Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Nosler m48 Outfitter rifle

So i purchased a Nosler m48 Outfitter rifle in 9.3x62....unseen.

Kevlar stock, Pachmayr pad, trued Nosler custom (supposedly) action, stainless Pac-Nor barrel, iron sights (fiber optic front), cerakoted barrel, 3 lb trigger.

Here's the breakdown of it so far...

First thing i noticed was that the stock was weird. I have large hands and if i grab the stock grip tightly in my natural way, then my trigger finger is way too far past the trigger...like i'd have to pull the trigger with the second finger joint- the MIDDLE of the finger.
It's pretty annoying to say the least. You can compensate by either contorting your finger by pulling it out some so it contacts the trigger correctly, but it feels so unnatural that way, or by holding your palm proud off the grip some (which isn't so nice on a harder kicking rifle), so basically for me the ergonomic fit of the stock sucks...bad.

Second off, the forward sling stud is on the forearm- like most light kicking rifles. I would think a heavier kicking rifle would have a barrel band swivel, or atleast one that's on the forward edge of the forearm. If it ends up jamming into my support hand i'll move it to the end of the forearm...so whatever.

Now let's get down to how it shoots...oh wait, i can't, because when i loaded some PPU RN ammo into it and worked the bolt to see how it cycled, every third or so round would fail to feed into the chamber thus jamming the rifle.

The larger surface area of the RN bullets would catch the leading edge of the chamber and fail to feed and to extract....so i never even fired the dang thing. It appears that spire points would feed fine, but c'mon...a 9.3 needs to feed RN ammo.

I called Nosler and they had me send it back to them. They had to modify the feed ramp and rails so that the RN ammo feeds more directly to the center rather than angled into the chamber.

Nosler has been really cool thus far about the rifle though. Seem to have some really good customer service.

I'll get back to this thread after i actually shoot it.

Adios.

Dang!!!!!

I was considering one in 9.3x62 too

Welp, i recommend shouldering one first. Seriously, i would have passed on it had i shouldered it and felt how awkward it was.

I have a CZ 550 in 6.5x55 that fits like a glove. I kept trying to convince myself the stock on the m48 wasn't THAT funky...until i'd pick up my CZ 550.

If it shoots well (which i'm sure it will) then i'll learn to overlook it...i hope.

So you purchased it's unseen so you didn't know where the sling swivels are and that's a problem? I've never seen a gun from most big name rifle makers that have a barrel band sling mount except Sako. Why did you think the Nosler would have that? Also, if Nosler is being cool why not wait to get the gun and see if it shoots great before airing it all out here? Also it's not like the can make a stock that will fit great for everyone. That's why I always want to check out a rifle in person before buying it.

I'm not blind so i obviously knew about the swivel studs...just threw that out there.

I basically threw it ALL out there in case someone that was interested in buying one unseen- or should i say un-shouldered- could read a personal review...

Obviously how it shoots (and how i shoot it) is paramount, but there's nothing wrong with a critical review imo...I appreciate them myself.

BTW, Ruger and Mauser have barrel bands on some models..as do some more i'm sure i'm forgetting right now.

And also, failing to feed would be a nice tidbit of info i would like to know before a purchase....but maybe that's just me.

Thanks for the info. I have been considering one. I will just have to hold out until I find a CZ in 9.3x62.

Don't get me wrong fellas, it seems to be a really fine rifle- (barring the FTF hiccup)...and if it shoots well then it's a keeper...especially seeing as to how it's basically impervious to all weather conditions (the main reason i bought it).

I'll update this once Nosler sends it back and i put some rounds through it.

Draeb, what you're experiencing with the stock is called a "closed grip." I have a TGR and from what I understand the stocks on the two rifles are very similar. Mine has both a closed grip and a pronounced palm swell, combined with the normal B & C stock dimensions it took some getting used to. From speaking with a few people, the closed grip is similar to what you might find on a ULA/NULA/Forbes stock (though the stock is reportedly much slimmer/trimmer on the ULA/NULA/Forbes), though I have not held or shouldered one of those in person to confirm. My rifle is in 7-08 and it is super accurate with pretty much every handload bullet/powder combo I've tried. Shawn at Nosler answered a lot of my questions before I bought the rifle and their customer service was excellent, so I have no doubt they will make it right. Just watch your middle finger when shooting a kicker with a closed grip as some people have a tendency to get rapped on the knuckle by the trigger guard if they are not expecting it. Good luck with it and let us know how it goes.

Craig

Thanks for the feedback Craig. Yeah, i've been thinking about how the trigger guard could possibly do that, especially since on the outfitter model it's an oversized trigger guard.

What sucks is with mine being in a relatively hard kicking caliber, if i hold the pistol grip tight (which one should obviously do with a heavier kicker- especially in light of the above trigger guard problem), it means that like i said in my above posts, my trigger finger is way past the trigger and i'll be pulling it with the middle knuckle joint...which is weird as hell and retarded.

The rifle is en route from Nosler as i type, and i should have it by this weekend, so i'll finally get to shoot it and see how it is.

The stocks were redesigned a year or so ago, but I don't recall which models were affected. The first Nosler I picked up felt like a brick, but the last one felt fine. You might ask them if there have been any stock upgrades for that model.