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Mauser straight pull bolt
Dave45-70
Member Posts: 637 ✭✭✭
I recently picked up a near new Mauser 30-06 rifle with a straight pull bolt action.It's very similiar to some Blaser rifles I've seen,I was curious if Mauser has any connection to the manufacter of Blaser rifles. Thanks
Comments
Both, of course, make excellent guns. If you want to learn more about Blaser, this is an excellent summary from the NRA's American Rifleman magazine:
http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/blaser-german-hunting-rifles/
I've shot my German friends' Blaser, and its super-nice, as you might expect for a gun that costs as much as some cars!
Beantown, thanks for the web-site and a great article by Bryce Towsley. The article states Mauser is owned by Blaser,so there is a connection after all. The blaser in the article looks identical to my Mauser. thanks again
Although the article does state that Blaser owns Mauser, I don't think that's strictly true. My quick search on this shows that Blaser merged with the SIGARMS group, and Mauser is owned by Rheinmetall, which is one of Germany's biggest arms makers. Its possible that the two companies share some parent companie(s); these corporate relationships can get pretty complicated.
Mauser has changed hands several times in the past 20 years, including at least twice since it introduced its straight pull rifle in 1996. So if it is actually true today that Blaser owns Mauser it wasn't true 15 years ago when the model 1996 Mauser came out.
So far as I can tell, the Mauser 1996 model is not the same as the Blaser 93 model, which is a modular platform that allows easy caliber changes.
Here's a closeup of the Mauser 96 action I grabbed off the net:
And here's the Blaser 93:
quote:Originally posted by DBuesching
Beantown, thanks for the web-site and a great article by Bryce Towsley. The article states Mauser is owned by Blaser,so there is a connection after all. The blaser in the article looks identical to my Mauser. thanks again
Although the article does state that Blaser owns Mauser, I don't think that's strictly true. My quick search on this shows that Blaser merged with the SIGARMS group, and Mauser is owned by Rheinmetall, which is one of Germany's biggest arms makers. Its possible that the two companies share some parent companie(s); these corporate relationships can get pretty complicated.
Mauser has changed hands several times in the past 20 years, including at least twice since it introduced its straight pull rifle in 1996. So if it is actually true today that Blaser owns Mauser it wasn't true 15 years ago when the model 1996 Mauser came out.
So far as I can tell, the Mauser 1996 model is not the same as the Blaser 93 model, which is a modular platform that allows easy caliber changes.
Here's a closeup of the Mauser 96 action I grabbed off the net:
And here's the Blaser 93:
Mauser was owned by Rheinmetall when these rifles were made. They are incredibly accurate rifles, true to German tradition. However the triggers leave a lot to be desired. In about 2001 Rheinmetall sold the Mauser sporting rifles division to Sigarms. Who also owns Blazer. That is the connection right now. Different factories, different designs, different suppliers, etc. Except same parent company who feels the market needed a huge jump in prices. Blazers are extremely expensive. Before Rheinmetall sold the Mauser sporting rifle division, they were affordable. You could get a M98 for less than the M03 ($1600 base price compared to $2800). Now it's completely the other way around. A new M98 costs over ten grand. Hard to justify that when I could spend $2k less customizing a model 98 surplus and have the thing the way I want it and decorated too....the way I want it. And I would want a lot of decoration on my M98.
Anyhow, that's how it is as I understand it today. Sigarms owns Blazer and Mauser. And their original factories are producing and marketing the same arms they have been for a long while.
Mauser was owned by Rheinmetall when these rifles were made. They are incredibly accurate rifles, true to German tradition. However the triggers leave a lot to be desired. In about 2001 Rheinmetall sold the Mauser sporting rifles division to Sigarms. Who also owns Blazer. That is the connection right now. Different factories, different designs, different suppliers, etc. Except same parent company who feels the market needed a huge jump in prices. Blazers are extremely expensive. Before Rheinmetall sold the Mauser sporting rifle division, they were affordable. You could get a M98 for less than the M03 ($1600 base price compared to $2800). Now it's completely the other way around. A new M98 costs over ten grand. Hard to justify that when I could spend $2k less customizing a model 98 surplus and have the thing the way I want it and decorated too....the way I want it. And I would want a lot of decoration on my M98.
Anyhow, that's how it is as I understand it today. Sigarms owns Blazer and Mauser. And their original factories are producing and marketing the same arms they have been for a long while.
Thanks for the clarification on the corporate relationships.
On the high costs of these guns, its just a totally different thing/mindset on this in Europe compared to the USA.
My German pal (who owns the Blaser, as well as several other guns that each cost more than my last car) explained to me how complicated and difficult it is to get a license to own a rifle in Germany. I can't remember the details (its been a few years), but he said it literally takes over a year, you have to have special training, fill out scads of paperwork, wait, pay high fees, etc. The process involves taking a written exam, which is supposedly quite difficult. . .it actually takes a lot of work to pass it, and doing so is considered a big deal. Then there is more paperwork, fees, waiting, for every single gun you want to get. The bottom line is that unlike in the USA, where hunting is thought of as an activity for poor "rednecks", in Germany, its more of an activity for rich upper-class sorts. There people are more inclined to look at guns as precious heirlooms and lifetime investments, rather than here, where guns are common and relatively inexpensive, and are generally considered more as "tools" to be used as necessary.
So these things explain partly why a. Potentially multicaliber guns like the Blaser are so popular, even though they're so expensive. . . (its FAR faster and easier to get a new barrel than a whole new gun), and b. why the market there for multi-thousand dollar guns is proportionately bigger in Germany than here.
quote:Originally posted by sandwarrior
Mauser was owned by Rheinmetall when these rifles were made. They are incredibly accurate rifles, true to German tradition. However the triggers leave a lot to be desired. In about 2001 Rheinmetall sold the Mauser sporting rifles division to Sigarms. Who also owns Blazer. That is the connection right now. Different factories, different designs, different suppliers, etc. Except same parent company who feels the market needed a huge jump in prices. Blazers are extremely expensive. Before Rheinmetall sold the Mauser sporting rifle division, they were affordable. You could get a M98 for less than the M03 ($1600 base price compared to $2800). Now it's completely the other way around. A new M98 costs over ten grand. Hard to justify that when I could spend $2k less customizing a model 98 surplus and have the thing the way I want it and decorated too....the way I want it. And I would want a lot of decoration on my M98.
Anyhow, that's how it is as I understand it today. Sigarms owns Blazer and Mauser. And their original factories are producing and marketing the same arms they have been for a long while.
Thanks for the clarification on the corporate relationships.
On the high costs of these guns, its just a totally different thing/mindset on this in Europe compared to the USA.
My German pal (who owns the Blaser, as well as several other guns that each cost more than my last car) explained to me how complicated and difficult it is to get a license to own a rifle in Germany. I can't remember the details (its been a few years), but he said it literally takes over a year, you have to have special training, fill out scads of paperwork, wait, pay high fees, etc. The process involves taking a written exam, which is supposedly quite difficult. . .it actually takes a lot of work to pass it, and doing so is considered a big deal. Then there is more paperwork, fees, waiting, for every single gun you want to get. The bottom line is that unlike in the USA, where hunting is thought of as an activity for poor "rednecks", in Germany, its more of an activity for rich upper-class sorts. There people are more inclined to look at guns as precious heirlooms and lifetime investments, rather than here, where guns are common and relatively inexpensive, and are generally considered more as "tools" to be used as necessary.
So these things explain partly why a. Potentially multicaliber guns like the Blaser are so popular, even though they're so expensive. . . (its FAR faster and easier to get a new barrel than a whole new gun), and b. why the market there for multi-thousand dollar guns is proportionately bigger in Germany than here.
Very good points. Probably why even a $1600 gun wasn't selling here in the U.S. And why the decision to basically pull it out of this market. No sense in selling them for $1600 if you sell the same number at $10K.
As to hunting, it was always the sport of kings, and rich men in Europe. Average men, even free men, weren't allowed to take game. Not even the fish in the rivers/streams. When we settled here in America we had to hunt and fish. Thus it became our tradition. And when I look at it, it says as much politically, supporting the second amendment, as the use of arms to throw off tyranny. But, that's a tangent.
I love my Mauser rifles and I really liked my M96 straight pull bolt...except for the trigger. I found a 6x Mauser scope (made in Japan, but pretty nice) for it and put that on.I ended up selling it to a friend. He likes it but has only taken it out twice.
Cool gun, but it's certainly not a switch-barrel/ switch caliber rig like the Blaser is.