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Originally Posted by Starman
Originally Posted by greydog
The Mauser 98 is the BEST action for a rough-use hunting rifle. Having said this, it's important to point out that most changes detract from its utility...


WDM Bell found that in terms of reliability-function in harsh hunting conditions the Lee Enfields he had distinctly out- performed Mausers
and other European rifles like the Mannlichers in his collection. ...worst were the fancy prima donna SxS rifles.

His knowledge/experience with the Lee and Mauser also came from his combat service, Boer War and WW1.


Largely due to extensively field proven ruggedness and reliability, he purposely chose the military Lee and Mauser
for his commercial exploit ventures in Africa.

In the worst hunting conditions, the Lee Enfield proved the most reliable.



I will venture to make corrections to this - WDM Bell wrote that he disliked the military Lee Enfield action, that was not as well finished as the Mauser or the Springfield, but that it's 'rattletrap' bolt never failed except when he made a mistake and loaded the cartridges with the rims overlapping.

He was undeniably a Mauser fan.

After his first safari he used Mauser rifles almost exclusively, in chamberings ranging from .22 hipower up to .350 Magnum and .416 Rigby. (Apart from a double .45/400 which he used briefly, a double .318 Westerly Richards from Thomas Bland, and a rifle (probably a Savage 99 take down) in .22 Hipower.)

He was familiar with the Lee Metford rifle from his stint in the army during the Boer war as a young man, and started his elephant shooting with 2 sporting Lee Metford rifles,
He did not write anywhere that the Lee Metford / Enfield rifle outperformed or were more reliable than any other - his Mauser rifles had no failure that he wrote of, and the majority of his rifles after that were Mausers.

His most reliable rifle, which he mentioned several times, was his Mauser in 7x57 (although despite the "legend", this would not have been a Rigby made rifle at the time he was in Karamojo prior to 1907) However if greater concern to him than the rifles as far as reliability, was the ammunition. Prior to WW1 sporting ammunition was distinctly unreliable. The best ammo was German military 7x57 and British .303. But sporting ammunition was iffy. For example in his description of shooting the largest number of elephants in a day (19) he mentioned in passing that he fired 38 .318 WR cartridges and that 8 of them were misfires. He mentions this in passing, as if it were something he was just accustomed to. He faulted the primers of the sporting ammunition of the day.

(After WW1 this ammunition problem seems to have been cleared up - his primary rifles after the war were all .318 Westley Richards Mausers. (again, despite the legend of the .275 Rigby, after many years of hunting, Bell considered the .318 WR with a .330 cal 250 grain solid bullet as being more suitable for elephant.)

Yes, I travel the internet correcting misconceptions about Walter Bell the elephant hunter. It's what I do.


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ummm... nevermind !


Jerry

Last edited by jwall; 05/20/19.

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Ha Ha, I did something new for me.
I pulled this thread/post up on my phone, enlarged it and took a pic.
Loaded it to imgur and bingo !!


Now I have my personal record .

********** That Does Work *********
Pic Deleted


Jerry

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Two that followed me home quite a spell ago!


[Linked Image]

Top: 7x 57 Mauser

Bottom: 35 Whelen

ya!


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Originally Posted by CarlsenHighway


I will venture to make corrections to this - .....

..He did not write anywhere that the Lee Metford / Enfield rifle outperformed or were more reliable than any other

- his Mauser rifles had no failure that he wrote of,



Page nine (9) of Karamjo Safari

' I have never liked the our .303 action; it is so rough and unfinished-looking when compared with the beautiful polished products of the world famous
Springfield, Steyr or Mauser factories. But I must in fairness say that it almost never let me down. I say "almost" because there were times when
through careless loading of the magazine, a cartridge would fail to feed up to the chamber. Sometimes the nose tilted down, sometimes the magazine
failed to push the case up enough for the bolt head to catch hold. These occasions were extremely rare and luckily never happened at very awkward moments.
As for that loose fitting rattlestop bolt, nothing would stop its functioning . During the short rains when elephant are subjected to fierce sun between
heavy rain showers and flies are fierce and mud plentiful, the vegetation through which the hunter has to work his game is copiously drenched in liquid mud.
Some of this dries between showers and clouds down on your rifle action as you pass along. I have had Mauser actions with their tighter- fitting bolts
rendered almost useless through gritty mud
, while the break open double rifle under these conditions is a complete washout"


Originally Posted by CarlsenHighway

His most reliable rifle, which he mentioned several times, was his Mauser in 7x57


It is evidently clear Bell found the .303 Lee distinctly more reliable in the harsh conditions he describes.
and any [extremely rare] cartridge feeding issues he specifically attributed to human error 'careless loading'
not the Lee rifle itself.

Reliability of the Mauser was in large part attributed to its combined use with the high quality DWM ammunition.

Bell described his Frazer Mannlicher .256 bore carbine (which be obtained after his personally ordered .275 Rigby Mauser),
as his favorite rifle, until he experienced some problem with the quality of Austrian ammunition, [malfunctioning in the rifle].

quote]... - (page 94) Wanderings Of An Elephant Hunter.

"I was using at that time a very light and sweet- working Mann.-Sch. carbine, -256 bore and weighing only 5\ lb.
With this tiny and beautiful little weapon I had extraordinary luck, and I should have continued to use it in preference
to my other rifles had not its Austrian ammunition developed the serious fault of splitting at the neck. After that discovery
I reverted to my well-tried and always trusty 7 mm. Mauser."




Originally Posted by CarlsenHighway

although despite the "legend", this would not have been a Rigby made rifle at the time he was in Karamojo prior to 1907)


Can you explain why you believe It would not have been a Rigby made .275 bore rifle he used in Karamojo?


Page twenty three (23) chapter V. Karamojo - Wanderings Of An Elephant Hunter.

"And then I had my personal rifles , at that time a .303 Lee Enfield, a .275 Rigby-Mauser and a double .450-.400
and Mauser pistol which could be used as a carbine..."


Page twelve (12) Karamojo Safari.

" At the same time I got the .256. I also aquired the first rifle I had made especially for me -- a .275 ( 7mm)
Mauser by Rigby of London. It was still in the days of the round nose bullet, and luckily for me the ammo was
good, sound, reliable, German DWM stuff, powder, case, cap, and bullet. This was the hottest combination
one could have, although I knew it not at the time. Without fault or hitch ,misfire or hang fire, that little rifle
slew some eight hundred bull elephant, besides scores of buffalo, a few rhino and the occasional lion."


- Note Bell says its the first rifle he had ordered-bespokely made especially for himself , its entirely possible he
may have obtained for himself prior to that, a ready made Rigby .275 catalogue rifle, that he found available for sale.


Originally Posted by CarlsenHighway


Yes, I travel the internet correcting misconceptions about Walter Bell the elephant hunter. It's what I do.


tagged.


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Page sixty two (62) Karamojo Safari

" I had besides my .275, a .303 with a ten-shot magazine.-- an excellent elephant rifle."


Page two hundred and three (203) Karamojo Safari

"In my search for the ideal weapon for my purpose , I had accumulated a number of quite good rifles.
I had a double .400 by Frazer of Edinburgh, a beautiful weapon but delicate, Then there was the .303
from the army and navy, a splendid gun with which I had killed over 200 hundred elephant."




WDM Bell, American Rifleman 1954.

"T h e . 3 0 3 B r i t i s h M a r k V I round~ nose 2l5-grain solid. The rifle has many advantages. It is light
-can be 6-3/4 pounds. Stock is bolted to action through grip and can hardly be broken, although it may work
loose and requires a very long turnscrew to tighten it. By continuous working of bolt smeared with very fine
emery powder, bolt can be brought to a fine polished performance. With its ten-shot magazine, a, very useful
hard-working and efficient rifle. Can hardly be stopped functioning by mud or sand."


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[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

Tell me what I have here! I am Mauser dumb! Picked this up in trade 36 years ago and have shot some! Throat was about shot out when I got it but for $100 whatever! 243 Winchester


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Fuzzytail,
That appears to be an FN Mauser commercial action made in Belgium. The stock is a custom


Originally Posted by Judman
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Was told by a Gunsmith that it was a 1957 Stearns Mauser if that makes any sense at all. Was just curious to what I had. Been going to rebarrel to something else but other rifles got in the way. Thanks irfubar. Jere'


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fuzzytail;
Top of the morning to you sir, I hope this 20th of May finds you well.

While I'm far from a Mauser expert, but the photos I can see that the action is a commercial one - not military - in that there's no thumb slot cut out on the left side.

The bolt shroud is a military style one however, not the commercial one found on some of the FN made rifles which had a side safety as part of the trigger. Come to think of it some of the Santa Barbara made Parker Hale rifles had a side safety too and might have had a commercial shroud.

In the top photo we can see a bit of a proof mark peaking out of the front ring. If you'd take the barreled action out of the stock and get a better photo of the proof mark it might be easier to trace it's lineage perhaps.

Anyway sir, it appears to be a serviceable arm whatever it's past might be.

Hope that was slightly useful and/or of interest. All the best to you as we head into summer.

Dwayne


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Originally Posted by irfubar
Fuzzytail,
That appears to be an FN Mauser commercial action made in Belgium. The stock is a custom

irfubar;
Top of the morning to you sir, I hope you're well, warm and dry in your part of the world - it would appear we may get a wee bit of rain today, but it's a mild one so we'll be fine.

As I am trying to learn a wee bit here and if you're so inclined, did the fact that it was drilled for a receiver sight tip your thoughts more to FN than Santa Barbara?

After I'd typed my response, I wasn't sure if I'd ever seen a Santa Barbara drilled like that, you know?

The bolt handle shape could sort of be either one - as could the bolt release... I think...

This older age thing has been less fun than I'd hoped it would be irfubar - the data which was once clear and accessible is now scrambled at times.

The worst of it is I know I have the answer to my own question in a book on my own book shelves - now which book it is sir, that I can't answer! cry

All the best to you as we head into warmer weather.

Dwayne


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[Linked Image][Linked Image]


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fuzzytail;
Thanks kindly sir.

As usual my cyber friend is correct in his naming of the action.

That is - in my opinion anyway - a fine foundation action for a serviceable hunting arm.

Thanks again.

Dwayne


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Thank you BC30cal and Ifubar.

Last edited by fuzzytail; 05/20/19.

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Fellow 'Fire Mauser 98 Fans;
It would appear that my on again and off again relationship with photobucket might be functioning this morning so I'll attempt a few photos.

Here's the first rifle I put together on a 98 action - it's a wartime Steyr action, no name barrel, Mark X trigger, Mark X bolt shroud, rust blued by me and the stock blank was a Bishop I think - reworked by me.
[Linked Image]

Oh, it's chambered to .308 Norma Mag and it's my good wife's hunting arm for longer hunting shots.

The second one was a mistake really in that I'd never build a short case on a Mauser action again - but that's what I had at the time so that's what I did. It's another wartime action - German but can't recall the code right now - maybe DWM? The barrel was from IT&D back in the days when we could ship such things freely across the medicine line - it's a .22-.250 AI, 26" Douglas Air Gauge Match I believe it was. Anyway it's the 1:14 twist that we all used back in the dinosaur days. Timney trigger, and a reworked Howa/S&W stock which I picked up at a gun show for $20 because it was cracked.
[Linked Image]

In the days before range finders, it accounted for a good number of local coyotes, some of which were far enough away that we - the coyote and I - were both surprised I could hit them that far out.... wink

The latest completed one is a Mauser made action with the commercial roll mark on it, so I'm thinking between the wars. Into and onto it went an FN extractor, Wolffe mainspring - come to think of it all the 98's got one of those - Timney trigger, Timney Beuhler safety, 2.7 oz bottom metal and it's into a Wildcat Custom 20oz stock. The barrel is a nearly new 96 Swede military barrel which a smith up the valley brazed an adapter/helicoil sort of thing onto so it'd screw into a large ring and of course it's a 6.5x55 with a nice snug chamber.
[Linked Image]

In the safe there's a VZ24 action with an FN '06 barrel which is going to be a Stutzen type stock for our eldest if I ever get back to it from doing reno work on her house!

We see a lot of 98 variants up here still in the field and over the years I've played with what has to be dozens of them for various friends and acquaintances. As my friend greydog said, they make great rough use hunting rifles.

Thanks for looking and for the participants in the thread. Good luck on your hunts with or without your 98's.

Dwayne


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Great pics Dwayne ! Thanks for sharing.

I miss your part of the world. I spent a little bit of time in Pentiction and Salmon Arm. Loved it !


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Owl;
Top of the morning to you sir and thanks for the reply.

Were you in Salmon arm in the last 15 odd years?

If so, do you recall the big log house just off the highway south of Davidson's Fruit stand? Anyway that's my sister and brother in law's place.

We're just over the hill a bit from Tickleberry's - which if you were in Penticton you surely visited at least once?! grin

Thanks again and all the best to you as we head into warmer weather.

Dwayne

Last edited by BC30cal; 05/20/19.

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Fuzzytail, you are welcome.

Dwayne the pic's had all FN features, the dead giveaway was the FN stamp on the front ring was peaking out from under the stock. Mauser as you know can be tricky to identify as they made so many variations.
I am a Mauser fan myself, well a Mauser whore you be more accurate... smile Most of my Mauser's are 1909 & VZ24, I do have an FN that is very similar to fuzzytails with only the small FN stamp.

I have Mauser's in everything from 220 swift to 458W mag

I have posted pic's of my rifles in the past, so at the risk of boring everyone I will post a couple of them again.....

VZ24, 270 W.
[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]

G33/40 30-06

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]


Originally Posted by Judman
PS, if you think Trump is “good” you’re way stupider than I thought! Haha

Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit.
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irfubar;
Thanks for the reply and doubly so for the photos.

The wood on both of them - well the overall lines too really - are in my view pretty much flawless.

The grain on the G33/40 is particularly to my taste. cool

Thanks again and all the best to you all this week.

Dwayne


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Thank you Dwayne,
It is always a pleasure.... best to you also


Originally Posted by Judman
PS, if you think Trump is “good” you’re way stupider than I thought! Haha

Sorry, trump is a no tax payin pile of shiit.
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