once in a great while a gun is so successful it redefines its class forever
guns whose engineering is so good they simply become synonymous with the way its supposed to be done
this is the mauser bolt action
its story is one of constant improvement over many decades
its origin goes back a hundred and fifty years
but to this day almost every bolt action rifle you can buy is copying it
lets see why
so two brothers
wilhelm and peter paul mauser
they made guns in what was becoming germany
germany wasnt actually a country until the late 1800s
italy was like that too
kinda weird
so its like 1871 and gun technology is getting a lot of advancements
and germany just kicked the baguettes out of france in the franco prussian war so they need to take advantage of that
so the new germany adopts a new rifle by these mauser guys called the infantry rifle 71
its a single shot bolt action firing black powder metallic cartridges
and its got neat safety features like a big ol wing you flip to the side
why single shot
theyre very durable and militaries are always slow to change
overall it works ok
but pretty quick it becomes apparent that oops we actually need a repeating rifle
the ottomans just kicked the borscht out of russia using winchester lever actions
you may remember this also caused the russians to adopt the mosin rifle lol
so germany is like dang can we get repeaters
well the mauser brothers were very cool
very often in their contracts with these governments they would put a clause allowing for upgrades to newer models
so mauser made a new rifle called the 71/84 which added a magazine
this was actually an 8rd tube magazine if you can believe it lol
so then they made a bunch of those and various countries bought them
small interlude here as wilhem mauser dies after a life of health problems
as a result mauser was unable to compete for the new german contract and they adopt whats called the 1888 commission rifle which is a weird compilation of different designers
heres a diagram
tho i will point out the 1888 carbine is where the iconic rear sling slot came into being
anyway paul keeps on going and makes another design called the belgian 89
it has cool stripper clips and a detachable magazine
which kinda sticks out and gets lost wait dang
so then the spanish are like amigo were interested but can you make that not happen
and give it a muy grande extractor
mosin for comparison
so mauser was like ja wohl and made the 93 with internal magazine that was flush with the bottom of the rifle
it used the new smokeless powder and staggered the rounds internally
the spanish went on to use them in the spanish american war
and while america kicked the paella out of spain
their charger loading mausers were way better than our krag jorgensens that cant use them or handle high pressure
for real guys there are multiple instances of hundreds of spaniards holding off literally thousands of americans
so after we won we flat out illegally copied the mauser with the 1903 springfield lol
the boers in south africa bought tens of thousands of the 1895 pattern rifle and used them in the second boer war
once again although the british kicked the bobotie out of the boers they realized the accuracy of their lee metford rifles kinda sucked tea compared to the mauser and incorporated elements into their new rifles
in fact they were working on a full on copy but wwi broke out before they were finished
tho with further modifications it became the american 1917 enfield
thats right america adopted a mauser copy multiple times lol
are you sensing a pattern
everybody wanted these
meanwhile in germany mauser was approaching the pinnacle of his design with the gewehr 98
the g98 introduced controlled feeding which meant the bolt grabbed the cartridge as soon as it left the magazine
this made everything consistent and very jam resistant
in the 1930s the final major variant was developed
the k98k
this was a gewehr 98 that was 6in shorter
smaller sights than before
and a turned down bolt handle
the 60 years of continuous improvement is a big part of why the germans kept their bolt actions to the last days of the war even when everybody else was big into semiautos
another cool thing is all the safety features
safety vents in the bolt to vent gas
a shield on the back of the bolt to protect against shrapnel
even an extra bolt lug in case of explodey rounds
i cant totally tell you how many were made
clearly tens of millions
its potentially the most produced gun of all time
heres a map of countries that used a mauser derivative
and the blank spots are almost entirely just the british empire or russian empire
hard to top that lol
pew pew
#click here for previous articles
BillyLuath ago
Man you got that right... give me Mauser ever time. My absolute favorite hunting rifle was a K98 sporterized to .35 Whelan.
Leupold scope and one of the early Mcmillan fiberglass stocks. It even had NAZI proofs on the receiver and bolt... God, I miss that rifle.
I don't own a single push feed bolt action rifle.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
man that sounds really tricked out
what sort of game food you hunt with it
BillyLuath ago
Mule deer and elk, though it slayed more deer than elk.
It was my short range, brushy rifle (not a lever guy).
clamhurt_legbeard ago
ya dude
im pretty ignorant about the many hunting calibers
i only know military rounds
but .35 sounds good and fat
i bet that could thump real good
BillyLuath ago
30.06 necked up to .35, it was a wildcat back then, now it's factory.
Shot 250 grain Nosler partitions I hand loaded. it was a thumper.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
daaaaang hahaha
flaxom ago
Nice post, nice series. I've got one of those spanish mausers in 7mm from 1914, one of my grandfather's rifles, survived the sporterizing era in tact with matching serials everywhere but the magazine plate. Even was able to find an appropriate bayonet for it because 5 feet isn't already long enough and it's got that lovely lug.
I cleaned it up a little and marveled at the condition and quality of the action, but haven't had a chance to fire it yet. I found the stock and hand guard insides were autographed and dated by their mustachioed spaniard crafters, very faintly in pencil, a nice touch. Love the simplicity of the safety, how many millions of other guys must have had that "oh yeah derp" moment when going in to sight it.
Any 100 year old rifle I'd be concerned about exploding in my face, but instead I expect this one to be smooth like squeezing butter.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
dude thats so amazing
over a century old
guns are so amazing because its history you can pick up and experience
mausers are so safe
even if they explode it has like three more safeties helping you
and i wonder how that 7mm is to shoot
is it softer
i bet you could still take a buck with it no problem
have you seen ammo
flaxom ago
It'd absolutely handle a buck, still an enormous round compared to everything else I have. Here's a comparison shot from a while back showing 7mm, .30-30, .300 AAC, .223 from the top down. The chamber was in almost new condition even though the stock has a thousand little dings and scratches from being carried around for decades by servicemen. I believe this was an artilleryman's rifle from my research, would have been used in the spanish civil war among some other events. When you get that effortless cheek weld and your hands automatically find their way into the worn sections of the stock, you can definitely feel the history in the thing, hard to describe.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
wow man
i have a couple mosins and my brother has a k98k
probably never saw each other before we bought them but
theres the slight chance that one of them was used to kill the others operator
so crazy
flaxom ago
Would love to add one of both to my collection. Need a bigger safe!
I picked up this old M7 bayonet at a gun show for real cheap once, the guy was almost giving it away because it had this big bite taken out of the middle of the blade. Maybe his kid fucked it up or something but to me that will always be epic battle damage! Maybe one day in the afterlife we'll get to rewind the tapes and find out the true histories of all these various objects.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
dude
a friend of mine mentioned that as his idea of heaven
Battlefat ago
This one is one of my favorites, clammy. Also, that giant Mauser style claw extractor is standard on current Ruger Scout rifles. It’s big AF
clamhurt_legbeard ago
a brand new rifle using 150 year old technology
that mustve been a winner lol
Battlefat ago
The Ruger Scout is an anomaly defined by Jeff Cooper, who initially worked directly with Steyr to develop the Steyr Scout to his specifications in the late 90s.
They are both cult rifles, equally derided as they are cherished. I’ve got the Ruger version and immediately fucked off on the long eye relief concept and put a full rail and a big ass optic on it.
It’s short as balls for a hunting rifle, but godamned it’s taken a good amount of meat and that’s what matters
clamhurt_legbeard ago
dude short rifles are so great
i have a 91/30 mosin and an m38
91/30 is in very nice condition
smooth bolt and trigger
m38 is rough all around
but its so much handier
i love it
Battlefat ago
A 16” barrel can be plenty accurate, but after getting a 9” Saint Victor pistol to hit an inch at 100 with factory subsonic and a 1x red dot in 300 BLK, I’m thinking what is the limit to the shortness of a barrel at which practicality, accuracy and safety intersect because I want that right now and always
clamhurt_legbeard ago
dude yes
and then you put a can on it and its still super short
just depends on what you need
my current project is about short and light
im not going sbr or anything super custom
keeping it simple and very basic
but also going short and light
we shall see
Battlefat ago
I’m interested to see what components you choose. I tend towards durable mil spec shit, but can appreciate more exotic builds
Redcobra ago
Congratulations clammy ,you have rekindled my enjoyment of all new. It took a few pages but I’m glad I found it.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
dude
i check my inbox
all hot
then just live on all new
its where the cool kids hang out
Redcobra ago
All new is the only way to fly, although it has as of late been letting me down. I thought corona chan lockup would have brought more , better posts. Sadly I’ve been sadded by the sadness.
On the bright side
I’m getting pretty darn good at the diy life hacks!! We’ve been treated to.
No really , great post.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
thx dude
im going to be making a similar but different couple of posts soon about my own project
that should be fun too
Redcobra ago
Sweet , look forward to it.
But also can you do like around 50-100 covid 19 posts daily ?
Oh whoops I forgot!!!,, we already have that lol.well back too all new so I Can see what QRV is doing.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
probably forgetting to cite their sources lol
Redcobra ago
Hey that’s unfair, Twitter is a source ! Also YouTube=source ,
Hahahahahahaha hahahahahahaha
clamhurt_legbeard ago
where we pew one we pew all
Redcobra ago
Rorrim kniht
clamhurt_legbeard ago
whoa
Redcobra ago
hmmm . Anything else good lately?
clamhurt_legbeard ago
yeah
tomorrow is an easy day at work
Redcobra ago
as Long as the clock is moving an easy day is good day.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
heck yeah
im having lunch in my truck
the back is so quiet and comfy because i have a camper shell and blankets
Redcobra ago
FUCK YA,
Are you having frozen bun meat cheesewiches ?
Also what’s with bulk foods lol , I went to grocery store today and noticed it’s all (bulk food section) cordoned off haha.
I wonder if that will make people think about taking a scoop from the communal troughs.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
yeah ive seen some bulk just prepackaged and other stores normal
im gonna eat the leftovers from tonight
porcupine meatballs and brown gravy
rice was crunchy
well see how it is after i soak it in gravy all night
plus im taking an apple
Redcobra ago
What are porcupine meatballs?
clamhurt_legbeard ago
meatballs with rice in them
they stick out a little and look like a porcupine lol
Redcobra ago
Ohhhhhh,ok then how were they?
I didn’t think porcupine would taste good and figured the quills would’ve got stuck in your throat.
I think rice was a better choice!
clamhurt_legbeard ago
the rice was still crunchy
Redcobra ago
Hmmm did you put raw rice into meat?
If so why not parboil next time
clamhurt_legbeard ago
yes
thats how you do it
except you also let it go for an hour
i wanted it done in 20 min
Redcobra ago
Ok ok , you’ve learned a valuable lesson
Don’t rush the finish.
CrustyBeaver52 ago
Clam these are great posts - I love them.
Be sure to archive all this on your hard drive separately.
You are already approaching a sales worthy e-book with this content.
A fine read it would be.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
actuary i probably should
a lot of the pictures already disappeared
hmm
CrustyBeaver52 ago
Yeah - I used to do a lot of websites, and we just mirror archived the entire site on our own drives in case anything happened. Just re-upload the whole thing with a click or two.
Saves you a lot of work down the road.
Nadakai ago
Man what a great post. I will take one of each rifle. Thanks!
clamhurt_legbeard ago
dude for real
collecting can become a problem lol
Deshy ago
Dood, that was an interesting read and now I am kinda hungry!
Just went boot-camping with the kids and wow, running cement storm drains is not easy. :)
Wooo this post makes me want a Mauser, you always do this!!!
Not sure if I need to link this to v/recipes or v/guns maybe both!
clamhurt_legbeard ago
im making porcupine meatballs like my mom used to make
not actually following a recipe so uh well see how it turns out
Deshy ago
Dood they can be yummy... I have a recipe but it kinda burns to the bottom a bit but it gives it such flavor...Lemme know how it goes...
clamhurt_legbeard ago
rice was not at all done
Deshy ago
Pre cook the rice a bit that’s what I do or use left over rice. I have used brown partially cooked and that gave it a boost in goodness... but yeah my first go the rice was undercooked too and I felt like a numpty but oh well crunchy meatballs, let it cook in stomach juices, keeps you fuller for longer is what I said, hehe ;)
clamhurt_legbeard ago
my problem was i was very tired and didnt want to do extra work and didnt want to wait an hour to do that sort of thing
oh well
it was edible
just not for our toothless baby
Deshy ago
I hear ya, I feel totally spent now, done, freagin well done.
I’d eat your meatballs btw... lol, not fussy... crunchy or not and for the wee lil man, some oats, bananas and toast is a nice fall back! :)
Been there...
thedirtypuma ago
Excellent read as always. I feel like like there was more clammy art than usual which is a bonus.
I also have fond memories of the Kar98 from the original call of duty game.
clamhurt_legbeard ago
my brother has one
1943 if i remember
tiny waffenamt marking intact
good gun