Shooting the M1930 Mauser

[ovenpaa]

A thread on the forum a couple of days ago prompted me to haul my old FN built Mauser 7,92x57 out yesterday and take a closer look mostly to confirm it was in shootable condition but also to try and decide on exactly what it is as the receiver has been scrubbed at some point.

A strip down revealed a reasonable looking rifle, not pristine however solid enough to shoot so without further ado I started on the barrel which was looking rather dark. I have never seen patches come out in such a foul state and several applications of C2R removed a filthy black sludge which just kept coming out, so mush so that I gave up come evening and started again first thing today. After half an hour more I decided to take a closer look with the bore scope which revealed some cracking and some rust so it was at this stage I decided to move to JB paste. Fast forward two hours of JB followed by methylated soaked patches and repeat and the patches were starting to lighten up so it was back to C2R and eventually come mid afternoon the barrel was approaching something close to clean if not perfect so I grabbed a box of 200 grain factory ammunition and headed off to the range.

Wow, the M1930 is a small rifle and gives quite a smack when shooting off a rest however shot offhand with worked incredibly well and I was soon knocking down impromptu reactive targets such as old shotgun cartridge boxes and scaring broken bits of clays. the controlled feed is slick however the trigger leaves a lot to be desired, I do have a match trigger that would fit however it is probably best to leave it as it is.

I noticed this morning that the steel butt plate has left a bruise on my shoulder, it is a long time since that happened!

[froggy]

I do have a match trigger that would fit however it is probably best to leave it as it is.
+1, I suspect you have far more accurate toys in your cabinet, so enjoy it for what it is , ie : a lovely rifle

[ovenpaa]

Froggy, I count myself very lucky in that I just enjoy rifles regardless of accuracy and sometimes a hand sized group at 100 yards is every bit as satisfying as hitting a 5" disk at 1000 yards or a rabbit at 750 yards. In the case of the Mauser my eyes are the limiting factor and the rear ladder starts at 200m, one thing I could do is replace the front blade to set it for 100 which would remove the need to aim off.