Enfield vs Mauser old school throwdown

Mauser or Enfield?

  • Mauser

    Votes: 85 27.1%
  • No4 Mk1

    Votes: 229 72.9%

  • Total voters
    314
I say mauser!!!! More power, not that i need it but hey, and stronger! In a dirty muddy combat situation, id want the stronger gun. plus i think the 303 round is ugly. Blasphemy on this site.....flame suit on!
 
The recessed chamber in a mauser seems like something that would be a PITA to clean if it got dirt or mud in there and you couldn't close the bolt. It was conditions like that which caused the ross to suffer.
 
Both prooved themself very well in the past, both have made history, both are known to be efficient in combat situation. I prefer the Mauser because of the feeling of it, the handling, the way it is crafted. BUT in a combat situation i'd take the NO4, because of the 10 rds mag and the quick action.
 
Actually beaver I've heard the ww1 ross's were the best target rifles, lol

Make sure you get a Mk III Ross, Canadian made ammo and for gods sake keep her out off the mud!


My choice........begrudgingly.....Lee-Enfield

As mentioned it has a faster cyclic rate, longer sight radius and is better suited to extreme conditions operation.

While the mauser's 7.9x57 ammunition is marginally better than the 303 British in terminal performance, the triggers on most K98K's are like two pieces of concrete being dragged across each other, and their all to comon Zf1 scout scopes leave much to be desired.
The mish mash of receiver variants make scope selection for sniper duty a royal pain and I would NEVER drag an aluminum bath bead chain down my bore.

All this being said I dislike the Lee-Enfield's two piece stock, garish appearance, ammunition, and the removable magazine that's not meant to be removed. I also dislike the spindly bolt with the rear locking lugg....good thing its only chambered in 303British.....but even then.

This is the one time that I would wish to have been born an American. ;)......with a Redfield scope
 
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lee enfield no4
faster rate of fire, better able to handle mud and heat due to tapered case, and more accurate in a hurry due to longer sight radius


Couldn't have put it better myself
As far as rim jams I've had my Ross do it, a P-14 too but never a LE and LE's were really prolific when I was a youth. And I didn't give mechanical concepts much thought as a youth.
The #### on closing & the tapered case is going to let you extract dirty or otherwise poor ammuntion easier too.
 
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Lee Enfield hands down for combat. I use my re barrelled 43 K98 for deer hunting. Any bolt action rifle that can make the enemy think they are facing massed machine guns is a winner in my books. There's a few 'mad minute' Enfield videos on You tube worth checking out. I tried it once with stripper clips, not quite as fast as some of these guys but it is impressive. You can more or less retain minute of detergent jug accuracy with that speed.
 
Don't get me wrong, I think Mausers are awesome and I love mine with a depraved unholy passion, but as a fighting rifle IMHO the Lee-Enfield is superior. Would I rather have a Mauser-action big game rifle over a sporterized Lee-Enfield? Absolutely.
 
I've had extractor springs break on both my No4 and No1Mk3, which would be unacceptable in a battlefield situation. I've never had a Mauser 98 fail on me...

And by the way, Battlefield 1942 is one of my favourite games of all time!
 
Thinking on this further, I thinking that my ideal bolt action battle rifle would have:

Mosin Nagant furniture: for some reason they just fit me well and I find them really comfortable.
USGI 1907 sling
Garand sights
K31 bolt
Mauser 98 safety
Lee-Enfield magazine
Lee-Enfield 1907-pattern bayonet blade with Mauser lugs and grip
Be chambered in 8mm Mauser

Probably impossible to build, but a rifle with all those features would be absolutely awesome IMHO; the best features from the best (IMHO) milsurps out there...
 
i think you will find that in a panic, you can slam the bolt forward and it will clear its own rim jam

I tried that once, jammed the rifle up solid. I bet there is not all that much difference in the rate of fire between the two rifles when used by experienced individuals.
 
I'm a Mauser guy for a lot of reasons, but I'll take an Enfield in a shoot out. It made me kinda sad to admit that.
 
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