Best gun ever!!!

[Minihuntur]

This thread will turn best friends to bitter enemies, which gun is the best gun ever produced. Happy arguing!:D
Minihuntur

[fabsroman]

That is like asking who is the best looking woman of all time. Heck, none of us even know all the 3 billion women out there, much less the women than have come and gone, and even then, it is highly subjective.

By the way, same argument goes for the ladies out there that have to pick the best looking man of all time.

Good luck with this thread. I am staying out of it other than to say that I have several Ruger rifles and they work just fine for me, but there are plenty of others on my "wanted" list.

[BILLY D.]

Easy for me. A Winchester Model 61. Shot shorts, longs, and long rifle, was accurate and it was what I learned to shoot with. I started shooting it in 1946 and it passed to my Dad from my Grandfather. And now it's MINE, all MINE.

My Grandfather bought the M-61 and a Model 72 to celebrate the end of WW2.

Best wishes, Bill

[jplonghunter]

Minihuntur

Let's get it started right. Paul Mauser designed a rifle system that has not been improved upon in 110 years. Next question.

jplonghunter

[Brother Rockeye]

the best gun ever produced is the one in yer hands right when you need it...

[Gil Martin]

My best rifle is an F.N. Commercial Mauser. All the best...
Gil

[Dan Morris]

LOL, I'm kinda partial to pre 64 Winchester Mod 70's.....course,
they derived from the Mauser....
Question, are we referring to sporting or military rifles?
Dan

[jmarriott]

How about the marlin golden 39a. Annie oakley's rifle.

Or the 870 wingmaster remmington. 3 billion strong

or the wincheseter model 94.

[Dom]

I kinda like Brother Rockeye's answer there, but . . .

If you're talking rifles, the Mauser would be tough to beat, and for shotguns, hard to beat the 870. Though this would vary a bit worldwide, I mean, how many AK-47s are out there. In Europe, you won't find many 870's, mostly double o/u land here, with strong favorites Rottweil, the Belgian Brownings, and the Italian marks.

How about the Luger . . . or you might say the best gun quality wise comes from Holland and Holland? Mass produced maybe Blaser? Sauer? I'm wringing out a new Sauer 202 I just got, so far so good!! Too many variables, there's a lot of mighty fine makers in the world, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

[Adam Helmer]

Minihuntur,

Do you have a question or do you just want to take up some of your free time?

Your "Best Gun Ever" question is really too broad to make sense. If you will define your terms, we can have a discussion. Happy New Year.

Adam

[PJgunner]

Originally posted by jplonghunter
Minihuntur

Let's get it started right. Paul Mauser designed a rifle system that has not been improved upon in 110 years. Next question.

jplonghunter

I tend to agree with you. The 98 mauser was designed as a weapon of war, one which was supposed to be as goof-proof a bolt action in the hands of a raw recuit as possible. I believe Peter Paul Mauser succeeded with his 1898 design. Now bolt action rifles have been replaced by various select fire firearms, but for total reliability in the hunting field, the Mauser is IMHO, number one. All other bolt actions are merely copies with pretended improvements.
My pet rifle today is an Oberndorf Mauser custom in .35 Whelen. With one exception, it would be the last to go. The exception is my great-grandaddy's Winchester M94 carbine in 30-30 that I used to take my first deer. It's in serious semi-retirement.
Paul B.

[muledeer]

Easy, so easy. All the guns in my safe. It's like Fabs said "who's the best looking woman of all time". Hey Fabs what ever happen to the best looking male on HC? As I remember I have a few points on ya:D
muledeer

[DON WALKUP]

my '93-95 mauser, rem 700 in 22-250 an' savage 12fv in .308 win...(somewhere in between there is a 1894c marlin, too)

[skeet]

in the pre 64 version, of course. Next is the Remington 700. Yeah I know the Mauser is a great rifle but they have a tendency to have a lot of slop! And if it happens to be a shotgun it would have to be the 870 which has been made in the US since the late 40's to the tune of almost 10 million guns...even more of them than the Mauser 98:cool: :D

[jplonghunter]

skeet

I can't believe you would expound such heresy ( Mauser has a tendency to have a lot of slop). Hard to believe someone as knowledgeable as you could be misled by a Mauser copy ( pre 64 Model 70.)
Have a great New Year

jplonghunter

[skeet]

I guess since almost every GOOD bolt action rifle is a copy of a Mauser or some such useless phrase...I'm just a gonna have to be a heretic. Of course some of those copies might just be a little better than the original...there I go spouting heresy again. Maybe i should just shut up, huh??:D :D

[PJgunner]

"Yeah I know the Mauser is a great rifle but they have a tendency to have a lot of slop!"

That slop as you call it is there for a reason. Reliability under the most adverse conditions. Out here in the west, riding on dusty dirt roads, a Remington 660 or 700 gets mighty sticky from accumulated dust in a very short while. Bolt operation is slowed down somewhat. I can say the same for the push feed versions of the Model 70 as well because I have rifles of both brands. I like them, but recognize their drawbacks. I could probably say the same about all the other push feed bolt action rifles as well, but as i don't own any of those, i won't comment. However, that sloppy mauser will not only take dusty conditions in stride, it thrives on them. Remember, the design was for as close to total reliability as possible under the worst conditions of warfare, not as a hunting rifle. The fact that it has that reliabilty factor is what makes itr a great hunting rifle.
Paul B.

[skeet]

I do understand the reasons for all that slop..I was just talking tongue in cheek so to speak. Reliable yes.. but still sloppy.:D Ya gotta clean that gun of yours a little more often man!!:eek: :D :D I is in the dusty west too, ya know! Lotta dusty roads in Wyoming for certain..Montana too!

[Cossack]

Could you provide spoon with that Mini?
(To stir the s... with).
By the way, the BEST rifle is a very ACCURATE one. :D

[PJgunner]

"Ya gotta clean that gun of yours a little more often man!! I is in the dusty west too, ya know! Lotta dusty roads in Wyoming for certain..Montana too!"

I don't doubt that. :D I've been on a couple of hunts where I had to wipe the bolt on that Remmy 700 several times during the course of a day. Too much of a PITA to suit me. it's too reliable in maintaining it's accuracy to get rid of it so usually it goes along in the case as a back up to whatever flavor of the day I'm hunting with. IIRC, I bought it in 1980 or 1981, not sure, sighted it in 3.0" high at 100 yards with 180 gr. Silvertips. i can take it to the range today and shooting off the bench with 180 gr. Silvertips, the gun will put five shots into about 1.5" exactly 3.0" high at 100 yards.
The gun is strictly stock except for the stock which I replaced when I bought the gun with an H&S Precision Fiberthane stock glass bedded with Accra-glass. Scope is just an all steel El paso Weaver K-4.
For myself, I'd rather have a rifle that shot 1.5" consistantly than one that shot .50" groups but wandered all over the place every time the humidity changed due to some bird sneezing 100 miles away.
Paul B.

[Aim to maim]

Originally posted by PJgunner
" .....one that shot .50" groups but wandered all over the place every time the humidity changed due to some bird sneezing 100 miles away.
Paul B.

That's rich. I'd like to use that phrase sometime if I may.

[TKO]

I dont know if anyone else would say either of these two are among the best every but their my most beloved

1. 10/22 Ruger, pure joy
2. Any old Winchester 22 pump, classics and a joy to plink with

[gd357]

#1 - AR-15/M-16 Too versatile to ignore. Many different caliber uppers (.22 up to .50) More extras than almost anything else, and a ton of different options from the factory. If I had to live with one gun for the rest of my life, give me an AR frame and a few barrels...

gd

[Rev]

There are so many great guns out there, I can't even think of them all, even if I knew them all. That's why one can never have too many guns.

Thanks for the thread.

Hm...................excuse me now, I need to go and present this argument to my wife.

Rev

[Larryjk]

The Mauser Model 98 had all of the improvements since the Mauser 88 Commission Rifle. And the first thing was to be not dependent on a separate clip to fire the gun from the magazine.
Then there were 93s, 95, 96s and 98s. I don't know what would have happened to the 94s and 97s. Maybe they were so bad they were never made in any production numbers.
The military Mausers had a lot of slop that didn't hurt anything because they were tight "enough" when they were in battery. But I had a famous dean of the gunmakers tell me you should never let a Mauser go out "sloppy" but should tighten it up. He told me how to do that, but I haven't been brave enough to try it "yet". I'll have to try that when I get time.
The nicest Mausers were the commercial FNs, especially those on the Southgate Weatherbys.:)

[Rev]

Weren't the old Browning FN rifles mousers? They seem OK, except for those three phase stepped bbls. Never had one but one of my hunting buddies has a .257 Rbts. It's kinda pretty in a nostalgic sort of way, but it only shoots fair.

Rev

[Larryjk]

:) The Browning Safari grade had the stepped barrels and FN Mauser actions. They may not have been the most accurate, but they were what is close to pure class. Some shot very well.

[BILLY D.]

Originally posted by Larryjk
The Mauser Model 98 had all of the improvements since the Mauser 88 Commission Rifle. And the first thing was to be not dependent on a separate clip to fire the gun from the magazine.
Then there were 93s, 95, 96s and 98s. I don't know what would have happened to the 94s and 97s. Maybe they were so bad they were never made in any production numbers.
The military Mausers had a lot of slop that didn't hurt anything because they were tight "enough" when they were in battery. But I had a famous dean of the gunmakers tell me you should never let a Mauser go out "sloppy" but should tighten it up. He told me how to do that, but I haven't been brave enough to try it "yet". I'll have to try that when I get time.
The nicest Mausers were the commercial FNs, especially those on the Southgate Weatherbys.:)

OK Larry

Share the tightening up sequence with us. Is it in a book or journal?

Best wishes, Bill

[Larryjk]

:rolleyes: Bill, Okay here goes. The faint of heart should log off now.
If you have learned to weld, you will remember that gas welding on a circle will shrink the circle because the molecules come to the heat. On the lathe, turn a rod to approximately 0.702. See if it will go through the rear bridge and into the lug area of the receiver ring. Leave it long enough to stick out past the rear tang about 5 inches. Clamp a pair of vise-grips onto the rear projection of the 0.702 rod sticking through the action. If you run scared, put heat stop paste on the rod and around the action between the front and rear rings. This should keep the receiver ring cool enough to bare hand. (Test gently) Use about a #2 welding tip and ply the heat to the top of the rear bridge. Bring it up to red and remove the heat. Try pulling the rod out. If the receiver is still loose put on a little more heat. If it starts to hold the rod DO NOT put on any more heat. You don't want to stick the rod. If you do, drive it back with a punch in the center so you don't swell the front of the rod by beating on it. That will make it VERY tight. If it is too snug, lap it with the rod and lapping compound.
Don't forget; you asked! P.S. Don't do this with the barrel in place.

[BILLY D.]

Larry

Well a.......ah hem, I think that project is about three feet over my head.

But thank you for the reply anyway. Thats one of those, I would if I could but it's best if I don't deals.

Best wishes, Bill

[Adam Helmer]

Bill,

I read Larry's post twice and, even though I have welding rigs, I never did what he described and that is how it will remain. It is more than 3 feet over my head. Whatever.

Adam

[Larryjk]

Bill and Adam, Notice how I started the reply. This is not beginners project day. And I forgot one thing that can be very important. If the opening for the lugs and extractor is okay, mill a square for each side to keep those races from closing too much.
I would love to tell you who gave me this information, but he might feel it was given in confidence. I know it is not a set-up on his part. He is not that kind of a guy.
I had this happen inadvertently when I was welding up the bathtub on the rear bridge of a model 14 Enfield. Had a hell of a time getting it back to where the bolt went in and out okay. I had purchased a "dewar" several years ago just to see what all could be done with them to make them good. You end up with a Magnum length action capable of the 416 Rigby but it is a "bunch" of work. That P14 can really be opened up for the big ones, as can the P17. The P14 has some advantages. Happy welding and milling. :)