Apparently, Royal Bisley is mostly populated by People Who Treat Shooting Seriously — i.e., not my kind of people at all, because I prefer having fun at the shooting range. So instead, Mr. FM booked us time at a private range, where we could do just that. Here’s a view downrange at 100 meters (ugh, metric is everywhere Over Here).
…and I played with several rifles: the aforementioned Blaser 93 in 6.5x55mm Swede, Combat Controller’s Browning .300 WinMag (which has completely recovered from its earlier Scottish mishap, and is capable of shooting minute-of-angle — MOA — at 100 meters, just not by me — I could only manage 2″ groups because eyes), and finally, a Mauser M12 “Impact” in .308 Win.
As Longtime Readers know, I have either a soft spot or a hard-on for Mauser rifles, depending on whether I’m talking about them or I’ve just shot one. Good grief. Thus equipped, I can honestly say that the M12 is in the top three rifles I have ever fired — and let me tell you, that encompasses an awful lot of rifles. With this rifle, minute-of-angle wasn’t just easy, it was a breeze. If you look in the center of the pic above and see the boar-shaped steel target, and squint to see the 4″ heart/lung target area “flipper” plate, I was hitting that flipper dead center with every single shot.
Let me go further: if I was told I could only ever own one medium rifle, you’d have to talk me out of choosing the M12. (I’d get the “regular” model with wood stock, of course, because Kim; but I think you catch my drift.)
And by the way: if anyone knows a way we can get Our Rulers in D.C. to pass the Hearing Protection Act (which will finally take moderators off the NFA list), feel free to apply that particular cattle prod to their backsides.
Tack-driving rifles are a joy and a pleasure. I feel fortunate that through the decades I’ve managed to enjoy a half-dozen, four of which I still have. Nowadays it’s mostly memories of many and many a hunt.
When you find that combination of fit and finish that suits you, it’s enjoyably easy to “get all married up to it”.
You can take the boy out of Africa, but you can’t take Africa out of the boy…..
Which is why you posted a pix of that M12 as an Express with open sights?
It is a quite handsome rifle!
Bah! Bolt guns? Smokeless powder? Bloody Phillistines!
Kim, surely – one of those peasants should be able to come up with a Martini Henry? And if you have to shoot bolt guns, there should have been at least a barrel of Enfields for club guns. What kind of range is that??? I’m afraid your Limeys have to do better!
Hmm, not everyone seems to think this is an improvement on the past, but from the pure enjoyment reported by Kim, well worth the fun day at the range. I for one am not sure I would part with that much cash for an M12.
https://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/mauser-m12-308-winchester-modern-heirloom/