Why are 8mm Mausers preferred over LEs?

I find it easier to get ammo for the k98 than .303. Most .303 surplus ammo is corrosive and there is a delay in some of the older stuff. I don't have any problems with vintage or surplus 8mm.
 
Personal preference, local history. It is a different story between South Africa and Australia. In the US one could ask why we prefer 30-06 1903's to 8mm Mausers....

Jimro
 
Both are excellent rifles, when considered within the history of each weapon. They say the Germans brought a hunting rifle to WWII, the British brought a battle rifle, and the Americans brought Tommy guns....or something like that.
 
"Roger that" kilimanjaro.
Do Mauser owners often want a "rc" German-built K 98 because of the classic looks and likely German origin for the various mismatched parts, or do they often want a Czech or Yugo which probably have bores and overall metal in better condition, apparently (mostly) with straight bolts for their first?

These Czechs/Yugos reportedly seem to be in better condition than most "rc"s.
 
Last edited:
I have several Enfields and just two K98s.........one was a Norwegian surrender weapon now in .30-06 and the other a Russian capture, a 1940 make with quite a few matching parts and great appearance. I like both Mausers for the history behind them, although the condition of each is quite nice.

I did get a nice Turkish Mauser last month, it's a good rifle, but not quite the history lesson of the others. (It's part of the WWII collection because Turkey was wooed by both sides to enter the war, a lot of money and arms were spent and supplied to no avail.)

I'll try and get a good Czech or Yugo this year. There's still a lot of them out there and the Capture Mausers are about gone.
 
And so the prices for Czechs and Yugos should be a good bit lower than a "RC" in similar condition, (even if the RC has no matching parts), mostly because there are many more of these east Euro rifles in the US than RCs?

There must be many more ways to compare various 8mm Mausers with each other, than various LEs.

For reloaders, are 7.92 mm bullets much harder to find than .311 LE bullets, or pricier?

:)Classicarms in NC now has Lee Enfield #4s, Czech Mausers and K-31s on their website.
Somebody with a quick $750-800 needs to order one of each.:cool:
 
Last edited:
http://www.cybertorpedo.com/africanhunter/firearms/303_british_rifle_01.htm

http://www.cybertorpedo.com/africanhunter/classcart/303_british_rifle_01.htm

A. Cannon Doyle and Rudyard Kipling blamed skill and training for problems the British had in Africa, the British were using British rifles, their 'neighbors' were using Mausers, the British soldier in Africa would have traded the British rifles for their neighbor's rifle.

We went to Cuba with the 30/40 Krag, we would have traded the 30/40 Krag for the Mauser but that was not an option,

We spent 16 years developing a rifle for the next event, We basically went to war with a rifle the British developed starting in about 1906, everything would have worked out had they keep the 303 cartridge or developed a new powder for the .276, We built the P14 Enfield for the British and then used the same equipment to build the M1917, in WW1 the M1917 was the best thing that could have happened to us at the time, the British claim the Enfield is a Mauser design, they did not claim it was an Enfield Design.

Seems the Mauser preference started long before me, as for me, I have always had a choice when purchasing a rifle, Enfield? Mauser? There is just about nothing I can do with an Enfiled, with my self imposed limits there is nothing I can not do with a Mauser, beyond that there is the Enfield M1917, that should please most, the M1917 is a Mauser design British rifle adapter to the 30/06, a scaled up copy of the 7mm57.

F. Guffey
 
Nice history briefing.
Am now a 'turncoat', bought my first Mauser at yesterday's gun show from a buddy who snagged it from a "carry-in"; nice Yugo 48A.

Lots of fun shooting but doubt it will cure the "LE Virus", only prolong the delirium. Both of these types make my (former) MN 44 seem like a tough but somewhat crude battle rifle.

Learned via a quick bulletin board response last night why the Mauser bolt did not close during my first attempt with such a rifle:confused:: the first round was stripped too slowly from the magazine, guided inwards by hand, and the next two rounds pushed by hand over the mag., straight into the chamber. Never saw this with the MNs or LE #4, #5s.

The extractor claw's critical "controlled round feed", Only from the magazine, also surprised three friends who are highly-experienced with rifles, but mostly other types.
 
Last edited:
They say the Germans brought a hunting rifle to WWII, the British brought a battle rifle, and the Americans brought Tommy guns....or something like that.
Click to expand...

More like: The Germans brought a hunting rifle to WWII, the British brought a battle rifle, and the Americans brought everthing but the kitchen sink. They did however bring portable sinks...... just not the cast iron enamel coated kitchen model.
 
Like both

I'm faster with my 2A snap shooting at 25 yards, but both are fun to shoot. 8mm ammo's cheaper, so Mauser's the better deal. Somehow, "tossing" 196 grains feels better than 147 grains, but it's all in my mind. In an emergency, if I had to, I can group 11 rounds nicely with the LE 2A if I had to drop a crazy dude with an assult rifle 30 yards out...
 
Last edited:
Tiki: Keep it cool man.
The KGB, Stasi and "Neighborhood Organizers" (Tovarichi=Kameraden) Senators Feinstein/Schumer etc may be reading.

These people are like British Police Commissioners: afraid of their own shadows and don't have the common sense to differentiate between criminals and law-abiding citizens.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top