Mauser M03 - Barrel Change

I made a short video on the weekend showing the 6.5x55 Match barrel being removed and the 243 Winchester barrel being installed. The Kahles K624i scope is then reinstalled to the receiver. I had loosened the two barrel mounting screws before starting the camera. They were as 'hand-tight' as I could get them, so getting them loosened was a bit of a trick. I don't use a torque wrench; I just tighten by hand, as consistently as I can, with the Mauser T-key. It seems to be working as the 243 barrel dropped two rabbits with the first two shots, at 230 meters. :-)

Mauser M03 + Kahles K624i + Rabbits

This is a quick mobile post from yesterday's outing. With the first shot from the 6.5x55 barrel, cold & clean, I dropped the rabbit seen through the Kahles. Same again with the next two shots, all at 250m. Later in the day I installed the 243 barrel and hit at 230m with the first shots. Very happy with the repeatability and accuracy of the Mauser M03 system.

Mauser M03 Deluxe in 6.5x55 with Kahles K624i riflescope

The view through a Kahles K624i scope with MSR-K reticle

With the 6.5x55 & 140gn Nosler Accubonds,
better velocity from 46gn of 2209.

Mauser M03 - Chronographing 6.5x55 Loads

In the video linked below I'm firing 6.5x55 hand loads over a chronograph. The idea is to use the velocity and ballistic coefficient of the projectile to work out the ballistic curve, for long range shooting. But I think I'll be working the load up to a higher velocity, which hopefully will help improve the group size too - often does. These loads were Lapua cases and 45 grains of 2209 pushing Nosler Accubond 140 grain bullets. The average velocity from the 60cm barrel was 2667fps. The group size is 24mm; not as good as the 12.5mm three shot group from the previous week.

Lapua Cases - 243 Win & 6.5x55

I'm developing hand-loads for my Mauser M03 barrels in 243 Winchester and 6.5x55 calibers. The pictures below show the spread of weights for new Lapua cases, in 0.1 grain groupings. 

The 243 cases are in a wide, peaky, skewed Bell curve distribution; the mode is 171.3gn. Can you see the case that is fifth from the end of the long column? Even the best cases come with dings.

The spread for the 6.5x55 cases is not as wide, but isn't a neat Bell curve either. The mode for the 6.5 cases is 179.2 gn. It's an unusual distribution, which almost suggests the cases are from two batches.

I need a volunteer to do this with a thousand cases, to see if the curves get neater. :-)

Lapua 243 Winchester cases, sorted into 0.1 grain groupings. Mode = 171.3gn.

Lapua 6.5x55 cases, sorted into 0.1 grain groupings. Mode = 179.2gn.

Mauser M03 - Accuracy - 243 Win & 6.5x55

It was a beautiful spring day yesterday, though the wind picked up a little in the afternoon while I was doing some load testing with my Mauser M03 Deluxe and two barrels - a standard profile 243 Winchester and a match profile 6.5x55. The video below shows a group from the 243 and then the first three shot group from the 6.5. I'm quite happy with how these barrels are working. The target board I'm using, the same as in my earlier videos, shows how hand loading is delivering better results than the factory ammunition used with my 270 Win and 30-06 barrels. I'll be developing hand loads for those later.

The 243 load uses 95gn Berger VLD Hunting and 42gn of 2209.
For the 6.5x55 it's 140gn Nosler Accubond and 45gn of 2209.
Lapua cases and RWS primers for both.

Mauser M03 - Hunting in Norway

Here are some photos of Simen Naess' new Mauser M03 in use during a hunt for caribou in Norway. The terrain is wide and open and getting into a good firing position involved much stalking and crawling, over moss, grass, rocks and shrubs, while paying full attention to the wind and the state of the herd. Simen's M03 has the beautiful Grade 5 walnut seen in an earlier post and is fitted with a 30-06 barrel. This new M03 is already living the full life of a real hunting rifle. The stock will be developing a patina that tells the story of the adventures it has been on with Simen, while still looking great from the proper maintenance it receives, including with a good, natural stock treatment.

Thanks for the photos Simen. :-)

Mauser M03 Deluxe - Photos

This weekend was all about doing maintenance on my trusty old Landcruiser. Saturday - changed the front and rear differential oils, topped up the gearbox and transfer case and adjusted the handbrake. Sunday morning - checked the wheel bearings. By the time I'd tidied up and scoffed some lunch it was getting a bit late to head out hunting. Not to mention how stiff and sore I was from crawling around under that Landcruiser. But, the late afternoon was ideal for a few photos of my new Mauser M03 Deluxe. This is Mauser's Grade 5 walnut.

I've included at the bottom photos of a selection of stocks, taken by Mauser while my Deluxe was being made. They were sent to Miall's Gun Shop and then to me, so I could nominate an order of preference. Upon ordering the rifle I was asked if I had a general preference and 'Dark wood with stripes' was sent to Germany on my behalf. Stocks Nr. 1 and Nr. 2 are plenty dark, but after some deliberation I put Nr. 3 first, which is dark and light, with colour and stripes. I had quite a smile on when I opened the shipping box a few months later, to see the complex grain of Nr. 3 with my own eyes. :-)

Mauser M03 Deluxe with Kahles K624i

A new Mauser M03 in Norway

A Mauser friend in Norway has provided pictures of his new M03. Fantastic wood! I think I'm right in reporting that this is Grade 6 walnut and that the barrel is a 30-06. Excellent choices.

Enjoy. :-)

Correction - this is Grade 5 walnut, which Mauser has fashioned into a beautiful, warm, impressive and purposeful rifle stock. It is being put to use right now and I wish the owner 'good hunting!'

Mauser M03 - Accuracy - 243 Winchester

Before heading out hunting a few weeks ago and again yesterday I quickly loaded up some 243 Winchester rounds, to test for pressure with the new Lapua cases I'm using. I'm not doing serious load development yet, just some quick proofing. Any time spent at a noisy rifle range is time that could have been spent better out hunting.

The first time I tried the new 243 barrel was with Speer Grand Slam 100gn projectiles. The pic below shows that targets the size of pigs out to 200m are in trouble, by I want better than that. I loaded these three rounds with my new Wilson in-line dies and a K&M arbor press, so could feel the tension of the bullets being seated. The very end of each neck was turned in slightly from fire-forming, which made seating the next bullet difficult. I think this happened because I put a small chamfer on the outside of the neck rim with an RCBS neck chamfering tool. That slight bevel might be a problem under high pressure in the chamber, causing the end of the neck to be pinched in. I'd put two chamfer angles on the inside of the necks as well, to make seating easy, but the pinching inwards right at the opening was still a problem. Given the trouble I had seating the bullets, I wasn't expecting them to shoot well.

A poor group from badly loaded test rounds. 6mm Speer Grand Slam 100gn

Some new 95gn Berger VLD Hunting bullets had arrived in the mail, so I tried these with some fired cases that had the neck pinching rectified, with a K&M neck expanding tool. This is normally used to prepare cases for neck turning, but is also good for straightening out any neck pinching. These bullets seated smoothly and consistently. I set them to 20 thousandths of an inch from the lands on top of 42 grains of 2209.

Resting over the front of my Landcruiser again, in a bit of crosswind on a farm, the first shot with the Bergers, with a clean and cold barrel, landed right where I wanted it to. The point of impact was consistent with the Speer Grand Slams, so that's a bonus. I fired the second and had to look really closely through my Kahles 24 power scope. Same hole! I should have stopped there as I don't ever expect to shoot a feral beastie three times. The third shot landed slightly lower - could've been me shaking a bit - my Landcruiser is not a concrete bench. This is a great result for loads that were thrown together before heading out. 13.5mm centre to centre. I will be tuning this load by adjusting the seating depth and the powder charge, so it could get better. I might actually waste a morning at a range to see how good this barrel can be.

The bolt is from my new Mauser M03 Deluxe, which has the 243 Win barrel fitted at the moment. Once I have loads for this one sorted, I'll start on the 6.5x55 Match barrel. Should be good. :-)

A better group with 6mm Berger VLD Hunting 95gn. 

Mauser M03 - 270 Winchester Does It Again

I'd spent all Saturday sorting Lapua cases and working out how to use the new L.E Wilson reloading dies I'd bought for my 243 Winchester and 6.5x55 barrels. I was keen to make a start on working up loads for those and by mid morning on Sunday had assembled some test shots for the 243. I rushed about the place to get everything ready for an afternoon out - I'd test the loads, sight in a scope and maybe get some stalking and then spotlighting in as well.

By mid afternoon I was firing the first shots with my new Mauser M03 barrel in 243 Winchester. I'd found some 100gn Speer Grand Slam projectiles at a local shop and the first hand-load made it onto the edge of the card. As expected the 40gn charge of 2209 was a light to medium load. Another helped me adjust the sights, back a bit, then three for a group. They went into 21mm at 100m. Pretty good for the first group, with loads that were virtually thrown together. I'm still waiting for the Wilson bullet seating die for the 243, so these bullets were tapped in using a seating stem stolen from an RCBS 220 Swift die. My kids watched and called it MacGyver style!

With the testing done, I went for a good walk with my M03 270 Winchester, then sat with my Landcruiser at dusk, at the bottom of a long broad valley. The south facing slope was lush and green, with patches of clipped grass and bracken. The north facing slope behind was more dry and bare up the top. Every now and then I turned 360 degrees with my binoculars. On one such sweep I whispered as the scene panned past my eyes. "Flock of sheep. Flock of sheep. Another flock of sheep. A flock of black sheep. More sheep, white ones this time"  What? Black sheep? Look again. They're pigs!

Out with the 270 and a sandbag, over the hood of the Landcruiser. Wait a moment for the pigs to move clear of the sheep. Range - 230m. Bang. First one down. They're running left and right along the fence on the ridge top. Three are trying to get through a hole in the wire mesh. Bang. Second one down.

I found another up on the top of the hill where he was looking for his friends. Three down.