My Kid wants a gun...

Home | 3/3/03 | Patton

[patton]

Ok, my son is ready to upgrade from his .22 (the one my dad gave me).

His requirements are 1000m accuracy, cheap ammo.

Our deal is I buy the hardware, he buys the optics.

1000$ limit ($800 rifle, $200 optics).

Ideas?

[Squantos]

There ya go......One of my favorite rifles is an old swedish 6.5x55 mauser in the original stock . A gun smith buddy of mine had played around with it by cutting the barrel back to 20 inches, recessed 11 degree crown on a factory barrel. The stock and original metal furniture was also modified to make the rifle appear "original"...mannlicher like for a better description.

As that we had less than a 100 bucks in the old gun we put a cheap old Tasco 6-18 scope on it, bedded the action with accraglass and I am getting less than 1 inch groups at a 100 yards with a number of commercial loads. I have not been able to work up a handload yet but that is in the plans.

All told I have about 160$ invested including mounts , scope, slings and original price ect . My next plan is to add one of brownells recoil lugs to increase my glass bedding surface and free float the barrel. Attempt to "clean up" the stock with the oven cleaner trick and add just enough wood to the cheek of the stock to keep from adding a cheek pad thus bringing my eye in line with the scope perfectly.

All kitchen table modifications per se. All said it's a simple , accurate , viable little truck gun I have used on everything from antelope, coyotes and javalina . The 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser is a very good all round caliber that folks should look into.

Stay Safe and good hunting .....

[sean327]

$30 and you only need to pass the background check. You have to apply to the BATF. It took about 3 months for mine to come back approved.

[yarddog]

Now you've started something.

I too think the Swedish Mauser is the perfect compromise of power, recoil, killing ability, long range, and in Swedish Rifles, accuracy.

I once had a neighbor-gun dealer, order 6 at one time. I still recall the cost, $60 each plus shipping which was reasonable.

I ordered my first one at 18 through the mail. Since I had ordered ammo too, I had to pick it up at Railway express because the Post Office would not deliver ammo. I took it down to my Uncle's swamp and using the 160 grain round nose jacketed bullets, it would penetrate any tree I shot it at, including some which must have had a diameter of five feet or so.

I would guess I have owned maybe 20 of the Swedes in my lifetime and have yet to get a bad one. All of them are accurate.

Not long after I bought my first Swedish Mauser I got a M-95 Chilean Mauser marked Deutsch, Waffen und Munitions Fabriken, Berlin. This rifle was plain and simply a work of art. I have never seen to this day, a better made rifle including custom guns. Around the same time, I saw an article in "The American Rifleman" where a guy had won a 1000 yard match using an unmodified (except for deepening the rear sight notch), Chilean 7mm Mauser. He was believe it or not using the open sights which came on the gun.

I once lived in Western Kansas and our gun club had a 1000 yard range. I discovered there just how accurate open sighted Mausers can be at long range. Now I am not going to tell you they are better than scopes because they are not but the difference is not great and for some reason open sights are better at long range than short. I do recall just how easy it was to hit a gong at 400 yards using a 7.65 Argentine Mauser and surplus 7.65 ammo.

[wardaddy]

1000M range?

Less on gun, more...much more on optics.

[patton]

Read the thread, wardaddy.

We came to that conclusion already.

[wardaddy]

Even the best BP (which is all I hunt with) like an Encore or Winchester Mag or a Disc style in line is only going to be reliably deer accurate out to about 250-300 yards with 3 pellets and good optics and sabots or barnes powerbelt ballistic bullets.

Now I know sharpshooters and pickets in TWBTS and before hit their targets way past that from time to time even with smoothbores but it was the exception rather than the rule.

[wardaddy]

LOL....you must be shooting a Napolean....any bp long gun is going to drop yards and yards at 1000m if it even can make it.

Have you looked at BP trajectory tables?

My Winchester X-150 which is very accurate nevertheless drops about 4 inches at 200 yards with 3 pellets and a 385 grain copper Barnes.

[wardaddy]

I'm late to this one obviously.

I just had to jump in right away.

Sorry.

[patton]

No problem - it was a very interesting discussion!

Ryan really likes the Savage - we spent some time looking
at one on the web.

Next stop, GUN STORE!

[Nakota]

Tikka Master Sporter in .308 $750

[patton]

Everybody is fixated on .308 - I wonder why?

[Shooter 2.5]

Cheap practice ammo.

When I'm reloading, I like Sierra MatchKings, 2520 powder, Lake City brass and Winchester primers. Careful on the Military brass such as Lake City, You have to drop the powder amount down a little. Pay attention to the reloading manual and it's warnings.

[tore]

just buy your kid a Mauser Karabine model 98, u know, the rifle the germans used under ww1 and ww2, dousins of possibilities, i have all models, the turkish cavalry model, the german cavalry model, the sniper model and all that, not to mention a luger P08, Mauser Kar 98 is one of the best rifles u can get, it has 7.92 mm and cheap ammo, good with scope to. go for it, or if u want a pistol, go for a Glock 17L Competition, or a Smith&Wesson .22 lr, if u wanna buy urself a pistol, go for a Smith%Wesson .357 or a Desert Eagle .50 AE or maybe a Colt M1991a1 .45 cal, the colt is a good gun, personally i use my m1911a1, much more reliable, but for modern guys, use a m1911a1, good luck with your gun choice tore