A
AnalogFreak
Guest
Hello everybody, this is my first post here, so I apologize if this is not in the correct forum.
Anyway, I was at a gun show recently, and came across a very interesting pair of rifles. One of them was a more-or-less standard Mauser 98 sporterized job. It had an older redfield scope mounted.
The other was a vintage-looking bench rest rifle. It too was based off of a Mauser 98 action (You could easily read the Gew. 98 on the side of the receivers of both guns). The stock was a walnut rollover job with a very wide (3 1/2"?) forearm. The barrel was a 1.25" rolling pin (Straight sided with no steps). The barrel and receiver had scope mounts. I don't know what they are called (I want to say Davidson, but I'm probably wrong), but they are shaped like trapezoids, wider at the top than at the bottom. There is no scope. Both firearms looked to be in excellent condition.
The odd thing is that both had stamped or engraved markings on the barrel stating that they were .234" caliber. It took a lot of digging to find some information, but I believe that they are chambered for .234 Rock Chucker (Or .234 RCBS). I've never heard of the cartridge before, but it seems like one heck of a rare wildcat. As near as I can tell it is based on a .300 Savage. The seller had a couple of boxes of ammunition that went with the guns. There did not appear to be any other markings on them anywhere, although I could not pull the actions from the stocks.
The asking prices were 400 for the benchrest and 300 for the sporter.
That is about the extent of my knowledge, so here is where somebody can hopefully fill me in:
-Has anyone ever even heard of this cartridge?
-If so, I would be interested to know the dimensions of the cartridge.
-I imagine this cartridge would be fairly close to .243 in terms of performance, but I really don't know.
-Would it be possible to somehow load and shoot these cartridges today?
-Any clues as to who made these or when?
-Assuming that this caliber is completely obsolete, do you think either of the guns would be worth re-barreling to say, 220 swift?
-Finally, what are your views on the pricing? Ripoff, bargain, or fair money?
I'm sorry for the absolute deluge of questions, but this would be my first real target rifle (I own a Savage Model 19, but that is iffy much beyond 75 yards or so) and I don't want to blow my money on an idiotic purchase. I'd ideally like to use the benchrest for 100 and 200 yard targets, and the sporter for plinking / small game.
Thank you in advance.
Anyway, I was at a gun show recently, and came across a very interesting pair of rifles. One of them was a more-or-less standard Mauser 98 sporterized job. It had an older redfield scope mounted.
The other was a vintage-looking bench rest rifle. It too was based off of a Mauser 98 action (You could easily read the Gew. 98 on the side of the receivers of both guns). The stock was a walnut rollover job with a very wide (3 1/2"?) forearm. The barrel was a 1.25" rolling pin (Straight sided with no steps). The barrel and receiver had scope mounts. I don't know what they are called (I want to say Davidson, but I'm probably wrong), but they are shaped like trapezoids, wider at the top than at the bottom. There is no scope. Both firearms looked to be in excellent condition.
The odd thing is that both had stamped or engraved markings on the barrel stating that they were .234" caliber. It took a lot of digging to find some information, but I believe that they are chambered for .234 Rock Chucker (Or .234 RCBS). I've never heard of the cartridge before, but it seems like one heck of a rare wildcat. As near as I can tell it is based on a .300 Savage. The seller had a couple of boxes of ammunition that went with the guns. There did not appear to be any other markings on them anywhere, although I could not pull the actions from the stocks.
The asking prices were 400 for the benchrest and 300 for the sporter.
That is about the extent of my knowledge, so here is where somebody can hopefully fill me in:
-Has anyone ever even heard of this cartridge?
-If so, I would be interested to know the dimensions of the cartridge.
-I imagine this cartridge would be fairly close to .243 in terms of performance, but I really don't know.
-Would it be possible to somehow load and shoot these cartridges today?
-Any clues as to who made these or when?
-Assuming that this caliber is completely obsolete, do you think either of the guns would be worth re-barreling to say, 220 swift?
-Finally, what are your views on the pricing? Ripoff, bargain, or fair money?
I'm sorry for the absolute deluge of questions, but this would be my first real target rifle (I own a Savage Model 19, but that is iffy much beyond 75 yards or so) and I don't want to blow my money on an idiotic purchase. I'd ideally like to use the benchrest for 100 and 200 yard targets, and the sporter for plinking / small game.
Thank you in advance.
l is now legal). The .234 would have been a MINIMUM legal cal (although not factory loaded) for big game in our state anyway until the rule change last year. It also could have been made to UPSTAGE the 22 Savage (5.6x52R) Hi-power which was a .228 cal. Cases would need to be formed (not too tough) but the bullets would be the HARDEST to come by (not sure who/anyone makes the 23cal bullets anymore).