Remington, very much an American gun company, has taken some flack for importing and marketing some offshore-manufactured firearms in recent years. Honestly, I don't get it, but I guess you can't please all the people all the time. We live in a market economy, thank God, so we vote on such matters with our wallets: If we don't buy 'em, they won't be imported for long. Unlike some firms, Remington has made no secrets about the origin of its firearms, and like everybody else in the business the company's primary goal must be to stay in business and remain profitable. I'm not crazy about some of Remington's imported products, but I sure like the M798. After all, although there are some domestic knockoffs and clones, a true Mauser action is hardly an American product. The origin of the M798 is European, as it should be, and it's a true and traditional Mauser action.

This old blue wildebeest bull was the first animal the author took with the Remington M798 in .375 H&H. The shot was on the long side for a .375 with a low-powered scope, but the author held a bit high and the bullet went exactly where he intended.

The specific rifle I used, a prototype, was the first left-hand Mark X, a version that, despite my fondest hopes, may or may not be marketed. For the right-handed majority, the rifles are essentially the mirror image: dual recoil lugs, two-position sliding safety, true Mauser controlled-round feed with long Mauser extractor and mechanical ejector, and steel floorplate and triggerguard with floorplate release in the trigger bow. The receiver is drilled and tapped for standard Mauser 98 bases.

These two M798 .375s, one left-hand and one right-hand, were both topped with Leupold VX-7 1.5-6X variables. They were passed from hand to hand throughout 12 hunting days. (Well, OK, once somebody got his hands on one, it was tough to pry it away.) They were shot a lot and took a lot of game. There was no shifting of zero and no problems. Groups fired to check zero were very tight, so it appeared to me that these rifles had good barrels to go with their classic actions. Metalwork was blue, and the stocks were decent walnut with cut checkering and a rosewood fore-end tip and pistol-grip cap, with a good, thick recoil pad on the butt.

The stock configuration isn't final on this version, so I'll make a couple of comments: These rifles were stocked with a squarish fore-end with cut-back tip and a mild Monte Carlo comb. I would prefer a rounded fore-end and rounded tip, and a straight comb, but to each his own. The other comment: The triggers were heavy and could use some work. The Remington M798 is available in a variety of chamberings from .243 Winchester to .375 H&H in multiple stock configurations--an affordable working rifle and, as far as I'm concerned, a most welcome return of the Mauser Mark X action to the American market.

By the time I got my hands on that .375 it was a scarred veteran. For once I didn't put the scars on it, but it had stood up to tough use like one might expect from the kind of rifle it is--a rugged, no-nonsense working rifle. During the hunt, we used Remington factory ammo loaded with 300-grain Swift A-Frames, and bullet performance was wonderful.

The first animal I took with the M798 was a big-bodied blue wildebeest. We made a long stalk, but the shot was still on the long side for a .375 with a low-powered scope. I held high on the shoulder and a bit back for the quartering-away shot; the bullet hit exactly where I intended, and the animal made a quick run and went down.

It was past sunset that evening when we saw the eland. It is always chancy to take an animal with dark approaching, and the larger the animal, the riskier it is. I knew where the rifle was shooting, and I knew what the Swift A-Frame would do--and in the open ground with a Mauser action I knew I could back up my own shots and get him down in that open ground, where I wanted him. So I didn't hesitate, except to wait for the right shot, and that's exactly what happened. The eland was "Mausered."