Range day.

[BRPORSCHE]

Weather was really nice today so decided to go with a friend and brother to sight in our deer rifles. I have never gone deer hunting before and the rifle is new to me so it's still a learning process with iron sights. Only the second time I have ever shot the rifle and will be getting better with practice.

Now for some pics.

8mm mauser at 25 yds:


Moved it back to 50 yds and was shooting waaaaaay high. I was aiming at the very bottom center off the paper was when I was actually hitting the actual target. Strange


Brother was shooting a bolt action 22 at 50 yds. Damn near blew it to peices.



Now time to go clean some rifles.

[BRPORSCHE]

Here is the broski shooting the Mauser.
YouTube - MVI 0371

[azasadny]

Good shooting!

[Jeff Higgins]

That looks like a sporterized military Mauser, Tom. As such, the rear sight, even when bottomed out, will have the rifle shooting quite high at normal hunting ranges. The idea was for the rifle to be able to provide hits on man sized targets out to 400-500 yards with no elevation corrections, simply by holding mid-torso. This arrangement works in battle, where all you want is disabling hits, but it is far from suitable on a hunting rifle. You need to get some proper sights, and get them properly zeroed, before even thinking about hunting with this rifle.

That, and I'm sorry, but you will need to learn to shoot it one hell of a lot better than that before you go hunting with it. Your 50 yard target indicates that range is even a bit too far to ethically shoot at live animals with your current skill level, especially considering that target was shot from a rest. Get the sights squared away, spend the next year practicing with that rifle, and be ready to hunt next season. When you can shoot groups less than half that size (yes, with open sights) at 200 yards, you will be ready to go hunting. Not before.

[BRPORSCHE]

Jeff, I am glad you posted on this subject for that very reason. I have been questionable at best at 50 yards. My contacts need replacing with a new script so I will try that until I can get much better at the fifty. I am not in the bizness of wounding animals. I want it to be a swift kill.

I have been reading up on the "bolt action rifle for less than $500" thread with lots of great info. I think my next investment will either be more practice or a remington 700 with a nice glass on it.

Thank you Jeff.

[Jeff Higgins]

You have all the rifle you need in that 8mm Mauser, Tom. I would go so far as to say it's a better rifle than any Remington M700. If it wasn't drilled and tapped for scope bases as a part of the sporterizing process, any competent gunsmith can do so for very little cost.

One of the issues for scope mounting on Mausers (and Springfields) is that big old safety on the back of the bolt. It will hit a properly mounted scope. Since this is an age-old problem, solutions have long since been worked out. There are cheap aftermarket safeties readily available, that can be fitted at the same time by the same gunsmith that drills and taps the receiver for scope bases.

There are a few features of the Mauser action that make it essentially the bolt action of choice, and the one by which all others are measured. The massive claw extractor is essentially dead reliable and bulletproof under even the worst conditions, where the cheesy little extractors fitted to M700's and the like can break, or pull a tiny little piece of the rim off of a stuck case, leaving it effectively stuck. That Mauser extractor also grabs the rim of the case as it leaves the magazine when feeding it into the chamber; the M700 (and others) simply pop the round up and out of the magazine without grabbing hold of it, then just pushing it willy-nilly in the general direction of the chamber. I've seen these rifles pop the next round out the ejection port instead of into the chamber.

That safety is also a great feature of the old Mauser. It locks the firing pin and the bolt, or just the firing pin - your choice. Aftermarket safeties retain the same functionality, but just swing differently so as to clear a scope. M700 safeties block the sear, not the firing pin. The firing pin is still free to move. I really, really don't like the idea of that.

Anyway, you've got the rifle - my vote is to spend money on ammo and practice, practice, practice. Maybe look at getting some instruction, or some instructional videos or something. G. David Tubb has some excellent videos on the ins and outs of rifle shooting - I bet Amazon might have them. Midway would if they don't.

Rifle shooting is definitely a challenge. Just picking one up and making it go "bang" is the easy part. Getting proficient takes a good deal of effort and commitment. Not many people (unfortunately, including modern day "hunters") put the necessary time and effort into it. Ammo is expensive for centerfire rifles, even if you handload your own, and it takes a good deal of it to really become expert with the rifle. It is very gratifying once you have attained a high level of skill, though, making all that trouble and expense worthwhile.

[Tim Hancock]

From a rested position, groups of a couple inches is cake with a rifle. You must be yanking on the trigger and/or flinching.

[BRPORSCHE]

Once again thanks Jeff. I'll go back to the range this week since I have some days off from work and I'll try and put some more rounds through it. I really enjoy shooting this round and I do think I am doing a flinch and maybe pulling the trigger to hard. I'll calm myself down and see if I can tighten up my groups. Also I am shooting a lot of different ammo to see what works best. It sure likes the surplus ammo the best.

[Jeff Higgins]

One of the best things you can do for yourself is to get one of the strap on shoulder pads. PAST makes a darn good one. I use one when shooting anything bigger than a .22 rimfire. Recoil has a cumalative affect, especially when it gets up into the range of something like the 8mm Mauser. A pad will go a long ways towards allowing you to concentrate on things other than recoil.

[Superman]

It does take some time to stop expecting the recoil. To ignore it. It takes a while.

If you expect to be hunting in thick brush, then iron sights make more sense. Otherwise, scopes are the thing. If a rifle has a scope, and if you've got some sand bags or something suitable, you can rest your shoulder against the stock while the rifle is resting on sand bags. This way, when the shot is fired, you KNOW where the scope was pointed.

With the rifle resting on your hands, the trick is to breathe correctly, squeezing the trigger only when the crosshairs are right on the money. If you shake a bit and the crosshairs come off target, you stop squeezing.

[RPKESQ]

Listen to Jeff.

You can train yourself to pull a trigger without a flinch. "Dry" fire is a big part of Olympic small bore rifle training (yes you can develop a flinch even on .22 rimfires), they spend several hours a day at it.

Have a buddy balance a coin on your barrel just behind the front sight (when you are in position to DRY fire) and learn to pull the trigger with the pad of your fingertip. When you can fire without the coin falling off you have acheived the skill you are lacking.

[BRPORSCHE]

Jeff, Tim, and Frenchy,

Any chance you guys could come to Houston to help me tighten up my groups? I am sure a few hrs with you guys would help exponentially.

[emcon5]

You may want to make sure there isn't something wrong with the gun before you spend any money on it. Do you know any experienced rifle shooters who could give it a go, and make sure it is worth the effort?

How were you holding the rifle when shooting it? Was the rifle supported at all, or were you up on your elbows like your brother?

Some of the Military Mauser sights are OK, some (particularly the German K98k) are horrible, and depending on the model, it may have been set up to zero at some ridiculous range. There has also been some speculation that in the old days they aimed for the belt buckle. Regardless, if you plan on hunting with it with irons, you need a taller front sight blade.

Assuming the rifle is accurate enough to bother, you could take it to a gunsmith and get it drilled and tapped for a scope.