The Greatest Rifle Ever Made

by
posted on August 19, 2016
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
greatest_rifle_ever_made_f.jpg

At first glance, declaring a rifle “the greatest ever” was to be a daunting task. The rifle, as we know it, has been around for hundreds of years and many examples have come as close to perfection as imagination and technology allowed. Rifles have been made to shoot tiny groups at ungodly ranges and have been crafted with almost unimaginable beauty. After much reflection, though, the choice was relatively simple. The same contender kept showing up on every list. No, it's not a rifle that's known for especially great accuracy, or because it features hundreds of hours of masterful engraving. Its genius is in its fundamental design—function personified. The winner, in my book, must be the 1898 Mauser.

Oh, you disagree? Fine—but name for me a bolt-action design introduced since the Mauser that isn’t an evolution or an all-out plagiarization of the German masterpiece. Your list probably won’t require all of your fingers. The 1903 Springfield? A Mauser copy that required the payment of royalties. The Winchester Model 70? Clearly an evolution of the Mauser ‘98. Maybe a Kimber? They used the extractor. Ruger M77 Mk II? Yep. CZ 550? Aye. Are you sensing a trend here? Military- and police-issue Mausers were adopted by so many nations around the world that it’s nearly impossible to keep track. There are Czech Mausers, Turkish Mausers, Argentines, Chileans, Bolivians, Columbians, Mexicans, Siamese, Persians—you get the idea. In terms of being prolific as a battle rifle, one could say that the Mauser was the AKM of the first half of the 20th Century. There are so many factory variations of the basic 1898 design that entire books have failed to catalog them all. Mauser sporting rifles, whether factory, custom, or home-built, can be found anywhere that hunters roam.

The ’98 wasn’t the Mauser brothers’ first stab at a turn-bolt action, but it was certainly their most successful. The Mauser was designed as a military rifle and was state-of-the-art technology at its inception. War is, and was then, a dirty exercise prone to breaking out in inhospitable corners of the globe. Every element of the rifle was engineered to be reliable and durable in any conceivable environment. Enthusiasts often point to the 98’s massive, non-rotating claw extractor as the key to its reliability. While remarkable, it is but a single piece in the puzzle. Surplus military Mausers made a century ago feed, fire, extract and eject with reliability that many of today’s rifles could only dream about. The massive cocking piece doesn’t have the lock time of a target rifle, but it ensures that the primer goes bang every time. The gaping receiver may compromise rigidity, but its fast to load and has plenty of ejection clearance—factors that could become lifesavers during a dangerous game encounter.

Everything from the Mauser’s cock-on-opening operation to the fixed ejector was built to minimize and mitigate failure. If a catastrophic ammunition-related failure did occur, the 98’s gas-handling features and third bolt lug protected the shooter’s eyes and face from nasty wounds. Gas handling is a big deal that you’ll likely never concern yourself with until a case fails, at which point, it may be too late to consider. Paul Mauser himself lost an eye from a rifle firing out of battery, so his obsession with safety is understandable. Mauser’s August, 1895 patent application goes into specific detail regarding how his action design protects the shooter from gases that “forms not only a danger to the person using the arm but also causes more or less damage to the weapon”. Hunters afield are at no less risk of a case failure than soldiers were in the trenches of Verdun, and the Mauser protects each equally.

When Mauser began making sporting rifles, it did not delete the features that made its rifles so reliable on the battlefield. Rather, it embraced them. Likewise, when Mauser actions were exported to England to be made into Rigbys, Jeffreys and Westleys, their legendary reliability was maintained. Even today, the finest sporting rifles on the planet often begin as Mauser ‘98s, or modern clones. My .300 H&H was built on a 1909 Argentine Mauser and my 7x57mm was made from a Steyr G.29/40; there’s another 1909 on my bench at the moment that will resume life as a .35 Whelen. Firms such as Prechtl and FZH are building proper Mauser actions with tight tolerances and modern steels that combine the best of modern technology and a timeless Victorian-era design. Even with modern CNC machining methods available, the Mauser action is expensive and complicated to produce; that it was mass-produced so well with belt driven manual machines is staggering.

So we have an action designed on a military budget with almost no object to cost or commercial viability. This action was designed to be as reliable and as safe as possible and is capable of sub-MOA accuracy at the hands of a good maker with a fine barrel. It is so stylistically beautiful that even the famed “Golden Age” English gunmakers did not attempt to improve upon it. It can be scaled to the tiniest of centerfires and stretched to accommodate the largest elephant stoppers. It has been copied and adapted but still, over 100 years after its design, can barely be improved-upon for a sporting repeater. It is, without debate, the greatest rifle ever made.

Latest

Lead Photo 02
Lead Photo 02

Head to Head: 7x57mm Mauser vs. .30-06 Springfield

I’ve had more than a few requests for this Head to Head, so I figured it was high time to pit two of the early 20th century’s most popular military cartridges against one another. Let's dive into the 7x57mm Mauser vs. the .30-06 Springfield.

NRA Hunter Education FREE Online Course Now Available in Louisiana

The National Rifle Association of America’s award-winning free Hunter Education online course is now available in the State of Louisiana, the latest addition as NRA works to make the course available to hunters in all 50 states.

Moultrie Updates Line of Game Feeders

Moultrie has expanded the capacity of its line of feeders, and bettered the cameras' integration with the company's connected technology to streamline the feeding process.

Building the Ultimate Elk Bow

Elk are remarkable creatures that dwell in some of the most hellish landscapes on earth. An elk bow needs to be tough, light, and ultra-accurate. Here's how to build the right one for you.

First Look: Spandau S2 20-Gauge

Spandau Arms, a brand of SDS Arms, has announced that the  Spandau S2 Shotgun is now available in a 20-gauge model in both a Mossy Oak Bottomland and a traditional wood finish.

Count Some Quail, Tally Some Turkeys

The Arkansas turkey season ended in May, but there’s still good reason for hunters and outdoor enthusiasts to keep the birds in mind when they head out to their favorite hiking trail or drive the backroads of The Natural State. Outdoorsmen who scare up coveys of quail are welcome in the survey as well.

Interests



Get the best of American Hunter delivered to your inbox.