need help to id this mauser

[bluecowdawg]

hello yall, i really dont post much here but i love this forum cause it is so informative and i can usually do a search and find what i need . however this time i cant so i need some help. i recently bought a mauser off a friend of mine for $80 bucks. it has a sporter type stock on it that looks like someone put on at home,its not bad just not professsional , no big deal really as i have my own plans for this rifle in the future anyway.i am posting some pictures and i will give as much info as i know. it is a 7 mm mauser (7x57), oh it is a good shooter too btw i have shot it ,very smooth action but is going to get a new barrel some day.on the reciever it is marked FAB.NAT D'ARMES de GUERRE HERSTAL-BELGIQUE ,it has a removable floor plate and a solid action ,gun is fairly heavy and all metal is in good shape with some slight pitting on the outside of the barrel, if anyone can help please look at the pictures and tell me what you know. thanx

p.s. looks like i dont know how to post more than one pic at a time so i will add more post's to get them all ,also the barrel is marked m98

 

[bluecowdawg]

another

 

[bluecowdawg]

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[bluecowdawg]

another

 

[bluecowdawg]

last one, sorry admins. but i didnt know how else to get them all on here

 

[critter]

I am NOT a mauser expert and I don't play one on TV, but here goes. It appears to be a typical model 98 mauser (long action: large ring) made by FN of Belgium, probably as a contract gun for a S American country (Venezuela????).

If any of that is even in the ballpark, it is a top-of-the line military mauser 98 suitable for sporterizing to your heart's content. It will be great to rebarrel to a wide variety of calibers-those of the same case head diameter will be the least work. Some even go so far as to make these into short magnums! (LOTS of work!)

With proper gunsmithing, it will make a top notch rifle of whatever type you want-so long as your funds hold out! Good luck-this should be a fun project!