The Mauser series of rifles are some of the finest that have ever graced the earth, and there is a debate among some enthusiasts as to which is better: the 98 or 96. While the 96 rifles cock on close, we have run a 98 as well on the course. In this run and gun, we get behind a Swedish M96 Mauser rifle made in 1904 to see how it stacks up.

Transcript:

“Hey guys it’s Alex C. with TFBTV and for today’s run and gun we’re going to be using a Mauser model 96, specifically a Swedish Mauser chambered in 6.5×55, also known as 6.5 Swedish. Great caliber, great sectional density, and all around a perfect hunting cartridge realistically for any game in North America.

This one is of course dated 1904, so a little older than I am but it really doesn’t effect the way this gun shoots and we’ll see that here when we get to shooting it.

This is a pretty decent example, it’s got some knicks and dings associated with a gun that is over 100 years old, but mechanically it’s in wonderful condition. Everything is great as far as bluing, it’s all matching, the Swedes pretty much put a serial number or at least the last three digits of a serial number on every single part of the firearms that they made. Don’t know if they still do that to this day, but everything on this gun from the cocking piece to the butt plate to the safety, everything has the last 3 digits of the serial number on it which is kind of neat. Its a great way to ensure that you put your rifles together great I guess.

And of course these are very smooth to operate. Excellent primary extraction, it’s easy to work the bolt. It’s notable that the 96 Mausers are cock on close too.

Now the sights are pretty simple: It’s just a notch and post arrangement. You’ve got 300 to 600 meters without flipping the ladder up, and when you flip the ladder up then youve got some serious adjustment there for volley fire. And then the front sight is just a simple post. It’s easy to line up the front sight and the rear sight and get to work.

And of course the run and gun course is going to consist of 25 shots. 4 Reloads. First five on the move, then five kneeling down, five on the move, then five kneeling down as per usual so let’s see how the Swedish Mauser performs.

All right here we go with the Swedish Mauser.

**Gun fires**

**Reloads in Swedish**

Alright I felt really good about that, let’s go check it out.

Alright guys I felt really good about that run. It felt great, the rifle did exactly what it was supposed to do. Really 6.5 Swede is an excellent caliber, it doesn’t recoil as much as 8mm Mauser. As you can see, most of the shots are also center mass on the target which is great. I was actually altering my aim though because the minimum setting is 30 meters. But still I believe I got 25 out of 25, I’ll count the pings in the video and put the totals hits versus misses right here, now let’s go back to the room and finish this one up.

So we have had very few 25 out of 25 or otherwise perfect run and guns on this course, ever and the Swedish Mauser takes its place among a privileged few rifles. In my opinion they are not as good or not as refined as a 98 Mauser, but still I was running the bolt on this remarkably quick. If you watch the 98 video I was also running that quick. There is just something inherent to the Mauser design that makes them wonderful rifles to shoot, and the Swedish Mausers are no exception.

Big thanks to Ventura Munitions for making our videos possible, and we hope to see you guys next time!