Josh with your skill you would have no problem converting the military style floorplate to a hinged floorplate. I beleive that you can get the Montana Rifle Company in 7x57.
Tradex has two styles of hinged floorplates for K98s. One is plain and one is engraved. Both are very nice and fit well.
OP. If you post an ad on the EE very often there are already D&Ted 1908 Brazilan Mausers or other South American surplus Mausers that Bubba got to at reasonable prices. I will just use the Brazilians' as a very good example. Most but not all of the 1908s and 1935s I've seen have excellent bores. Some of them were converted to sporters from as new out of the wrap rifles. I have a couple like that. I also have a few M1935 Brazilians which are just later versions of the M1908 rifles. The M1935s are a bit rough in the bolt ways but that is easily taken care of with a fine stone or 1000 grit lapping paper.
Now here is something not often found on on surplus rifles. The chambers and bores are as close to identical as I have ever seen. If those chambers and bores are in excellent condition and everything is bedded properly these rifles will shoot sub MOA groups regularly with bullet weighing from 100 grains to 140 grains and they aren't fussy about makers or shapes.
The Brazilians were very specific about quality and performance when they ordered the rifles and they sent observers to the factory as well as did a lot of their own testing on select batches while in production. The twist rates were slower than the M93-95 rifles at 1-9. The Brazilians loaded their ammo, which used a 139gn fmj steel jacket boat tail to 2950 feet per second from a 29in bbl. I have pulled a few dozen of their surplus rounds from different batches and they were all loaded with a ball powder that had a burn rate very similar to H414 (W760). It's a very easy load to duplicate and if you are a bit aggressive increase velocities by using IMR7828sc. I have four made up Brazilian Mausers. Their serial numbers are far apart and they compromise to different models. 1908/1935. The chambers are so close that I have only had to develop one load for all four and use the same die settings on the press. Even with docked to 24 in bbls they easily achieve the 3000fps mark with any type of 140 grain bullets and shoot them better than I can hold. I do have a preference for the 1908s because they are finished better internally on the bolt ways and the receivers are finished in the white. IMHO, you can't do much better with any commercial sporter. Mind you the Sako I used to have was every bit as accurate and stainless. Darn hard to find as well.





















































