Mauser K98 still doing what it was intended at 75 years old

[Argonaut]

I love P14, P17 and Garand sights. That long sighting radius peep is as good as it gets for a rifleman. It is why I have Lyman and Williams sights on many of my sporting rifles. I carry a Lyman when I hunt with my 378 Westereby in case there is a scope malfunction.

 

[USMC-03]

So, maybe I should go ahead and mount a good scope on my 1903A1...

 

[Argonaut]

So, maybe I should go ahead and mount a good scope on my 1903A1...

Nah.......unless it is an original scope....... .......love it the way it is. I also hate to see P17's with the original sights and ears ground off. Sporterizing is fine but the sights are the best. Then the idiots install a little short radius barrel mounted open sight. Makes no sense.

 

[MountainBear]

I'm 37, my students constantly remind me that I'm not cool or hip. My wife tells me I'm not funny. All I have left is being good looking with a good gun collection I guess...

 

[Colts4me]

I have never pointed a weapon in anger so I speak only as a hunter and target shooter. It may even be just me but I see better with a scope and can define the target better. I find it easier to judge distance when I look through the cross hairs and I have killed deer that I couldn't see the horns with the naked eye because I had a scope.

I shoot my 8mm mauser and my 03A3 with iron sights but any change in the light makes it really hard to define the target and the sites. The sniper probably was a day shooter with that 98, try shooting one in the dark with iron sites.

 

[Colts4me]

I'm 37, my students constantly remind me that I'm not cool or hip. My wife tells me I'm not funny. All I have left is being good looking with a good gun collection I guess...

You get old and you lose the good looking too. One of the fellows here said he was in Iraq and was shot at with a 98, thankfully he is here today and the terrorist wasn't better armed. I like my 98 but it's pretty limited in my hands. It has to be pretty bright out for me to shoot it well.

 

[Argonaut]

We constantly trained at night with iron sights. Have you ever attempted to find a fast moving aggressor in a scope at night.....or even in the day time it is easier with open sights. Sort of why we don't use scopes on defense shotguns. The modern ACOG and similar systems have changed the urban battlefield but less for there magnification than the electronic sighting and field of view. Try to find a moving target quickley across the room with a scope at night. That is more like the common combat experienced today.

 

[Colts4me]

This is where I leave and thanks for the conversation.

 

[USMC-03]

Nah.......unless it is an original scope....... .......love it the way it is. I also hate to see P17's with the original sights and ears ground off. Sporterizing is fine but the sights are the best. Then the idiots install a little short radius barrel mounted open sight. Makes no sense.

It's already drilled and tapped with a Redfield target sight. I've been wanting to mount an 8x Unertl and set it up for vintage sniper matches, but I'd also love to see how it performs with a modern target scope.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I think that a vintage rifle ( when still mostly "stock" ) looks the best with a vintage style scope...one of those Leatherwood replicas or a older Unertl scope would look and work great for a 03A1....

I had at one time high sporterized 03 with a Leupold 3x9 scope...while not a "Sniper rifle" it was a dandy set up for hunting or casual target work...But I still would have preferred a more "period" looking scope.
Andy

 

[DirectDrive]

How could I not like the idea of smoking 400 ISIS militants ?
I temper it though, with wondering what this guy was doing with his Mauser during the American invasion ?

 

[mrblond]

TBH, your bolt action rifle has not changed much in the last 130 years.

 

[Argonaut]

It's already drilled and tapped with a Redfield target sight. I've been wanting to mount an 8x Unertl and set it up for vintage sniper matches, but I'd also love to see how it performs with a modern target scope.

That is a different story then. I always resist drilling and tapping an uncut receiver.

 

[MountainBear]

I stockpile receivers that have been modified already so I don't feel bad if I decide to do more to them. My favorites are the receivers drilled and tapped on the side of the rear ring for receiver sights. Perfectly easy to weld up. Then whatever else I do, I'm not ruining a collector.
I can never afford originals of the guns I want, so I piece them together. Done it with 1903's, 03a3's, 03a4's.
The current projects are an m/41 Swedish sniper and an 03a4 single shot .22lr or mag (haven't decided on the caliber), and a handful of others...

 

[Sgt Nambu]

An interesting guy, I'd like to read more about him!

In urban warfare 350-400M is a long way! The caption on the photo merely states that the son is "holding a weapon" by his fathers poster!
The poster shows the sniper with a weapon slung behind his left shoulder and it's certainly not a WW-2 Mauser.

 

[Argonaut]

An interesting guy, I'd like to read more about him!

In urban warfare 350-400M is a long way! The caption on the photo merely states that the son is "holding a weapon" by his fathers poster!
The poster shows the sniper with a weapon slung behind his left shoulder and it's certainly not a WW-2 Mauser.

I don't know how to link the story but if you look at the electronic Stars and Stripes it is on the front page

 

[Sgt Nambu]

I just googled "Stars and Stripes" and there it was!

 

[Argonaut]

I just googled "Stars and Stripes" and there it was!

I spent such a long time of my formative years in the military, I still identify with the information and stories in the Stars and Stripes so read it every morning. It also has great information on veterans affairs and international events.

 

[Medic!]

Why is he pictured with other guns?
Where is the documentation?

Buy the gun not the story.
Pffff........................ killed 400 guys with.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

400 is a whole mess of guys...
Could it be done?...Sure...Do I know for sure?...Nope.

Having been in combat...even having been a sniper myself....it can at times be difficult to tell if it was your shot , someone else's shot or even something else that was effective...
Again not always , but at times...

Speaking only for myself here on such a grim subject...the idea of keeping count or a running tally is not something that I did , other than to use for intelligence purposes...
Not doubting or even accepting the "count" in the OP...lots of fighting going over there for such a long time...and many folks look at the value of life differently than me...So who really knows?...
Its not the number that interests me...its the field craft involved and tactics used that I would rather read and learn about.
Andy