MuzzleBlast
Member
Got a Russian - captured Mauser 98k from AIM last week:
Someone tell me what I have:
~ $175 shipped. The wood needs a lot of work cleaning up. The metal is in pretty darn good shape, except that the extractor is plum-colored and doesn't match the rest of the rifle. All the original markings are present, including the swastikas in the proof marks, although those are a bit faint. For the price, I am not dissappointed. Ordered it last Monday, had it in hand the following Thursday. Same thing with the ammo, which I ordered from Empire Arms:
This ammo came in 15-round boxes, most on stripper clips while a few boxes contained loose rounds. If someone can decode some of the info on the boxes and headstamps I would appreciate it. I got this pre-war German ammo because I thought it fitting to use real German Wehrmacht ammo in a German Wehrmacht rifle, and because I didn't really expect to be shooting it all that much.
From what I had read here and in other forums, I was expecting this rifle to (a) kick like a sumbitch, (b) group a foot high, and (c) group maybe 3". I also expected to get a lot of misfires with 60 - plus year old ammo, most of which is a bit discolored. I decided to fire the first few rounds without any recoil pad, just to experience it the way the soldiers did. So I loaded up the first mag full, sat down on the bench with the rifle resting on my range bag, and concentrated hard on the front sight to keep from flinching. FrontsightFrontsightFrontsightBOOM!! Huh? Was that all?
Pleasant surprise #1: The recoil may be just a tad sharper than that from a Garand, but it really just isn't that bad. It was only after shooting 30 rounds or so that it really began to get uncomfortable. I'm a little sore today, but there is no bruise. After several shots, I became aware that I was really having FUN shooting this rifle.
Pleasant surprise #2: It groups a few inches high. Using a six o'clock hold on a bullseye target puts all shots even with the black. Not quite IN the black, because it groups a few inches to the left. If I had brought a hammer and punch to the range I could have drifted the front sight to the left and corrected this.
Pleasant surprises #3 and #4: Five shots at 100 yards grouped about 2". The sights on this rifle are not well suited to precision shooting, I don't have a real benchrest, and I'm not that good anyway considering this nagging flinch I have been fighting for a while. Given better sights, better benchrest and better shooter, this rifle could group 1.5moa or under, I'm certain. The mostly not too pretty ammo performed flawlessly.
Overall, I am quite pleasantly surprised. AIM and Empire delivered exactly as advertised and in a timely manner, which is not at all surprising.
Someone tell me what I have:
~ $175 shipped. The wood needs a lot of work cleaning up. The metal is in pretty darn good shape, except that the extractor is plum-colored and doesn't match the rest of the rifle. All the original markings are present, including the swastikas in the proof marks, although those are a bit faint. For the price, I am not dissappointed. Ordered it last Monday, had it in hand the following Thursday. Same thing with the ammo, which I ordered from Empire Arms:
This ammo came in 15-round boxes, most on stripper clips while a few boxes contained loose rounds. If someone can decode some of the info on the boxes and headstamps I would appreciate it. I got this pre-war German ammo because I thought it fitting to use real German Wehrmacht ammo in a German Wehrmacht rifle, and because I didn't really expect to be shooting it all that much.
From what I had read here and in other forums, I was expecting this rifle to (a) kick like a sumbitch, (b) group a foot high, and (c) group maybe 3". I also expected to get a lot of misfires with 60 - plus year old ammo, most of which is a bit discolored. I decided to fire the first few rounds without any recoil pad, just to experience it the way the soldiers did. So I loaded up the first mag full, sat down on the bench with the rifle resting on my range bag, and concentrated hard on the front sight to keep from flinching. FrontsightFrontsightFrontsightBOOM!! Huh? Was that all?
Pleasant surprise #1: The recoil may be just a tad sharper than that from a Garand, but it really just isn't that bad. It was only after shooting 30 rounds or so that it really began to get uncomfortable. I'm a little sore today, but there is no bruise. After several shots, I became aware that I was really having FUN shooting this rifle.
Pleasant surprise #2: It groups a few inches high. Using a six o'clock hold on a bullseye target puts all shots even with the black. Not quite IN the black, because it groups a few inches to the left. If I had brought a hammer and punch to the range I could have drifted the front sight to the left and corrected this.
Pleasant surprises #3 and #4: Five shots at 100 yards grouped about 2". The sights on this rifle are not well suited to precision shooting, I don't have a real benchrest, and I'm not that good anyway considering this nagging flinch I have been fighting for a while. Given better sights, better benchrest and better shooter, this rifle could group 1.5moa or under, I'm certain. The mostly not too pretty ammo performed flawlessly.
Overall, I am quite pleasantly surprised. AIM and Empire delivered exactly as advertised and in a timely manner, which is not at all surprising.
