Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Hey Muledeer, question on Mauser M18

So, based on price, options, and reputation, I advised my buddy to buy a Mauser M18 in 7mmRM. He bought a Meopta scope for it and some 20MOA Talley rings. I cleaned everything up for him and installed the scope, bedded the bases and lightly lapped the rings. I loaded some 150 Nosler Balistic tips with moderate loads to break in the barrel and hopefully find some sort of accuracy for practice this summer.

Anyway, accuracy is terrible. Best groups go to about 1.5 MOA and others were more like 4MOA. I switched to 168 Sierra Matchkings and results were much worse with accuracy ranging from 2 -5 MOA.

I’m going to take the scope off and check the bases and perhaps mount another scope to verify that it isn’t the scope but was hoping you may have time to offer some other things to check like action screw torque specs, pet loads, etc.

Thanks in advance should you find time to reply. I really appreciate you posting on this site. I’ve found that when I know the subject matter, your insights are right on with my own experience, which leads me to trust your opinion when it’s something new to me.

You’re a pearl in the wilderness of the internet!

Cross

Cross,

Thanks for the vote of confidence!

Have played with three Mauser 18's now, if I recall correctly, two .308 Winchesters, and a 7mm Remington Magnum (which I own). All have shot very well, but two immediate possibilities come to mind. You already covered the first one with the notion of trying another scope--though I will also comment that one thing I try NOT to do is put a brand-new scope on a brand-new rifle. If the accuracy sucks, is the the rifle or the scope? Putting a proven scope on a new rifle reduces the possible variables.

The classic example I've mentioned before was a guy who asked me for a good 165-grain .30-06 load, because he'd bought a brand-new .30-06 of a brand that usually shoots well. I told him around 57-58 grains of IMR or H4350 works. He got back to me a couple days and said the accuracy sucked, and he'd already tried another scope. All I could do was suggest there was probably something wrong with the rifle. Well, about six months later he e-mailed me, because it finally occurred to him that BOTH the scopes he tried were brand-new. He mounted a proven 4x he had in his safe, and the load started making sub-inch groups.

Another possibility is the "moderate" loads aren't resulting in enough pressure to make the powder burn consistently. This isn't unusual with many newer powders, but suspect it isn't the problem here, as can't recall ever seeing 4-inch groups due to that problem on a scoped bolt-action! Have also never seen groups that large due to action screws not being torqued exactly as the manufacturer suggests.

Would first make sure the screws are at least tight, and also make sure the forend is really free-floated, because I HAVE seen rifles shoot that poorly because the forend is tapping the barrel during the shot. I usually just grab the forend tip and barrel in my hand, and squeeze hard. If the fore touches the barrel, it needs to be floated more. (A reader suggested a year or two ago that he whacks the tip of the forend hard with the base of his hand, to see if it touches the barrel. That works too.)

John

I'd also try a box of factory ammo. Ultra-cheap Federal blue box 150-grain ammo shoots sub MOA in an early 700 that I inherited.


Okie John

What's the street value on a new M_18?

Sale prices have them marked down to a very attractive ~$400

Thanks Muledeer! I’ll switch scopes and check the mounts! I’ll also check the float!

I’ll let everyone know what I find

Cross

Could you attach a link? Thinking about a new rifle in 300 Winchester magnum.

41

41rem, try this ... https://www.eurooptic.com/

As far as I know, the M18 has the same barrel as the higher priced M12. These are the same barrels that go on Sauers and Blasers. It's a bit like Sakos and Tikkas. Mauser, Blaser and Sauer are all owned by the same company and are all built on the same site, though each company has it's own factory building. I saw an online YouTube video a few years ago by some English fella who toured all three factories.

So your barrel should be a good one but I guess there is always a chance that something is amiss. There must be a way Mauser can offer the M18 at a much lower price than the M12, so something must be cheapened or changed in the manufacturing process.

I have a walnut stocked M12 in 6.5x55 and it is the most consistently accurate factory gun I have ever owned.

I hope you get it sorted.

The barrels are made in the same factory, both Mauser, Sauer , and Blaser. The barrels on the 18 and 12 are different as are the Sauer 100, and 101. The 18/100 are threaded barrels, the 12/101 are interference fit.

Thanks for that info. Good to know.

Just out of interest. Do you get the Mauser M12s in the States? I'd put my money into one of them rather than the M18.

I do believe that the Mauser 12 was sold here. I have a Sauer 101 in 7X64, basically the same rifle as the Mauser.

Looking forward to an update on accuracy once a different scope is used.

Pick a load from Nosler's manual that indicates most accurate charge of most accurate powder. My M12 is ridiculously precise.

Update:

After trying 8 loads with the Mauser M18 and two different scopes (the latter a well proven old VXIII which provided identical results as the Meopta scope) the M18 is on its way back to either the dealer or the manufacturer). We really liked the rifle as far as weight features and “feel” but on its best day it would shoot 1 1/2 MOA with the very best loads and many were over 3 MOA with a few knocking on 5 MOA.

Action screws were torqued. Bases were bedded. I’m confident that it was the rifle’s issues and not optics, scope mounts, ammunition, or shooter error.

I’ll get back to you all when more is resolved.

Cross

Sorry to hear about your trouble. I bought one in 6.5 PRC and put a SWFA 3-15 scope on it. Shooting two different factory ammo loads, it was the easiest sight in ever for me for a factory rifle. Just changed to a smaller scope since this rifle will be a hunter for me and need to re-zero with the replacement scope. I have not tried handloads yet since I bought 100 rounds of factory ammo to get some brass to reload. The storage compartment in the stock seems odd to me but other than that feature, I like the rifle. Might use it on a cow elk hunt in MT in Dec.

Cross,

Will be very interested in what response you get from Mauser.

I know that we are no longer used to rifles that "only" get 1.5" groups.

Just wanted to mention that Jack O'Connor and others of his vintage, right up to the 80s and into the 90s, were thrilled to have a BG rifle that shot groups of 1.5". They went forth and killed game.

A rifle that only groups 1.5" will reliably kill game out to at least 400-450 yds. What more do you need?

Now, have I been content and/or do I own a rifle that will only group 1.5"? No. I'm not happy unless the 3 shot groups are under 1".

I'm just putting a bit of perspective on it. I think we agonize things a little more than we should these days.

I must say that the bullets, rifles and scopes of today, allow us more accuracy than the writers in the 80s could imagine possible.

Hmmm. I think I recently read something about the pursuit of perfection......

That was then, this is now.