- Hey guys. It's Alex.
- And Miles.
- And today on TFBTV we're going to do the
Mauser verses the Mosin challenge.
I caught a lot of flack in a video I did a while back
about the top five infantry bolt action rifles,
and I didn't include the Mosin-Nagant,
because quite frankly, I've owned several of them
and none of them have ever impressed me in any way,
aside from them being cheap,
which is a pretty good feature actually.
- Yeah.
- So what we've done today is I've got a World War I era,
actually 1901 production Mauser Gewehr 98.
This is actually an interesting one because it was made in
Wartenberg and has a Ulm proof mark on it.
So it actually predates the 8x57 IS cartridge,
but it was upgraded to IS
and the Lange Vizier sight was accommodated.
And Miles is using a M91/30.
The 30 variant is a little in-aneristic,
but the big differences are it's got a round reciever,
it's got meters on the sights instead of arshin eye,
and then it's got a different front sight arrangement.
So basically we're going to do some tests
and see if the Mausin is in fact on par with what
the Germans were using in both world wars.
Let's get to it, Miles.
- Good thing. Let's do this.
- Alright guys. So the first test is going to be
who can get off ten shots fastest.
So that's going to require five shots,
a reload with a stripper clip, and five more.
All right, let's get ready.
- All right.
- All right, shooter ready?
- Ready.
- And go.
(guns fire)
- Done.
(Miles exclaims)
(gun fires)
- You beat me there, Alex. You beat me pretty good.
- I beat you by a pretty fair margin there.
- Oh, definitely. Definitely.
- So score one for the German empire.
- Yes, yes, yes.
- As you can see, we've got targets at 100 meters.
I'm going to be doing five rounds with the Mosin-Nagant.
And Alex is going to do five more with the Mauser.
(cocks gun)
(gun fires)
That is a pretty tough bolt, especially after you get
after a while. Shooting after a bit.
Just getting that bolt over that top,
it really gets stuck there,
something the Mauser doesn't have a problem with.
- All right guys. So now it's the Mauser's turn.
We'll see how I do at a 100 meters.
(gun fires)
One hit.
Two.
Three.
Four.
And I missed the last one. Dang it.
But, score one more point for the Mauser.
- All right. We're going to put these rifles through
their paces, we're just going to do a little
movement to contact type drill.
Simulate walking around on the western front somewhere,
on the eastern front.
And we're going to be walking around,
and a bunch of Germans appear over there
and we're going to simulate that.
So, from up here.
Moving around, oh we've got contact front.
(gun fires)
(smacks bolt)
(Miles grunts)
(gun fires)
I'm out!
So, did pretty good.
Oh, and we've got one more.
(gun fires)
(smacks bolt)
That bolt handle.
That's getting really stiff doing these reloads.
It's just getting caught all the time.
I would not want to be an Ivan in a hurry, that's for sure.
- All right guys, it's time to do walk and fire with
the Gewehr 98, we'll see if it can best the Mosin again.
(gun fires)
And out.
All right, all in all I think the Gewehr 98
did a pretty good job,
however the Mosin still did pretty good.
While this edged it out I think,
what I think we learned is that
running and shooting with a bolt action rifle
is pretty dang hard no matter what rifle you have.
All right guys, so we did quite a bit of shooting today
with both the Gewehr 98 and the Mosin-Nagant
and I think we came to the conclusion that the
Gewehr 98 is a better gun.
- I think I came to that conclusion
before the shooting started.
- The good thing about Mosins,
is they're a good way to get into shooting inexpensively,
because starting with a large center-fire cartridge
might sound silly, however it does help you work out
things like your flinch and stuff.
I mean, if you learn how to shoot on big gun
when you move to smaller bore guns,
it's going to be easier.
As silly as that sounds, there is some truth to it I think.
- And it's got the whole historical aspect, as well.
Sure, they're cheap and everything,
but this one is date marked 1943, middle of World War II.
If the historical aspect does it for you,
this will get you there.
Good way to start off a collection.
- Absolutely. You can buy a very significant piece
of history for-
- 150 bucks.
- Just over 100 Bucks. Yeah.
- Whereas a good Mauser's going to
cost you quite a bit more than that.
A lot of people would say the 98 is the best bolt action
rifle ever made, I would argue that it is as well.
So I guess a more accurate test is,
these were introduced in 1891 and adopted then,
would maybe be something like an Argentine Mauser,
or Spanish Mauser would be a better comparison.
- A Mauser versus Mauser.
- Well, no. Like if you squared off an older Mauser design,
one of the cock and close Spanish Mausers,
or even a G88 commission rifle,
that's not technically a Mauser, would be more appropriate.
However, in the context of World War I and World War II,
the Germans had a better gun. It really is.
However, Miles actually brought something forth.
There's a challenger that could potentially
dethrone the Mauser.
- Definitely. Definitely.
- Now, what gun is that, Miles?
- The Lee-Enfield.
- Miles says the Lee-Enfield's a better gun,
so I think it would be cool to do a part two,
where we do the same tests with an Enfield,
because it's indisputable you can fire an Enfield faster.
- Mm hmm.
- At least most people can, I would say.
So yeah, that would be a cool part two.
But until then I would like to thank
Ventura Munitions for providing the ammunition
for these old war horses here.
- And Grizzly Targets, we shot the heck out of them today.
These are some high powered rounds we were
throwing down range.
- We keep trying to destroy them,
but we don't have much luck there.
So anyways guys, this is Alex C.
- And Miles Vining.
- We'll see you next time on TFBTV.
If you'd like, maybe drop a comment
and hit that subscribe button.
- Until next time.