A talk with John Miall

Soon into my hunt for a new scope I noticed that the European manufacturers have the habit of showing their optics mounted on top of very nice European rifles. Hmmm - perhaps my old Remington was complicit in committing the crime of poor accuracy with its partner, Loopy the Leupold.

Sauer rifles featured prominently in Leica's videos, where I also saw rifles by Schultz & Larsen and Mauser. Video - Leica Magnus on Mauser M03

Mausers I knew a little about. The 1898 action is famous of course, for the strength, safety and accuracy attributed to its front locking lug design, but also for the controlled round feed with claw extractor and the concertina stacking magazine. Years back I had a Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55 and then an Israeli Mauser - a second world war K98 converted to 7.62 NATO. I'd been impressed with the design and smoothness of the actions and the quality of the pre-war Swede, though not the triggers I have to say. They were heavy and creepy, but plenty safe enough. I'd read articles that were full of praise for post-WWII switch barrel hunting rifles made by Mauser. Clearly, I needed to look into what Mauser was up to these days.

The Mauser website covers the product range but is a bit light on for detail. If leaving visitors with the desire to learn more from gunshop sales staff is the strategy behind the site's spartan design, it's working. It soon had me making a phone call to Mialls Gun Shop, to get some colour and flavour to fill in the gaps. I was passed on to John Miall himself and started the conversation by saying I thought my first new rifle in 20 years ought to be German. Why not treat myself to a new Mauser M98? It didn't take too long before a good reason emerged - they start at $18,000. "Right. OK. Might have to keep that in mind for later," I said. "What else have you got?" John was generous with his time and explained the ins and outs of the Mauser M03 system, its pros and cons as he saw them, as well as those of the Blaser rifles which he also imports. John talked about the excellent accuracy he had experienced with both systems and the convenience of their take-down interchangeable barrels and quick detachable scope mounts. We got into some detail on the safety benefits of the cocking/decocking mechanisms and then talked about the triggers. John described the Blaser R8 trigger as being very good, but I recall that his words for the Mauser M03 trigger included 'outstanding'. That got my attention. I like good triggers.

I was impressed with the frankness and clarity of John's thoughts on Mauser and Blaser and the other German rifles, including Sauer, as well as his reflections on the state of the European firearms manufacturing scene, where Blaser is dominant. While I'd asked about Mauser at first, I had a wide field of view, which John catered to with good things to say about each manufacturers' switch barrel offerings. But overall I could sense that John was suggesting I should have a good look at why Blaser is so popular in Europe and increasingly so in Australia and the US. Even though I explained that I'd found what I needed online, John insisted that he would post some Blaser and Mauser catalogues and flyers to me. "It's nice to have them in your hands to read through," he said and he was right. A year and a half later they look like they've been thoroughly enjoyed.