Dad died eight years ago tonight. He would have been 85 this year.
Don't really know what to say, except that I sure didn't think I'd hit 50 without him being around. I miss him, but it doesn't hurt like it used to.
I need to find somewhere to go shoot the Mauser in his honor :) It's the only one of his guns I haven't used since I was a kid. I think he'd get a kick out of that. So would I; as I recall, the recoil from that puppy is a bitch.
UPDATE: Pictures of the sight Dad had put on it, as noted in the comments.
if it's an 8mm it's a good wallop. The lighter it is, the harder the wallop. Nice that most of them have that big chunk of steel on the buttstock, too.
You can get a slip-on recoil pad, but it will mess with the length of pull. And as you're a good sized guy, the recoil will smack you but good. (Small guys tend to get pushed away. big guys tend to stay there and take it)
Well, it's 8mm, but it's not an issue Mod. 98 by any means.
The original stock was crap when Dad found it, and when he got home from France after the war he got a new stock made for it. This stock has about a 3/8" Pachmayr rubber bumper on the butt :)
It's also got a cute sight on it; I updated the post with a picture.
The Pachmeyer will help a lot. The Lyman 48 peep sight is very nice, and in beautiful condition. If you don't have the original aperture for it, you can buy them here:
http://aperturesnmore.com/product.sc?productId=2&categoryId=10
They have the ones with the adjustable aperture here:
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=129638
Very nice, indeed. Good rifle to reload for, too. I'd look around reloading forums, there might be some people who could find you some sabots. A sabot is a plastic insert that allows you to shoot a smaller caliber projectile- say, a 223, or 257 roberts, in a 30-06 or 8mm rifle. The sabot simply acts as a sleeve to adapt the smaller projectile to the larger cartridge. Why would someone do this, you ask? Well, it makes a larger rifle more diverse, for one thing. For another thing, it allows you to shoot less expensive projectiles for practice. And finally, no rifling (ballistic thumbprint) is left on the bullet. Just in case you wanted to not have someone know it was shot out of your rifle. Frinstance.
Oh, and lest I forget; my condolences for your loss. It doesn't get much easier, but it hurts less, eventually.
Thanks, Og. I don't think I ever realized that the peep hole on that thing had threads :) Now that I know what to look for (and to look for it in the first place) I might be able to find an aperture or two in Dad's stuff. Surely he had them.
Oh, now that's one drop-dead-sexy Mauser sporter.
Yeah, I forgot, I've never had this one out where anyone could see it...