mauser or enfield

[Quilly]

wondering if you had to pic one for a shooter and maybe hunting. which one would you go with?

[diyj98]

I' ve got a number of various Enfields and Mausers. Overall, I prefer the mauser type actions. No real reason, it' s just the cock on opening and mauser actions are more what I' m used to in sporting rifles.

[halcon]

I have owned a couple of sporterized enfields and they were pretty heavy in my opinion . I would have to say I would go with the Mauser type actions . I have one now in the 6.5X55 MM Mauser . It was made by Husquavarna . not sure about the spelling

[seattlesetters]

Mauser. Period. End of story.

[bearhuntr]

You gotta be kidding.

Mauser.

[Briman]

Definately Mauser, or better yet, an ' 03 Springfield.

[Briman]

If you want to go with a mauser, I would highly reccomend a Yugo rearsenalled Karabiner 98. They were German made and turned over to the Yugoslavians after wwII, who repaired, rebarreled, or restocked the rifles to make them like new again. You can get one of these for around $150 in excellent condition. By contrast, a German K98 will set you back $400+ for a rifle in such condition. Don' t confuse these with the Yugo M48 which is NOT a k98 though looks like one- the K98 is a much better rifle. You can order these through cdnninvestments.com .

If you want something that is nicer I would get a Swedish M96 (long rifle) or M38 (carbine) but these will set you back $200-300, but well worth the expense.[8D]

Another neat rifle is the K31 Schmidt Rubin Carbine. They are very accurate and well made and can be had for $90- 100 at this time. It uses 7.5x55 Swiss which is very hard to find Ammo for, but I' ve seen formed brass show up at gunshows lately and I think at least one manufacturer makes reloading dies for the cartridge.

[GTBuzz]

Briman, there is nothing wrong with a Yugo M48 mauser. I paid $110 for an unissed one that will shoot a variety of loads under 2" at 100 yards. The only problem with the Yugo is the intermediate length action if somebody wants to sporterize it.

I have an M48, K98, Swede M38, and a Turk M38. Surprisingly, the $40 Turk I saved from a pile of " Junk" rifles is the most accurate. At last years " HuntAmerica.com" North Georgia shootout, I was able to shoot a group of about 9" for 4 shots at 530 yards.

The Enfield is no slouch either. I think the Enfield was one of the best bolt action battle rifles of all time. A good Enfield rifleman could shoot the rifle fast enough to make you think it was a semi-auto. However, I must say that it is inot a good project to sporterize. My 1942 No 4 will shoot 150g Hornady bullets into 1.5" at 100 yards.

[Briman]

I like my M48 also, its has no problem shooting sub 2" 5 shot groups at 100 yards, the K98' s are just much better made And there is the sporterization factor- a standard length mod 98 action is better for that in every way.
I' ve had 2 of the m48' s, ended up selling one of them. The rifle that I have now has a problem where its impossible to put the safety on without hooking the rim of a cartridge onto the cocking piece and pulling back on it, I had to lap the locking lugs on the rifle I sold in order to extract a fired cartridge without using a hammer. Either I' ve just been extremely unlucky with problems with my m48' s or they had some serious quality control problems, I' m leaning toward the latter as I' ve heard numerous stories of other people' s M48' s having the same problems.

Turk 38- not a bad rifle, mine has a really badly shot out bore, I had to cut a new crown on it- it shoots alright for a $40 rifle- I can pick off milk jugs at 200 yards with no problem- not bad for the price.]

Czech 98/22- shoots real tight with surplus ammo, unfortunately the o\lowest sight setting is 400 meters
swedish 96' s - have 2 of them a 1918 CG and a 1899 Oberndorf- the CG used to shoot sub moa for me and the Obie was not far behind in performance, unfortunately my eyes are getting worse, and aligning the sights has become much more difficult for me over the last few years.
Persian 98/29- Beautiful rifle, very accurate- I used this rifle for shooting high power matches in the past, is as accurate as my swedish rifles, has easier to see sights, and has a pistol grip stock instead of the straight stock on swedes.
Czech&Yugo k98' s- shoot good, bore on these rifles seem a little rougher and foul a bit quicker than other mausers (except the m48) probably because the bores weren' t handlapped at the arsenal.
03A3 springfield- relief for sore eyes with the rear aperture sight, I can finally hit small things far away again High priced milsurp, high quality, deadly accurate, though seems to have ALOT of recoil for a 30-06.
M44 Mosin Nagant- this one I got for $30- its still a work in progress though. I need to cut a new crown, figure out a way to get the 50 years of communist crud out of the barrel, and figure out how to best bed the action to the stock. Not a very accurate shooter as it stands now, but was cheap and makes alot of noise and big fireballs when fired.[&:]

[thndrchiken]

Quilly as I recall your recovering from a shoulder injury. I would suggest you look at a M38 Swedish mauser and the 6.5x55 is a nice light recoil round that is time honored and proven. The M38 sights are 100-300 meters as opposed to the 300-600 on the M96. The swede is definitely a pleasure to shoot compared the the .303 or 8mm. Briman recomended a place down in Fla. to me about a year ago, but I don' t recall the name, they had a pretty good selection and lots of accessories. I know they advertise in the Shotgun News but I don' t have one handy right now. The Swedes are also highly accurate.