Mauser Day

Finally! I had half a day off work on a day where it wasn't raining and I didn't have a million other things to do. So I promptly declared it "Mauser Day" and took two of my Mausers out to the range.

Shown here is my Belgian M1950 (left) and my Norwegian-reworked ex-German K-98k, both chambered in .30-06. The Belgian rifle was originally chambered in .30-06 from the factory and the K-98 was converted to that cartridge by the Norwegians, both to take advantage of the millions of rounds of .30 M2 that Uncle Sugar was giving away to every country willing to pretend to be an ally in the post-WW 2 era.

Note that both have the notch in the receiver ring to allow for the feeding of the .30-06 round, which is slightly longer than the 8mm Mauser round that the rifle's action was originally designed for. Also note that the Model 1950 (made in that year, basically as a stop-gap while waiting for FN-49 production to ramp up at the Fabrique Nationale plant) has returned to the old straight bolt as opposed to the graceful turn-down bolt of the K-98k. But that's ok, because I, as a lefty shooter, find that the straight bolt is a bit faster for me as I reach across for it. It's almost like it's meeting my hand half way.

Both shot just great at a hundred yards with some old reloads I'd made up, replicating the M2 round. The K-98 is spang on, and the Model 1950 shoots about six inches high. Admittedly, the K-98 has a better sight picture thanks to the Norwegians reworking it by enlarging the rear notch and squaring off the front sight post. The Model 1950 still has the scant notch on the rear sight and the triangular front post that's awfully easy to "lose" on your target if the light's bad. But both rifles put almost every round where I wanted them, aside from a few that I doofed on (yeah, it happens...). They also both started shooting a bit higher when the barrels heated up, but that's pretty much expected. It wasn't a lot higher, but it was noticeable on the target. No worries today, as I was just out shooting for fun and burning ammo, but if push came to shove, I'd trust either of these as a fighting rifle, my preference going to the K-98k first.

Then after finishing that up, I moved over to the pistol line and shot some of the new rounds I'd ordered for my Smith and Wesson Model 58 .41 Magnum. I thought that I was getting a good deal on some target loads, but I didn't read the fine print on the internet ad page and I learned too ate that they were only "cowboy" loads, loaded light for Cowboy Action Shooting. They're only pushing 800fps instead of the 1250fps or so that I prefer, but they still go "BANG!" and I've got some nice Starline brass to reload when the cases are empty. So I whacked away at the falling plates on my range for a bit, well on my way to developing a practice that I call "conservation shooting" (always leave one standing...for future generations, you know.). Ideally I like to drop six plates for six shots, finishing a string with no plates and no rounds left, but today it just wasn't there other than sporadically. I guess if I'm attacked by six bad guys (and don't have a reload handy), I'll ust have to be content with dropping five and hoping that the last one changes his mind.

Of course I can always distract him by yelling: "Hey look! It's George Zimmerman!"

Anyway.. Hope that you're having fun today. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to walk Murphy then head on into work. Sigh...