Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles Opinion, Mauser wins...still.

Got my first 'hands on' with a Browning Hell's Canyon yesterday. A beautiful well proportioned and balanced rifle. It had a live round stuck in the chamber, so I had to field strip it to correct the problem. I am less impressed now, although the owner says it's a tackdriver, .300 WM. First impressions, extractor is a quite small, it let go of the cartridge rim without pulling any brass from the rim. Bolt lock appears to be a tiny nylon(?) tipped pin, wondering at the life expectancy of any plastic. Plastic mag box internals. And scariest of all is the more or less sealed die cast (zinc?) trigger works housing, it is extremely heavy, must be chock full of parts and pieces. Even if it's a good accurate rifle, with some of the materials used..I can't help but wonder if it will still be going faithfully over a hundred years from now, like some of my Mausers, Mannlichers and Mauser types?

While I have several rifles of various makes, all my serious hunting rifles are based on Mauser actions.
Paul B.

That is where I am on this issue... early Brno.

Mausers for sure, and Mannlicher-Schoenauers. Everything else seems cheap. I recently bought a new Winchester Model 70. It's a nice rifle but seems like a cheap Mauser imitation. I'm hopelessly old fashioned.

I agree that Mausers just seem to work again and again. Ive got a few old military Mausers and a Brno model 22 and they work. The problem is im left eye and somewhat hand dominant and its spendy and rare to find a left hand Mauser so I use lefty Ruger Hawkeye rifles as my analog. So far they've proven reliable as well and where my Remington 700 and single shot NEF arm froze up solid my Mausers and Rugers operate and feed and extract.

IMO everybody is tied up into wanting a rifle with the utmost in accuracy and 3 shot groups are hyped up on hunting rifles. Its all a bunch of nonsense unless your actually a long range practitioner. The reality is a lot of rifle can kill at 400 500 or even 600 yds. If your rifle hits well this far out your good to go in most situations. More importantly than ultra accuracy is durability and reliability. If you don't have reliability than everything else is a loss. Even some of the better performing rifles like Tikka have substandard plastic parts. Its all about cost savings and profit I suppose.

Just judging from the longevity of the little plastic parts and pieces on cars and trucks which seem to dry out and crack in just a few years, I really don't see how the plastic components in rifles will fare much better as they age. Many of us have wood and steel rifles and handguns dating to the late 1800's...I don't see a 150 year future for guns with plastic parts.

Flint, the ladies oberndorf sporter 9.3x62, from 1922 put everything I use to shame. The big pear shaped bolt knob and long handle, it shucks with authority. My ruger 77 lacks that third safety lug like her's. That wide bolt knob flange to protect the shooters eye from escaping gas in the event of a case rupture.

The sleek, thin barrel countour, the wood to metal fit. The thin, slender stock, it's lighter than any "featherweight" rip-off.

Though I've put away a pile of moose and caribou with lever guns, I won't hesitate to admit that the original sporting Mauser from Oberndorf is the best dmn hunting rifle I've ever shot.

That darn John Speed Mauser book is a dreamy piece to read as well.

My “go to” rifle is a Husqvarna 30-06 commercial Mauser. I’ve got it in a Basner and the barrel contour is just right making for a really light and lively rifle. It is a sure killer and very reliable.

Did you buy that from Rob Jordan here?

Either way that’s a sweet rifle.

I agree with the OP; my Mausers & Springfields are my most trusted hunting rifles.

I don't think the market for long life quality is all that strong these days - better to get the sales volume up with lower cost accurate firearms.

No, I picked it up in a local store 15 years or so ago.

I side with the time-proved crowd. When it comes to bolt guns please let it be a Mauser or Mauser-based design (Mauser/Springfield/Model 54-70/etc.). But, nostalgia drives my 67 year old hunting heart as much as anything else so don't pin too much on my ideals!!

In the same vein, I prefer older automotive iron. My "fun car" is a pristine 1970 MGB-GT, as analog rubber&steel as you can get (not to mention entirely free of the effects of a massive EMP should the Russkies drop The Big One, haha!). I stubbornly maintain a 20 year old Saab as my "daily" for its smoothness, power, handling, tractability, fuel economy, reliability- plus it has fewer miles on it than the average eight year old F-150.

Bells, whistles, gimmicks, manufacturing shortcuts, "modern" styling, etc. sells guns and cars to the Great Unwashed Masses, most of whom don't subscribe to the KISS principle. That's ok though, some good does come from it. I just have more important things to fret over than my equipment.

If you have figured out how to post pictures on here...I, for one, would like to see your Oberndorf. I've got a 1928 that is a little heavier than yours, but still beautifully proportioned.

I'll second the motion for pics!