I saw that you can get a service grade Mauser for $299, does anyone have one of these and if they even can shoot safely how do they do? Also I checked the ballistics on the 8mm cartridge it fires, and it is pathetic! Can handloads achieve better ballistics and be fired safely through these?
I have not owned one YET, but I plan to. An original Mauser is a very well made rifle. Some have been abused and are unsafe but have the rifle checked out by a competent gunsmith and you will have a very nice shooter. The 8mm mauser cartridge is a fine round and very capable of taking any north american game found in the lower 48. Yes, different loads can increase ballistics.
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Kind of a large caliber for varmints. I can see it for any large game animal in North America.
I have an M48 that is pretty accurate for open sights, 2 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards with mil-surp ammo.
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Last edited by DWARREN123; 01-06-2008 at 10:08 PM.
That's pretty high for a Mauser unless it's in collectable or eceptional condition. I paid $89.95 for my Yugo 24-47 @ Big 5 and it's a great shooter with handloads. Most U.S. commercial ammo is loaded down to around .30-30 ballistics because the early versions had .318 bores where the later guns have .323 bores. The fear was that someone would fire the wrong round in an early gun and get fubar'ed. Handloads put it on a par with the .30-06 for most bullet weights. Mine loves 180 gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips.
Hey feller I would like to suggest that you mozzey over to the Classic Arms web site and take a look see at there Mausers that are for the most part in very good to excellent condition.
Type Classic Arms into a search engine and enjoy all Classic's stuff they sell...A.H
Just out of curiosity what is wrong with the Mitchel Mausers?
There's nothing wrong with the guns, they're just over-hyped and often marketed as being something they're not. For a long time, they were marketed as German K-98's (large-ring, long-action) instead of Yugo M-48's (large-ring, intermediate-action). The only thing that makes MM's really desireable is the like-new cond. that most are in and they've already been cleaned up. I believe that they do offer K-98's now but they didn't when they first started their ad campaign and it made a lot of folks mad when their "K-98" arrived.
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Last edited by toolman; 01-07-2008 at 05:34 PM.
Reason: Automerged Doublepost
I hunted once with my uncle's 8mm Mauser (WW2) which he had sporterized and scoped back in the days when people did not consider them items of future interest. A regular loading for the gun (equivalent to German WW2) is accurate at reasonable distances and it is fairly pleasant to shoot as it is not a heavy recoil/heavy muzzle blast gun. Sometimes hands on experience will outweigh printed information. Also, the 8mm round has a plus in that it is not so likely to shoot through a deer thus imparting all its energy to the game. I wish I had inherited the gun.
For lefty O - I am referring to the standard loading only,
rather than a higher power loading. I never fired my
uncle's rifle with anything other than a standard loading.
I am a little lost on loading it to equal a .30-06 but we all have differing viewpoints.
Last edited by nathangdad; 01-07-2008 at 09:08 PM.
Reason: addition to Lefty O's comment
