Mauser M03 or Poleaxe?

I've been hunting for a big boar that's been hanging around the bottom corner of two farms for several months. I've seen him at night under spotlight, initially mistaking him for an Angus steer in the tussocks and grass, off in the distance. I've seen him a few times wandering on distant hillsides in the early dawn light. One morning I watched from a hilltop as he dawdled towards me and into a patch of heavy bracken, from which he didn't emerge. Google Earth later told me the closest he came was 700 metres. I crossed a few fences and creeks and worked my way over there, having pinpointed his last position. As I bravely snooped around in the shoulder high bracken, which was flattened here and there by his lolling around and digging, I tripped his alarm system from just a little too close for comfort, for him and me. From only five or so metres away he exploded into a charge that made the bracken fronds shake and quiver, thankfully in the direction that was straight away from me. Once again, a wild boar saved me the expense of getting a cardiogram to check that my ticker could still cope with sudden abuse. Raw and natural adrenaline is a stunningly effective drug that fixes pretty well any ailment you might have, for a while. I followed as best I could, finding his stretched out hoof prints once they left the bracken and traversed the closely cropped grass. What a sight it would have been to see him bursting out of cover from across the gully. My daughter keeps telling me the puppy she wants would make a great hunting dog. :-)

The weather is warming up here in Oz. Summer is nearly upon us, but last Thursday morning was forecast to be cold at dawn, with a sunny but cool day to follow. I used the Bureau of Meteorology's new MetEye service to check what the wind would be doing and saw that at 5am it would be between 0 and 5 knots and perfectly directed into my face as I walked to the back area where the boar had taken up residence. Given that I'd been seeing him at distance across paddocks, for only a few minutes in the early dawn light before he found cover, I'd spent some mornings at the rifle range making sure I knew where my bullets were going. I dialled my 6.5x55, 270 Win and 30-06 Mauser M03 barrels in at 100, 300 and 500 metres, then worked out curves for distances out to 1000 metres. These Mauser barrels were consistently hitting the mark at 500 metres and I felt ready for a shot at 700 metres, if I couldn't get closer. It turns out that 700 metres is as far as I could go with the Zeiss Victory HT scope I was using with my 270 barrel. The ASV+ turret runs out of clicks at exactly that range.

It was the 270 I carried out to the Landcruiser in the dark at 4.15am. When I got to the farm I drove as quietly over the cattle-grid as I could (try that!) and then only a short distance before parking to the side of the driveway. I'd turned my headlights off while still out on the road and there was just enough light to see where I was going. This would be an easy walking hunt, with no pack or bumbag. Just a morning stroll for an hour or two, with only my Mauser, a few spare rounds and my earmuffs hanging on an old bootlace across my chest. I had my iPhone and earplugs in the breast pocket of my jacket, which for once was just right for the temperature. It would take me about 20 minutes to get to the hill above the bottom corner, by which time the light would be good enough to see what's to be seen, all around.

I walked quietly but briskly through the paddock, 150 metres down the slope from the farmhouse, without spooking the trainee sheepdog. No need to disturb Mr and Mrs Farmers' morning slumber. We've had a wet winter and a perfect spring so there's some thick and lush grass in the paddocks, particularly where the soil is softest. Makes for a nice change from the all too regular drought conditions. Another nice change was that I wasn't going to have to walk for miles without firing a shot, because there was the boar, right in front of me, enjoying the soft soil and long grass, only 70 metres away. And I'd spent all that time zeroing in at 700 metres! I quickly thought about the wind and despite what the Bureau had promised, I felt a puff on the back of my neck. 'Shit, he's gonna smell me any second', I said in my head as I plucked the earplugs out of the film canister. 'Don't make a noise closing it.' I rushed a bit, rolling them and shoving them in my ears, then lifted the earmuffs onto my head. I cocked the M03 quietly and started walking closer. Only the top half of the boar was visible in the thick and even carpet of grass. His head was down and facing away; I didn't think he'd see me. I stopped at 50 metres. I already had the scope set towards the lower end of its magnification range, on 4 power, but the boar was plenty big enough as the cross hair wobbled over its black mass. I didn't think about the range, so it's just as well I'd set it to 200m the night before, as I tend to do. The boar rotated to the right and his head came up. I saw his big floppy ears and his jaw chewing and then stop. 'Now, before he runs!' The wobbling crosshair passed across his shoulder and my finger pulled. The bang was pleasantly quiet. These earplugs and muffs are good things. The straight stock of my Mauser M03 absorbed the recoil really well and I saw the boar collapse in a wavelike motion, from his hind quarters to his snout. Just like you see on YouTube when some Bavarian prince is doing the shooting. Quite simply, like he'd been poleaxed.

So much for not disturbing folk who are still in bed. Oh well.

Someone will be curious; it was a Berger 150gn VLD Hunting bullet that did the trick. While these are named VLD for very low drag, they're an early design of Berger's and aren't super pointy like newer VLD designs. They've stuck with the designation since, they explained when I enquired, to avoid confusion. Not working! These Berger hunting bullets are designed to penetrate 10cm and then blow up, dumping their energy and sending fragments everywhere. This one didn't exit. It was instantly effective.

I was happy to have finally caught up with this boar. Everything had worked perfectly. But curiously, I also felt like it had been too easy. I hadn't walked more than five minutes from the car; probably less. I've always been as quiet as possible when closing doors and loading up magazines. You never know if a big pig is just over there.

A large boar shot with a Mauser M03 270 Winchester and a Berger 150gn VLD Hunting bullet.

A large boar shot with a Mauser M03 270 Winchester and a Berger 150gn VLD Hunting bullet.

Mauser M03 - Good Accuracy at 500 Metres with 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser

I went to the rifle range this morning with the job of getting my Mauser M03 with its 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser Match barrel dialled in at 500 metres, with a new bullet, being the Berger 130gn VLD Hunting. Up at the 500 metre mark I set up a nice new target then lifted a bunch of metallic silhouette rams onto their pedestals, to use in checking that the barrel and scope were close to being zeroed before punching holes in paper. A couple of other guys were setting rams up too and quickly sprayed fresh white paint over the recent bullet hits. Once I was back at the firing line I knocked two of them down with the first two shots of the day, using up a couple of soon to be superseded loads made with Nosler Accubond 140gn projectiles.

I used a pair of Wilson neck-sizing and bullet-seating dies to make up four reloads with the Berger 130gn bullets, with 46gn of ADI 2209 as the propellant. For the first shot I aimed at the middle of a ram. It went over the top, which is understandable. The 130gn Bergers are lighter and more slippery than the Nosler 140 grainers, so shoot a bit flatter. My second shot was aimed at the bottom of the ram's belly, but still went over, though not by much. I measured the difference between point of aim and point of impact with the Kahles K624i's MSR reticle and adjusted six clicks down. My third shot knocked the ram over - great fun that. :-) So I knocked another one over.

I reloaded the four empty cases and turned my attention to the target shown in the picture below. The shimmering heat mirage was distorting my view and made aiming at the fly quite tricky. I could only see it if the dot in the middle of the MSR reticle was away from it, so to take each shot I slowly moved the dot towards the fly and then tripped the Mauser's set trigger at what looked like the right moment. The shots felt pretty good. Checking with a big spotting scope was not much use - too much heat mirage being blown from left to right in the breeze that was varying around 5+ knots. It was only when I drove back up to the 500 metre mark that I saw the three shot group. The dispersion was half my handspan, so about 10 centimetres. I'm pretty sure I said to myself, 'Not bad! I think I'll be sticking with this load.'

I'd fired the fourth shot at the middle of a ram that was sitting to the right of my paper target. I hit it, smack in the middle, evidenced by a splotch in the fresh paint. Thank you to the guy who had the spray can. But this ram didn't fall over. That can happen if the shot lands too close to the middle, I was told. A less accurate rifle might have done a better job, by hitting the ram closer to the edge.

It's just as well these new Berger bullets are working in this Mauser M03 barrel. I'd forgotten that I already had a few boxes, so when the importer announced that new stock had arrived I ordered a few more. Bewdy!

A group fired at 500m with a Mauser M03 in 6.5x55 using Berger 130gn VLD Hunting bullets.

Mauser M03 - The 'New' Shorter Barrels

I'm keen to get your thoughts on Mauser's decision to make their full-length M03 barrels a few centimetres shorter than they used to be. This change was noted by RoyalTW who commented in an earlier post on 6.5x55 accuracy testing. I checked with Mauser and the answer is that M03 magnum calibre barrels have changed from 65cm to 62cm, while the M03 standard calibre barrels have gone from 60cm down to 56cm.

This means that the full length M03 barrels are now the same length as M12 barrels. I've also had a look at Mauser's webpages for M98 rifles. The M98 Magnum version has a 62cm barrel. After a bit of digging I found info on the M98 Custom (that is the 'normal' M98, the non 'Magnum' version, available in many calibres, several of which are magnums), which has a 60cm barrel. I found this in the Hunting Rifles Brochure under Downloads. There's a note that says 'other barrel lengths available on request'. So there should be, at M98 prices!

It seems that the trimming of M03 barrels came in on 1 July 2015. That's right folks, keep reading the Mauser M03 Blog for all the latest news. :-(

There's pros and cons here.

On the plus side:

- the shorter barrels will be easier to handle and point and a touch lighter. Some customers will like this, especially when comparing with a Blaser R8, which, with its shorter action and (previously) shorter barrels is whippier than a Mauser M03. Well, that's fine if you like that.

- shorter barrels can be more accurate than longer ones, as the effect of barrel vibration on shot dispersion is reduced. We're splitting hairs here, but that is what benchrest shooters do.

- your old and long M03 barrels are now collector's items and are possibly worth more. Mauser dealers with old stock of the 60 and 65cm barrels are sure to realise this. Don't point it out if you're buying.

- you get less of the excellent Mauser metal with the shorter barrels, so they should cost less. :-) Good luck with that.

However:

- there will be a reduction in muzzle velocity, though Mauser advise that this should be only 3 to 8 metres/second from a 3 cm shorter barrel, depending on calibre.

- there will be a minor increase in muzzle blast, but nothing like the increased blast from using a muzzle brake.

Click here to see Mauser's updated Caliber Overview document on their M03 Options webpage. Scroll down and open or save the Caliber Overview pdf. As you'll see, there's even shorter barrels available, at 47cm and 51cm. A short, solid barrel is just the ticket for driven boar, apparently. Maybe that's why I sometimes miss pigs that are on the run - my antique barrels are too long!

So, what do you think? Are there other benefits or problems with this change? If you read my earlier posts you'll see I'm a fan of the long barrels Mauser used to make for the M03. Looks like I might have to get with the program and update my thinking. Hmmm …. .