doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com NOT a Tikka Forest NOT a FN Mauser HEYM! Probably

Apparently these rifles are rare, as other than a few pictures and one or two old sales, I couldn't find much information on the internet.

Does anyone have any history of these rifles?
Someone added additional bases to the top of the factory mounts. Probably couldn't find a set of the correct rings.
I'd be curious what are the correct rings?

Left side rail is stamped: "FOREST".

Obligatory pictures. (Not the best quality. Auction pics from the sale.)

If the pics don't show up, you can see them here: https://www.gunboards.com/threads/t...rs-built-on-an-fn-mauser-action.1213819/
I don't use a photo hosting sight any longer with so many sights hosting their own.

[img]https://www.gunboards.com/attachments/gun_0387-jpg.3941667/[/img]
[img]https://www.gunboards.com/attachments/gun_0380-jpg.3941668/[/img]

Can someone explain this claim? what does "rare" mean? just because of the name?

Please help us understand what the significance of this rifle is?

Very limited production. Apparently.
This is the third forum I have posted this question to.
So far........nothing.

If you have some information about the history of this(these) rifle(s), please share.

Not a Tikka....
It does have a very similar mark (to FN) on the bolt handle but once I cleaned the years of dried oil off the metal, it is not an FN mark.

The "Forest" name led first the auction house and then myself astray. Wasted many searches including the word "Tikka" which turned up the few examples I mentioned. Probably people who made the same mistake.

It is a "hardware store gun" made for Waffen Frankonia of Wurzburg, Germany. (Similar to JC Higgins Model 50)
Rifle was roofed in Munich in April of 1966
Can't prove this, but based on the font/style of the serial number I suspect the action and barrel were made by Heym.

Spent a few minutes here and there over the last few days looking up pages and using Google translate and found similar examples.

Mike,
If it helps, Heym made the Model 2,000 , 3,000 , and 4,000 Mauser rifles during the same time period. If you can find photos of these rifles to compare to yours, it may help. Also, if you post photos of your rifle someone may recognize it. BTY, because of factories in the area, including Heym in Muennrstadt, the Munich proof house had a sub-facility at Mellrichstadt. Your rifle was likely proofed there, they used the Munich house mark. The Heym made Mauser actions of that period had a tubular receiver with the recoil lug welded on. This was different than the Mauser 98 so would serve as an identifier for you. Waffen Frankonia had an "in house" shop that built sporting rifles from surplus mod. 98s, if your rifle doesn't have the Heym type receiver it might be one of these.
Mike

Mike,

I have had a couple of 2000 & 3000 series rifles that were "Mauser" marked but made by Heym.

This rifle is a commercial 98 Mauser action. I have a commercial Heym 98 barreled action, so I was able to compare the "font" of the s/n's in hand.

Mike,
Did the commercial Heym action have the thumb slot? What does the boltstop look like, is it a military type or the FN type? I was in their office in 1971 and there were examples of rifles they made before that, but I didn't have a chance to examine them. They were making the 2000 series, etc, then but I don't know when they started. On my second tour, the Heym family (Frau Heym) had won a court case and recovered full ownership of the company, so they didn't make them anymore.
Mikew

Mike,

The Heym(barrelec action) action does not have a thumb slot.
Has the late FN/Browning style bolt stop. Sadly, those parts are missing. I have acquired FN parts, but the designs are not identical and either action or bolt stop will need modification to be fitted to the Heym.

I would modify the bolt stop then, it would likely be easier to work on. Can you tell if the action is cast steel? Tip up actions of that period are.
Mike

i believe this is an intermediate large ring Mauser manufactured by Zastava in Yugoslavia using their tooling either purchased or licensed from FN to manufacture the model 24 and 48 action. Some were barreled and stocked and marked Heym on the barrel. Some were sold as Western Field model 720, Herters sold some and some were sold by Franconia. Actions only were sold as the VZ500 by Zastava as I recall. Most I am aware of had lever release floorplates. Some have Browning ejector housing and some have the Mauser ejector box. i believe none had thumb slots. They were machined and not cast.

You can convert them to use a standard mauser bolt stop.
You thread a piece of keystock 1/4-28 then drill & tap the action so it will mount in the same spot as it would be on a standard mauser action. Slot it & drill it for the bolt stop screw to pass through.

Both actions being discussed in this thread are STANDARD length.

The Frankonia rifle/action that opened the thread has no "Yugoslavia" marks, but it DOES have similar stamps on the sides of lug and in front of lug on ring.
Metal is essentially identical to this Western Field M-720( without the shotgun style guard) https://auctions.morphyauctions.com/_M__WESTERN_FIELD_MODEL_720_B_BOLT_ACTION_RIFLE_-LOT509984.aspx
Now that I have the rifle in hand and metal out of the stock, I agree. The Frankonia is very likely built on a Zastava action.

EDIT: Should note that the double set trigger assembly is of a different design than the factory Zastava so possibly installed by Frankonia.
...............


The other action (Heym) discussed in this thread is clearly stamped "Made in Germany" and "FWHeym".
That said, it also has stamps/marking on the front lug that is very similar to the marks on other Zastava actions.
It also wears a Herter XK-3 barrel.
Thus, I suspect that it is also a Zastava action.

Many Zastava actions made pit stops in western Europe before coming to the USA, as with Interarms and the "Manchester" markings.
This was done, I have read to avoid import sanctions imposed on Yugoslavia.

...........

Lesson learned.
Don't accept the information from an auction tag at face value.
Be patient and wait until rifle is in hand so you can disassemble and have all information that is available.

I tend to prefer FN Mausers when it comes to "collecting", but I find that I now have commercial Zastava 98s with at least six other manufacturer/importers names on them.

Could do that, but that would leave the spring mounting hole forward of the bolt stop. That would bother me and I would weld it closed. If I had the welder fired up, I may as well use it to attach the new bolt stop mount.

Are you sure the action is a standard m98 length? Is the distance between receiver screws 7.835" or 7..62"? The intermediate actions were used for 30-06 length cartridges by milling the front of the action and extending the magazines. I am unaware of any regular length actions.
BTW, I remember also seeing a Hubertus rifle built on the same action. IIRC it may have been sold by Franconia. i had one of the Herter's XK3 rifles built on this action in 6mm Rem.

for Utah Shotgunner

Yes, both actions discussed in this thread are standard length.

I didn't actually measure the distance between the screws.
First I compared it to a stripped commercial Zastava (intermediate length) action I keep next to my desk.
Then compared it a stripped commercial Zastava (standard length) action I keep next to my desk.

Then ran an Argentine 1909 bolt(that I keep next to my desk) into it/them to confirm which bolt actually fits, since there are oddball Mausers with standard length actions and intermediate bolts.

I will not admit exactly how many Mauser rifles, actions and parts reside within 10' of my desk.

skeettx,

Thank you!

interesting. Learn something new every day. i've never seen one of these rifles that wasn''t an intermediate length like the FN 24 action.

That is the exact opposite of my experience.
All the Zastava commercial actions I have had (Interarms, Herters, KBI, etc.) were standard length until the middle of last year.
I picked up 14-15 of the M-70s imported by ATI in South Carolina.

Expected them all to be standard length. It wasn't until I was sorting parts (disassembled them) that I noticed that several were intermediate length.

I was referring only to those associated with Heym. Other than that, I've only seen regular length Zastava actions, primarily the Mark X and some from Herter's.

Gotcha!
My hands on experience with 98 Mauser rifles by Heym is limited to the one discussed in this thread.
They must not have made very many, as a lot of Mausers go through my hands.
Just picked up a nice Reeb built on an Oberndorf action.