This is yet another Mauser project of mine, one of my first. This rifle is my go-to hunting rifle due to the weight and performance of JSP 7x57mauser ammo.
These rifles have low recoil and great performance on WT-DEER to Axis Deer at ranges up to 200 yards. I would not attempt a shot at a range over that distance but if you have good shot placement and use a 139/140grain JSP most deer will go down on the spot or within a few yards or 100 yards.
These actions were plentiful back in the day. You got them in "white" and you could thread the barrel and pakerize, blue, cerakote it and make a decent budget rifle
SCOPE =75usd
ACTION +bolt = 150usd
STOCk = maybe 10-20usd
Bluing = 180 USD
I can't remember if the scope base and rings came with this action or if I bought engraved rings. I've hunted white deer in three 3 states and have taken 2 axis doe deers using Federak powershot or Nosler accubond like a bullet in 175grain loads which was overkill ( a 140grain 7mm bullet is plenty for a deer ) and many other deers with this setup.
recoil is low
performance is good but limited
past 300 yards the 7x57mauser bullet has a considerable amount of drop and has shed a lot of its energy so it's not a true long-distance hunting round but you could stretch its capabilities to 300-400yards if you have experience.
If you hand load and want a great long-distance bullet, the Hornady 162gr a-max is a good bullet just follow Hornady load data and give it a try. You might need to soften the necks on certain brass to ensure the bullet does not come loose or at least in my experience YMMV. I shot this bullet at 500yards off a bench and it's very accurate not a 30cal accuracy but very close.