"Oberndorf" Mauser Restoration Project

**gwj DICKDEKOCK** · 30-03-2016, 19:47

I was lucky enough to be given this rifle by my uncle. Supposedly, my great grandfather shot many impala with it back in the day.

It seems like the real thing and shoots great groupings, even though it needs some work. Front sight is loose, stock doesn't seem like quality wood (sure as hell isn't pretty) and has taken a few hits, plastic butt-attachment is broken and the entire barrel seems like it has been painted by hand with a thin coat of black paint.

Basically I'm looking to have the following done:

1. Find a nice looking stock or wood to have one made from-will have to settle on design, weight and ability to handle
recoil shouldn't be an issue on a .22.

2. Have barrel etc. cleaned and blued or cerakoted-must have a "classic"/original look.

3. Fix/replace front sight.

4. Replace broken butt-attachment-this will likely be tricky to find.

5. Fix a scope-I'll use one of the scopes I have lying around.

Any suggestions / referrals will be appreciated.

**Ds J** · 30-03-2016, 22:46

Do you wish to replace the stock with something modern or rather keep it as original as possible? My reason for asking is that you should be able to find a hightec stock from Hogue, Boyds or similar. That could give the old rifle a pretty and modern look. If you want to stay original a classic high grain walnut stock is the way to go. 98% finished stocks are available in walnut.

From your email it seems that you consider going the classic route.

**Wesley** · 31-03-2016, 05:48

Sweeeeeetness! You are the luckiest dude alive!

I would pay lots of money to get my hands on my oupa's old Obendorf Mauser.

You can go and see Chad @ Arms for a project like this.

Congrats!

**gwj DICKDEKOCK** · 31-03-2016, 10:42

Originally Posted by Ds J

Do you wish to replace the stock with something modern or rather keep it as original as possible? My reason for asking is that you should be able to find a hightec stock from Hogue, Boyds or similar. That could give the old rifle a pretty and modern look. If you want to stay original a classic high grain walnut stock is the way to go. 98% finished stocks are available in walnut.

From your email it seems that you consider going the classic route.

Classic, yes. Wooden stock with no fancy or unusual shape, just a nice wood. Can you recommend places to go look at the stocks? I recall seeing blanks at Safari & Outdoor at some stage.

**gwj DICKDEKOCK** · 31-03-2016, 10:43

Originally Posted by Wesley

Sweeeeeetness! You are the luckiest dude alive!

I would pay lots of money to get my hands on my oupa's old Obendorf Mauser.

You can go and see Chad @ Arms for a project like this.

Congrats!

I have heard good things about his work from a few other as well. Thanks.

**veebad** · 14-04-2016, 12:12

This looks the same as the Mauser 410b I inherited from my grandfather. It is a beautiful little rifle. I recently replaced the very old weaver 2.5 scope I had on it with a Hawke Vantage 3-9x 40 scope. At 25m it makes you feel like you are cheating. The only issue I sometimes have is failure to extract. It is a wonderful rifle. Enjoy it

Sent from my SM-N910C using Tapatalk

**BBCT** · 14-04-2016, 23:36

I'm pretty sure that's a Model 410B, as veebad says. The barrel looks a bit shorter than I'd expect but that might just be a trick of the eyes due to the stock looking different to what I expect.

The stock is not as per original, although it probably started life as a factory stock and has been modified. The original had a schnabel on the front of the forearm and the pistol grip was chequered.

Look at the bottom rifle in the pic in post no 19 on the following page to see what the original stock looked like: http://www.gunsite.co.za/forums/show...ics-here/page2

I'll stick my neck out and say that you will not find a modern stock off-the-shelf with inletting for that rifle anywhere. I tried very hard a few years ago and there was nothing. Mauser .22's are almost unheard of in the USA hence nobody makes off-the-shelf stocks for them. Without having hard figures to prove it, I have formed the opinion that there are more Mauser .22's in South Africa than there are in the rest of the world put together so your best bet would be to look around close to home.

If you want an original stock try places like Classic Arms who have had plenty of these rifles through their hands (as an aside, the stocks had the last 3 or 4 digits of the rifle's serial number stamped inside the barrel channel, so each stock is "married" to a specific rifle). If you're going with a more modern style stock you'll have to get one custom inletted for the rifle. A custom stockmaker or a gunsmith with a stock copying machine should be able to copy the inletting from the stock you have into a blank of your choice. Can't guess the price though (when I was looking, people were talking numbers like R5000, but with a bit of asking around I'm sure you can do better than that)

Good luck. They are superbly built & engineered rifles and can be staggeringly accurate. They were mostly manufactured between 1934 and about 1940 and a trickle of them until end of WWII, so all are 75 years or older. Amazing what could be achieved without modern machinery but with plenty of attention to detail, pride in the work & doing things properly.