Mauser MO3 Extreme .308

Jagare

Well-Known Member
I've had the rifle now for a few weeks and thought i would share my thoughts on the rifle.
Its a well made rifle all the bits are metal apart from a couple of small plastic bits in the magazine. The finish is very good no rough finish that i can see. The trigger is first rate, light and crisp. The rifle came with a set trigger. I have only shot with the set trigger of the bench, very light and i don't think it will be used set while hunting.
The rifle came fitted with a 52 cm barrel nice and short for the type of hunting we do. the 52cm barrel costs more than the longer barrels :confused:
The bolt is a fit all calibre length just change the bolt head for other calbres. There are three bolt heads to cover all calibres. There are Also three magazines to cover all calibres as well. The barrels is of the quick change variety like the Blaser (Mauser are made by Blaser).

I had the plastic stock on the rifle. Not a thing to get the juices flowing but very functional. The stock is well done and is stiff in the forend so a bipod could be used with out the forend flexing. A new stud would have to be fitted to fit a bipod as the swivel is mounted on the front of the forend.

The rifle can only be fitted with Mauser scope mounts. Again very good quality but it means you get no choice but fit the mauser ones.

Just 2 small niggles. The magazine is one size and has plastic spacers to fit each calibre group. So it makes it a bit fiddly to load the magazine.
The bolt must be pulled all the way back to pick up the next cartridge from the magazine. Its easy to close the bolt and pull the trigger to find that the chamber is empty.

Sighted in the rifle With Sellior & bellot 147grn FMJ. It shot to under the inch. My home loads of Norma 202 and 180grn norma Oryx shoot to the inch but will work on those a bit more.

It a heavy rifle 3.5kg without scope and mounts .

I shot in a competition today of 6 stands, Stag, bear, roe, moose calf , moose and boar targets. The range distance was between 50mtrs for the boar to 120mtrs for the moose all shot off hand. To my thinking thats where a bit of extra weight come in handy to steady the rifle.
I came joint 4th place with131x140 out of over 60 people.

Must admit that when i first bought the rifle it was hard to get excited over it but now i've shot it a bit i like it more and more.
I will be testing it down on the running moose range a couple of times next week.

It cost a bit more than the Sako rifles and the cost is on par with the Blasers. Do i think it was worth the money? Yes.
 
Jagare, will you be sticking with .308 or will you be looking to add a 9.3 or 8mm barrel to your rifle at some time in the future?
 
I must admit that i am tempted to get a 9.3x62 barrel for it. But it won't be for a couple of years. spent to much money this year :) .
The .308 is good for the moose and the boar. (just taken the dogs for a walk and there were fresh boar tracks on the road that were not there when i walk down half an hour before). Not forgetting that .308 is cheap for down the range.
That 9.3 do's seem like a nice calibre though :D I want 9.3 but do i need 9.3 :rolleyes:
 
Not having personal experience of moose (or do you call them elk) I would have thought that .308 may have been a little on the light side. As you say .308 is inexpensive so you get more shooting in for your money.
9.3x62 appeals to me also as does the thought of a rifle with interchangeable barrels. While I admire your choice of rifle I was just wondering if you had looked at the Titan 6 range, and what you thought of them.
 
I must say I've not looked at the Titan.

Its OK having the interchangable barrel system but by the time you have bought the barrel, bolt head and magazine you could have nearly bought a new rifle.

The .308 is plenty enough for Älg. When my mate shot a big bull Älg here he used 150grn Nosler partitions. He got 3 bullets into it. The first was a perfect shot which went completly through the chest as it ran of the second shot broke the bones in both shoulders and he gave it one for luck.

The 9.3 has become very popular again bacause of the increase in the boar population.
 
Off down to South Africa on Monday with my MO3 in 9.3 x 62. Standard wood stock. Hoping to add a 6.5 x 55 barrel to it later in the year. Bring on the Kudu and Gemsbok.

Stan
 
I am really interested in a Mauser M03, but they are few and far between here in the US. I like the look of the Extreme, but my preference would be the "Trail" model.

I already have a Blaser R-93 Tracker in 308 and 9.3x62, but I would buy a Trail in either caliber if I could find one.
 
Hej Retrieverman, Ive looked at the M03 Trail a couple of weeks ago at a game fair. Its very much like the Extreme but with a 47cm barrel. the plastic stock is the same but with orange inserts.
The barrel has the sling attachment right at the muzzle end of the barrel. Easier to go through thick cover with the sling attached so with out the rifle getting caught up.
Here in Sweden its advertised as a rifle for driven shooting and eftersök (tracking wounded game) I see that the price is 26200kr thats about 4300 Dollars.
It seems the shorter the barrel the more they cost.
 
Jagare said:
I see that the price is 26200kr thats about 4300 Dollars.
It seems the shorter the barrel the more they cost.

WOW! That is pretty costly for such a small gun, but it is very similar to the Blaser Tracker in price. Here is my Tracker.
Picture053.jpg
 
I have a couple of mates in England who use the Blasers and like them very much.
I paid 21000kr for my extreme and it seems the M03 Trail costs 5000kr more for a bit of orange on the stock and shorter barrel :confused:
I like the short barrel and the weight of the M03 and look forward to useing it for hunting this winter.

Don,t think we can hunt Gloucester old spot here in Sweden :)
 
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