browning Safari, a J.C. Higgins by FN, or an Interarms Mark X. The only other rifle that came close was the pre-64 Winchester 70, which was based 98% on the mauser 98. Push feeds were suspect, or what people settled for if they didn't have the money (or knowledge) to buy the best.
Now, nobody cares. Those extra 2 pounds of weight are considered dead weight with no real advantage. The claw extractor seems antiquated to people who cut their teeth on the ultra-reliable Remington 700s, which swamped the market by the late 1960s.
Oh well, things come and go. And maybe that claw extractor is only important to people who fantasized about hunting dangerous game.
There is a classified ad in the Valley Trader today (Shenandoah Valley) for a J.C. Higgins FN Mauser, .30-06, in very good condition for just $400 or best offer. Fifteen years ago, these were going for $550. And I'll bet it won't even sell.
Regards, Mannyrock
