Well that worked out.

[PJGunner]

I might be off base here but the rifle looks like it was one of the Kodiak conversions. I've only seen three and owned two Mine were in .243 Win. and .358 Win. I gave a kid the .243 for his first deer rifle when I lived in Nevada. Mine had maple stocks but the other one I saw which was chambered to the .300 Norma magnum had a walnut stock. The safety is I believe the FN type which I have on all my Mausers except one which has a two position in the M70 configuration. My .243 and the .33 I saw had kodiak and the caliber stamped on the barrel but the .358 only had the caliber. My .243 was very accurate and a time I regret giving it away. I shot the .300 and it too was accurate. Never could figure out why the .358 couldn't give decent groups. I sold it off as an action and stock but kind of wish I'd hung on to it too and the action was an intermediate and would have been a better candidate for the custom 7x57 I had made.
Kodiak was an outfit that took milsurp Mausers, rebarreled and restocked and sold them as budget type sporters from what I could find out. I'm basing my speculation on the stock and the use of Williams sights, the stock looking exactly like the three Kodiaks I know of. Just my best guess.
Paul B.

 

[ShadeTree]

Hey thanks Paul! You might be guessing but your info is as good as any seeing as how you had 3 with that stock configuration on them.

I took the scope bases off and didn't see anything but machinist stamps.....a Y, a V, a little circle, etc.

Funny you mentioned a 7x57. I was thinking today about using this one for a custom build, selling the 06 barrel and building a 7x57.

Will cost some jingle to do everything like I want, and not ready to tear into it just yet, but a custom in that old caliber is on my bucket list and a guy gotta have some goals.

 

[BretN]

Well done. That's a good trade. If you like that safety and it clears your scope ok, you can get a Timney without safety for $50-60 online. That's what I did with my sporterized Mauser. It too had no markings on the receiver, but when heated up to cast the chamber I could faintly see the markings that we're ground down, BNZ45

 

[ShadeTree]

Just an update to an old post. I carried this rifle out of the stock to a local flea market several weeks back where there is often an older gent there that knows military rifle's of about any genre, inside and out. What he can't inform you about a military rifle isn't worth knowing. He took 1 look at 1 set of proof marks mixed in with other marks underneath the receiver and told me it was made in Belgium.

That didn't disappoint me. It's a slick actioned Mauser and Belgium made some good ones.