TECHNICAL REVIEW

THE MAUSER 98: UNPARALLELED ACTION FOR ALL HUNTING RIFLES

 

Hunting success hinges on fleeting opportunities at trophy animals.  As hunters we understand that the difference between success and failure often comes down to a single instant, and so we choose the best equipment available –the best rifles, optics, and clothing.  In rifles, the Mauser 98 --heart of every Empire Rifle-- is the original and still the ultimate controlled feed action.

 

The Mauser 98’s precision and reliability are mythical, as attested by over a century of use in British, Belgian and German “best” rifles.  Empire Rifles follows in these tracks.

 

One has to understand the Mauser’s technical strengths to appreciate it’s peerless reliability. 

 

The 98 has fewer parts than most modern actions, yet it’s few parts fit together like a Chinese puzzle, each part working off of the others, and though this bolt-action battle rifle has often been imitated, it has never been equaled.    

 

While there are many excellent actions on which to build a custom hunting rifle, but we believe none rise to the level of the 98.

 

MAUSER FEATURES:

 

Ø        Large non-rotating extractor blade of hardened steel, providing the “controlled feeding” for which Mausers are most famous. The blade holds the cartridge over 90° of the rim circumference from the moment it is stripped from the magazine to the moment it is ejected.

Ø        Undercut bolt head, and corresponding dovetail on the forward edge of the extractor blade guide.  As the bolt is lifted and moves rearward, the extractor dovetail engages the undercut, locking the extractor over the cartridge rim.  This prevents the extractor from jumping the cartridge rim during extraction. 

Ø        Cams inside the receiver rings, which engage the bolt locking lugs during loading and extraction.

Ø        Guide rail on bolt body, which prevents the bolt from binding and gives the Mauser its famous smoothness.

Ø        Third rear locking lug, for added safety.  The bolt handle also acts as a fourth lug by locking in the tang behind the rear ring.

Ø        Cam on rear receiver ring, engaged by the bolt handle as it is lifted, aiding to pull cases from the chamber.

Ø        Massive shroud, full radius gas blocking design minimizes the possibility of escaping gas reaching the shooter.

Ø        Bolt body with large gas ports, and internal half-moon safety lugs which engage the firing pin’s safety shoulders.

Ø        Safety shoulders on the firing pin preventing it from striking the primer with a less-than-fully-closed bolt.

Ø        The 98 can be completely field stripped without tools down to its smallest components.

 

MAUSER FUNCTION:

 

Interaction between these features give the Mauser it’s unequalled function and reliability.  Lifting the Mauser bolt causes the action’s two workhorses, the bolt and extractor blade, to move:  the bolt rotates counter-clockwise; while the non-rotating extractor claw stays static.  Amazingly, this sets in motion seven separate processes:

 

Ø       the  action is cocked,

Ø       the bolt handle cams against the rear receiver ring, pulling the bolt body rearward,

Ø       the bolt recoil lugs assist this movement by caming rearward against the grooves inside the receiver rings,

Ø       this caming action pulls the extractor claw slightly forward, and its dovetail engages the undercut bolt head, locking the blade onto the cartridge rim,

Ø       as the bolt cams to the rear, the cartridge is pulled from the chamber,

Ø       until the bolt handle is returned to the fully closed position, the non-rotating firing pin’s safety shoulders engage the half-moon lugs inside the bolt body, preventing accidental discharge,

Ø       the guide rail is aligned with the grooved rear receiver ring to assist smooth bolt travel.

 

For comparison, two events occur when you lift the bolt on a Winchester 70: the action is cocked, and the bolt disengages from the receiver. 

 

The Mauser grabs and locks onto the cartridge rim, cams it into the chamber, rips it back out, and flings the extracted empty before grabbing the next shot from the magazine.  The massive firing pin shrugs off ice and grime, punching the primer for every shot.  These failsafe qualities drive professionals to bet their lives, and the lives of their clients, on the Mauser.  Shouldn’t these qualities be brought to bear on the trophy of a lifetime, dangerous or not? 

 

Although rightly popular for dangerous game, the 98 was created for light cartridges, originally chambered for the 6.5X55, the 7X57, and as the Springfield 03 for the venerable 30.06.  It was created to function under the stress of battle, conditions more challenging than most hunts.  If you are betting success on one shot under any condition nature can serve up, it only makes sense to apply the  Mauser’s  virtues to trophies such a deer, sheep, and antelopes. . .

 

Time is increasingly precious.  You invest a lot of energy and resources getting a trophy into your  sights, you owe yourself the best equipment available –and the best action, the one most likely to make shot after shot in rain, ice, mud, and dust, is unquestionably the Mauser.  By building rifles exclusively on the 98, Empire Rifles is delivering to its clients the very best rifles ever designed.

 

 

 

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