Most reliable MilSurp action

Most reliable milsurp action

  • Mosin action

    Votes: 41 12.5%

  • Mauser Action

    Votes: 127 38.7%

  • Enfield Action

    Votes: 160 48.8%
  • Total voters
    328
I'm looking at reliability from a soldiers standpoint, and chose the Enfield. The safety is the fastest to switch to fire. That's pretty darn important for killing the enemy. The bolt cycles fast and smooth, shouldered or otherwise. Cycle a MN shouldered. Not so nice for me anyway. And 10 rd magazine! That helps get more rds downrange on rapid fire. There is one WWII weapon I would chose over it, but the Garand is not a bolt, nor is it in the survey.;) To intepret the question literally, I'm not a gunsmith or expert so I don't know.
 
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Calum said:
IMHO If one is jamming a Mosin while closing the bolt then they don't know what they are doing...the action is meant to have allot of movement to prevent this.
In my experience a simply wiggle on the bolt handle will suffice to move to cartridge off the other cartridges rim.

Also Mosins have proven themselves to work under very brutal conditions...ie, packed with mud, dirt, and ice.

They work, period. :)
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Yup Yup X2
 
I voted Mauser. It is as mechanically sound as the others two but it is operating with rimless ammo therefore a more reliable combination of action and ammo. Reliability is that it will work without fault (Jam) the longest...in field condition.
 
JP said:
Yes as an overall combat rifle the Enfield is superior, but mechanically I think less things can go wrong on a Mauser.
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Not sure I agree with that.

The Enfield bolt is comprised of 9 parts. The Mauser bolt is comprised of 9 parts also. The Enfield bolt, on the other hand, is much simply and has more non-moving parts. I would consider it mechanically more reliable, thought the Mauser bolt is by far a stronger design and has more positive extraction. This is only needed though because of the rimless cartridge.

The Enfield, as a battle rifle, is hands-down more reliable in its original caliber. Period. It was the AK47 of its day.

The Mauser is a more acurate gun, is generally better made, and is certainly the action to be preferred when building a sporting rifle. It makes a superior sniper rifle and is about the best gun available in 8mm.

If I had to take one of those two to war though, I would choose an Enfield in original .303 due to action reliability in adverse conditions and mag capacity.

If the gun is loaded properly, the magazine reliability is on par with the Mauser. To ensure it's loaded properly, use charger clips as intended.
 
glang1 said:
Reliability? I voted for the Mosin. Any rifle that can stand up to use & abuse by the Russian peasant, has to be a reliable action. :D
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In my opinion, the Mosin faults were:

1) The bolt handle. Not very ergonomic and this is the limiting flactor for rate of fire.
2) The stock forward of the rear stock band. It's pretty thin and flimsy with an even flimsier handguard. Prone to damage which could potentially put the gun out of action.
3) Lack of a easily manipulated safety - though this isn't really all that important.

What is really had going for it was that robustness of the metal parts and the ease of manufacture.

The epitome of the design was surely achieved in Finland with the M39.

I like the Mosin but would still take an Enfield to battle first.

IMG_3506.jpg
 
The M1917 (P-17, etc) Enfield action. If the poll was in fact meant for the Lee-Enfield, please disregard the rest of this post.

A true magnum action and considered one of the strongest military action ever made and used regularly for custom guns in the more powerful magnum calibers including 375 H&H, 416 Rigby, etc.

For going to war, I would vote for the Lee-Enfield because of its 10 round detachable magazine and rapid fire. During the second world war, German soldiers would frequently comment that fire coming from Lee-Enfields sounded more like auto fire or something along those words (sorry that I don't have any available reference for this).

Duke1
 
Claven2, easily manipulated safety actually is pretty important. When doing section attacks(pepper potting), you put the weapon on safe before you get up and move.(to avoid accidentally shooting your buddies if you trip) Up, he sees me down. Over, and over up, take a bound and down, and you must move fast and not lose momentum. Fiddling with a sh***y safety would make it even more exhausting.
 
Wow this is an old thread but I'll bite
I vote for the 98 mauser action as being the more reliable.

Hard to beat that claw extractor!

My only pet peeve with the enfields....
I've put a lot of ammo through lee enfields (10,000 + estimate??)
Awesome rifles BUT

Extraction is not always positive
Ejection screws get rounded and need replacing. I don't think its the best system. I the screw is too proud it binds on the bolt, too shallow and your cases do not get ejected from the receiver. It needs to be in "Just the right place"

Tiny enfield extractor claws are, well tiny. Often have an edge chipped, although still work.
spend cases almost always get pulled from the chamber but don't always eject free of the receiver. Gotta treat enfields like its stolen (ie: rough) in order to get that case to fly which can really hurt the hands if its really cold out.

Remember the quetion was the most reliable action
Not the best bolt action battle rifle
For reliability and ruggedness I'm all for the mauser

As for the Mosin
It isn't even worth mentioning
 
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???

Riflechair said:
Wow this is an old thread but I'll bite


















As for the Mosin
It isn't even worth mentioning
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????? :onCrack: ?????? I've fired I don't know how many thousands of rounds from my Mosins, and about the same from my Mausers and L-E's. I've had L-E's that flipped the empty around backwards and left them in the action. Needed quite a bit of tinkering with that stupid ejector screw to fix the problem. I've had one of my Mausers put out of action completely when a friend dropped a round into the chamber and tried to close the bolt. A cleaning rod was needed to get the rifle running again. I've never had a problem with the Mosin action jamming, ever. Not even a broken spring. Oh, I've also had more than a few Mausers that wouldn't feed reliably, even with ball ammo. I had to do quite a bit of tuning to get them reliable. One M48 would jam solid on the 4th round every time. The Germans thought highly enough of the Mosin Nagant that even a few front line units were issued with them during the Great War. The Finns certainly had no complaint with them. Remember, the current Finnish sniper rifles are built on ancient Tsarist M91 actions.
 
About the only Enfield that is worth mentioning is the P14/17, and that is only because of it's battle sights, rugged design, and Mauser action.

The only Mauser for me is the Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55.

The Mosin is a far better survival rifle then the Enfield, and better cartridge design and it is hard scoff at 110+ Years of battle history in the worst conditions possible.

Methinks our Rangers are issued Enfields only out of surplus availability in Canada and tradition, neither of which does not reflect real world performance or durability. What they could buy at a hunting store in the way of modern hunting firearms would be better. Or re-issue Win 94s again. :stirthepot2:
 
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Out of the Mauser, that Russian junk and the Enfield, the only one still even today ISSUED and USED by governments, militarizes, police and even insurgents is the Enfield.

Mauser made more guns and sent them all over, and yet the Enfield is still being used today. A testament to how they always work and how much longer they'll last.

Dimitri
 
Dimitri said:
Out of the Mauser, that Russian junk and the Enfield, the only one still even today ISSUED and USED by governments, militarizes, police and even insurgents is the Enfield.

Mauser made more guns and sent them all over, and yet the Enfield is still being used today. A testament to how they always work and how much longer they'll last.

Dimitri
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Hate to break it to you but the Mauser and the Mosin are still issued in the same fashion that Enfields are. :D
 
I voted for the Mosin. I think that even if I tried really hard, I would have a difficult time rendering it disfunctional.

Most will know my love for the Enfields. I can't get enough of them! But as expressed erlier, that ejector spring is a weakness I can't dismiss here...
 
Enfield baby... its probably the weapon that`s seen the most action and still is used to this day... even here in canada !!!CANADIAN RANGERS!!! :)
 
The Lee Enfield had the longest development period of any gun, and it was intentionally designed to operate flawlessy in climates all over the world, and take ammo in no matter its condition.

Sure, it's not a tackdriver, but when it comes to wartime and survival, who the hell cares? The bolt allows you to have a fast cycle time, so you can very quickly work it.
 
enfields are still used here in nz alot, deer hunters just use sporterised models.. original action.

as far as me, i like the mauser.

but i always found that my old Type38 Arisaka had the best feel to its action.
can you guys not get them ? is that why it wasnt an option ? :D
 
highlander said:
Too silly a question to even ask; the Mauser by far. Controled feeding., Positive extraction, and probably the strongest action made. Most telling of all, they still make Mauser action rifles, the Lee Enfield is now a dusty footnote in rifle history.
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Actualy the type 38 Arisaka is far stronger than the mouser and that has been proved by blow-up testing:eek:

HOWEVER the Enfield is still in use in many parts of the world as a military rifle. Now strength is a relative term. The Enfield is quite strong enough for the cartridge it uses. Anyone shot by an Enfield would NOT know the difference between 2450fps or 2800 fps.
Any of these rifles are reliable.
However the Moisen is rather more awkward to operate than either the mouser or the Lee with that short straight bolt handle.
I would ask how many mousers or moisens are still in service with any military.
 
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