[spikey]

Hi there

I own a pre-War 'Oberndorf' Mauser .22 LR Mm 410b Lightweight Sporter and was wondering if anyone else does. Does anyone want to get a Mauser thread started?

I have owned one for four years and find it extremely accurate. It resembles the Brno Model One, but with a Mauser bolt with full-lenght extractor. I bought mine in Britain and know of a few others there.

I understand that the rifles have cult status in South Africa. I have read an article in Man/Magnum Magazine, dated 1992, which holds the rifles up as perhaps the best .22 rimfire of all time (personal view, I know!). Spare mags are still made and sold there, for example.

Does anyone have any reminisinces/memories associated with Mauser .22s?

'.270', I read your post on the 'Sporter' thread; what does your uncle think of his Mauser?

I have read the Jon Speed book, and there is an excellent 1930s review of the rifle in a book by F C Ness.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Spikey

 

[.270]

Spikey,

Uncle loves the Mauser .22 LR Lightweight Sporter, of all the 22 lr he has owned/used he kept the mauser .22 sporter.

You can only own one 22lr rifle on a license here, unless you are a "renowned shot", top 25 in the country, it was top eight till last year.


Uncle had quite a eventful life. Was captured by the Japs in WWII in Burma, survived the camps.

He has hunted across the length & breath of the country in the good ol days, had his share of close shaves too, charging tiger/bison etc. Was posted in Ladakh, Indo-China border in the 50's for several years. Has some nice trophies of Ibex, Sharpu etc.... He said he learnt a lot by watching the Ibex.

.270

 

[Jacklawman]

Mauser 410

I just picked one up not long ago. I need to get better pics. The front sight is broken off, so I need to get an idea of what the front sight looked like (blade/bead/etc...). Something I find very interesting about the rifle is the rear sight. The rear sight is adjustable by some sort of tool. There are square end screws to make the adjustments. The sight looks original, but I am not sure. If original, the rifle must have come from the factory with the key, because it certainly isn't any kind of normal arrangement. The other unusual aspect of the rear sight is that is not indexed or calibrated in any way. It is an unmarked leaf sight. The fact that it is unmarked leads me to believe it is not original. Will have closeup shots in a couple of days.

Jack

 

[spikey]

Spikey - Mauser Mm 410b .22 Sporter

Thanks for the reply. .270, I'm glad that your uncle enjoys his Mauser. From what you've said, he did his hunting in India at the right time. Is it all banned now, including small-game shooting?

Jacklawman, your Mauser looks lovely. There seem to be two distinct types of Mauser - the bolt on mine is a miniature of the '98' (full-length extractor and three-position safety catch on the bolt) - perhaps someone more knowledgeable than I can provide clarification? The rear sight on my rifle is a classic Mauser-type tangent, adjustable to 200m in 25m increments. It is identical to the Brno rear sight.

Mine has a platted leather sling and I used to have a 4x Pecar on it. Stupidly, I exchanged it for a 4x M8 Leupold, now also sold. Nothing wrong with the latter, of course, but it IS a German rifle!! Owing to the high bolt handle and flag safety, I have had to resort to using unusually high dovetail mounts. In practice this is no problem, although finding a gun-slip that fits can be a challenge.

The rifle handles very well in the field. I am not interested in shooting large numbers of small game; I prefer to amble about on a cold winter's afternoon with the Mauser and five rounds of subsonics (This is, by the way, no criticism of those who control vermin etc on a large scale - I just thought I'd mention that).

The weight of the rifle is about 6 1/2 lbs and the barrel is 24" long. A friend, who is a much better shot than I, can get five shots into 1/2 " at 50 yds. What more can one ask for in a .22 rifle than this?

I have spent much time rubbing stock oil into the furniture and I try to touch the metal parts as little as possible. When I used it for hunting in England the only metal parts that were touched were the bolt handle and the magazine release catch! Am I unusually fussy??!!

I mentioned, incidentally, in an earlier thread, that spare mags for the Mauser I own can be bought from 'Suburban Guns' of Cape Town, South Africa, www.suburbanguns.co.za. It seems that they are of modern manufacture. They come in five, ten, or even fifteen round capacity.

All you others, where are your (pre-War .22) Mauser stories?!

Spikey

 

[williwm]

Hey Spikey, I've owned 22 Mausers for 40 years now. Currently own 4, a 340, a 340b, a 350b and a sportmodell, which I have installed a Ruger 17hrm barrel on. haven't finished it though. (all of these are singleshots, repeaters are hard to find around here. great guns.........imho " Mauser Smallbores" by Jon Speed is a wealth of infomation...Good shooting, micky

 

[spikey]

Willwm - Mauser Smallbore Sporters

Williwm,

I also used to own a 350b, but never used it much. I always ended up using the 410b. I am not a collector, you understand, but I've always appreciated fine rimfires.

I know of at least two lightweight sporters in the UK and there are doubtless many others. For all its faults, or maybe it's because of them (high bolt-handle, flag safety, pressed-steel trigger guard), I still love the rifle.

It is a lovely small-bore rifle to carry in the field and handles beautifully.

I have read the Jon Speed book, but cannot as yet afford it. Have you read the article on the rifles in the South African magazine 'Man/Magnum', dated 1992?

Shoot safe

Spikey

 

[williwm]

Spikey, No I havent read that. I"ll try to find it though.


Jacklawman, can you send a closeup picture of that rear sight? I've seen seen a few that adjust like yours but they don't look like yours from what I can see of your rifle. Thanks micky

 

[Jacklawman]

Mauser Mm410

I started another thread with much better photos here:

Mauser Mm410 thread

The new pics show the rear sight in good detail.

Jack