Mauser M03 stalking rifle | Shooting times

Home
News
Features
Blogs
Sporting Answers
Guns
- Shotguns
- Rifles
- Air Rifles
- For Sale
Games
Recipes
Woodcock Club
Dog Cartoon
About us
Buy Prints

About our feeds

From guns and gundogs to the latest shooting news; the complete online network for the British shooting community.

| Next

Mauser M03 rifle review

The age-old Mauser design has been transformed into a stylish and practical stalking firearm.

By Bruce Potts

Tuesday, 23 January 2007

With great design features and an attention to detail that puts other rifles to shame, we find the Mauser M03 stalking rifle a refreshing break from the norm.

The name Mauser can trace its history back to 1898 and its model M98 action, which has formed the basis of the modern bolt-action rifle.

Primarily a military-conceived design, the Mauser action was soon taken up by sporting enthusiasts for its inherent strength and reliability. Many custom gunsmiths still consider the Mauser action the only design from which to craft a quality rifle.

After a period in the wilderness, Mauser merged with the Sig/Blaser consortium and, rather than relaunching yet another modified Mauser 98 action, released the M03, a totally different stalking rifle. The age-old design has been transformed into a stylish and practical stalking firearm that, in common with many European rifles, facilitates the quick detaching of the barrel assembly for quick calibre exchange. This all makes for a stylish, innovative new rifle for the British stalker.

Stocking filler
What immediately strikes you about the M03 rifle is its elegant yet full-bodied build. The stock contributes largely in this respect, fashioned from a good grade of walnut, with clean, classic lines: the standard has a good colour and figuring, the deluxe deep colouration and extensive figure pattern. All have a hand-rubbed finish that has subtle elegance as well as practical properties.

The high, straight comb is perfect for good scope-to-eye alignment and the fore-end is nicely finished off with a black ebony cap in standard or a deluxe silver-engraved insert. A slim, black rubber recoil pad gives ample support in the shoulder. Both the fore-end and pistol grip offer finely cut and executed chequering, while the pistol grip also boasts a palm swell. The sling swivels are quick-detachable, but with a good non-stock-marring feature; where the actual swivels do not contact the wood surface and cause damage, however, the holes on the studs are too small to attach a bipod.

Actions speak louder
Whereas the stock design is a pure classic, the action is where the real change has been made to the new M03. From the outset, the rifle felt substantial - not heavy, but the reassuring heft of a solid, well-built rifle. This is largely due to the combined receiver and integral chassis system this rifle uses to establish a stiff backbone for the barrel, trigger and detachable magazine. There is only one action size that handles the small calibres from .222 right up to .375 H&H, which makes the receiver long and thus contributes to some of the heft of the M03.

The rifle comes either with a smooth satin-black nitrated surface, weather-resistant and non-glare, or a deluxe silver nitrated finish and some fine engraving. There are no scope rails or grooves, instead an integral three-sided quick-release arrangement that necessitates the use of a one-piece scope mount - the barrel cannot be removed without disengaging the scope on this switch-barrel rifle. The mount locates snugly as the three-lugged rotor drops into the receiver cut-outs and all that's needed for it to tighten into place is a push on both locking levers.

Bolt from the blue
The bolt is enormous, accounting for 400g of the rifle's weight, and is beautifully engineered with several interesting design features. Because the bolt locks directly into the back of the barrel it has to be long to transcend the short front receiver bridge. Efforts have been made to keep strength while shedding a few ounces and keeping an attractive design. The receiver bridge is open: no side wall on the left-hand side allows good access in the event of a stuck cartridge and, with the bolt faceted on four edges, gives the Mauser M03 rifle a unique appearance.

The bolt lift is short, at 55 degrees or so travel, leaving the open bolt at a 90 degrees angle to the receiver wall, thus allowing maximum room to operate the bolt without fear of snagging on a scope. Being a single-action size the bolt can be converted to handle any of the calibres provided by the simple and cost-effective removal of the bolt head, with six lugging lugs set in a double three-lug formation and a plunger-type ejector and substantial sprung extractor piece.

Trigger and safety Forming part of the bolt shroud at the rear, the safety lever is a prominent blackened lever that, when set to the right, enables the rifle to fire, with a visible red dot showing. Pushing a button below the lever swings the arm forcibly - careful of thumbs - into the safe left position. This decocks the M03 and locks the bolt down, which can be useful as the rifle can be carried with a chambered round, knowing the firing pin is not cocked and under tension. A stalker can silently cock the M03 only when a shot is necessary - a quick, simple and foolproof system.

With a set and standard pressure feature common to many European rifles, the more conventional single-stage trigger is factory set at 3lb or so and has a very crisp let-off, with no backlash or creep. By pushing the silver nitrated trigger blade forward after cocking the rifle, you set the trigger for a very fine let-off poundage. It is a brave person who uses this with numb fingers on a frosty morning's stalk.

Reading the magazine
Mauser has really thought about the M03. Its detachable magazine allows the entire cartridge range to use one generic-sized item. This does mean it is large, with the smaller calibres needing a blocking spacer at the rear of the magazine to allow perfect feeding, but it is well made of steel and the polymer follower facilitates a smooth transition between magazine and barrel. A large button in front of the magazine dumps the magazine safely into a waiting hand.

Barrel apparel
Supplied with a set of iron sights, the M03 barrel profile is that of a standard sporting rifle with an overall length of 23in. Finished in the same satin black nitrated finish as the action, it complements the rifle's overall look. The special feature of this barrel is not the precisely cut rifled interior, but the two threaded studs below at the chamber end, similar to the Blaser design. This allows the barrel to drop vertically into position within the fore-end to marry up with two corresponding locking nuts, accessed from under the fore-end wood by a double set of Torx screws. Removal and fitting takes seconds with the Torx driver provided; a few turns and the captured bolts are released. A change of bolt head and magazine and a fox rifle can be converted into a deer gun or African rifle in minutes. You do have to remove the scope first, however, making the quick-release scope mount mandatory.

Field test
I was lucky to test two models of the M03, each mechanically the same, but with a difference in quality of wood and engraving. Each was in .243 Winchester calibre; I shot the standard version with open sights and the deluxe with a Leupold scope attached. At 100 yards both rifles averaged a respectable 1in group with factory ammunition and scope attached, and 1½in to 2in with open sights. The Norma 100-grain soft-point load, with 2,873fps and 1,833ft/lb energy from the 23in barrel, resulted in the best groups.

Remington's 80-grain Power Lokt and Federal Premium's 100-grain Nosler solid base shot 1in to 1¼in at this range. With a reload of 39.5 grains of H414 powder behind a 95-grain Nosler Ballistic tip bullet, I managed to eke out a couple of ¾in groups. The rifle's great pointability and good balance were instantly noticeable, and though the .243 cartridge is not a heavy recoiling calibre, the M03 was very pleasant to shoot. An early-season roe doe was stalked with Steve Bowers using the deluxe model and a quick, humane 110-yard shot concluded the successful outing.

Conclusions
I began this test with a certain sense of 'not another quick-change European rifle?' - but I have to say that the German-made Mauser really is refreshingly new. This is not simply another barrel-change stalking rifle: with the M03's safety and bolt, Mauser has included some really good design features, and others, such as the non-marring swivels, show an attention to detail that is sometimes lacking in other rifles. At a cost of £1,377 for the standard model, the M03 is competitively priced and, as the range tests show, it is a fine shooting rifle. Despite its being slightly heavier than usual (which I like), as an alternative to similar operating marques the Mauser M03 series of stalking rifles proves itself worthy of a good deal of consideration.

FACT FILE
Name: Mauser M03

Manufacturer: Mauser

Barrel length: 23in

Weight: 7.75lb

Overall length: 44in

Stock: Walnut

Trigger: Standard and set

Safety: Push-operated lever

Sights: Iron sights, with dedicated scope mounts extra

Magazine: Five shots detachable

Price: Standard £1,377

Deluxe: £2,282

Spare barrel: £376

Spare bolt head: £107

Spare mag: Standard £89

Deluxe £401: (engraved)

Scope Mount: £218 (1in rings)

Double Case: £160

Importer: Beechwood Equipment, Tel: 01372 468555

PROS
Well thought-out stalking rifle
Attention to detail with great build quality
Has that feeling of shootability and longevity

CONS
Quite heavy
Needs dedicated scope mount

Comments

Post your comment

What's in this issue?

In this week's issue, Shooting Times investigates the changing role of the modern gamekeeper, and Lewis Potter tests a top-of the-range Turkish shotgun that's a real bargain.