Mitchell Mausers

[BikerRN]

I was looking at Mitchell Mausers and was wondering what the quality of them are?

I was interested in one of their "Tanker" rifles in 30-06 with a long eye relief scope as a general purpose rifle. I like the looks, but have questions regarding the reliability and accuracy. I've seen very few of them on the store shelves, and I've never shot one, so I have nothing to compare it to. It would be a psuedo Scout rifle, being that it's a long action and probably over the Col's weight limit for the Scout.

When I say general purpose, I'm thinking for usage much like one would use a Scout Rifle. Thank you for your time and I look forward to the various replies I hope to receieve.

Biker

[twyacht]

Hey BikerRN, Do not know about the 30-06, however, a very good friend, and co-worker bought an 8mm "98" from Mitchell. He owns a cabin in NC, and wanted an all-purpose rifle to keep up there.

We did take it to the range and give it a once over, with some milsurp 8mm, bought at a local gun show.

It was in excellent condition. The bore was as shiny as a mirror.  The stock was beautiful, and the action was smooth. After 20 rds. there were no issues.

It shot decent, "pie-plate" groups, from a rest at 50-75yds. (I forgot my spotting scope, and just has binoc's) But I have no doubt better ammo would tighten the groups up, and be an effective general purpose, durable rifle.

Kicks like a mule, but worked just fine.

Hope this helps.

[tombogan03884]

Mitchell's has a bad reputation for selling rifles that are allegedly re-stamped at outrageously high prices, and making claims about scarcity and collect ability that verge on fraud
That being said, they make no bones about the fact the Tanker is a new rifle, it looks like it would be a cool little truck gun. It's a Mauser action so it will be as reliable as any other Mauser.
3 thoughts though, in such a light rifle 30-06 will most likely kick hard and it is definitely a waste of powder since there is nothing 30-06 can do in  a 17 inch barrel that you can't expect from a 308 (unless you already have an 06 and want to limit calibers ). Also, I would bet that you could by a Mauser action and have it rebarreled with a custom stock for the same or less money.

[fightingquaker13]

I like 30-06 just because you can buy it cheaply anywhere and it will kill anything you have any business shooting at in the lower 48. That said, you can buy a used`shooter grade '06 from any of the usual suspects and chop the barrel down to 17" for very low dollars.That's doubly true now since everyone wants to be tacticool and there is lower demand for long action calibers like the '06 or .270 as opposed to .308. Personally I think this is silly in a bolt gun, but thats the way it is. You won't have the forward mounted scope like a scout rifle, but you can slap a red dot on it and get the same effect for less money from a company you know makes a good rifle. Just a thought.
FQ13
PS There is always the Ruger Frontier which is a scout configured M77. It is selling on GunsAmerica at $600.

[MAUSERMAN]

I can say from personal experience Mitchell Mausers are great. I own 9 different Mauser rilfes and 3 of those are Mitchells. I own 2 M63's one in 8mm and one in .308. Both rifles have seen plenty of time stalking hog, and both have brought home the bacon. The 8mm is a bit of a beast but the .308 is alot tamer. Go for it you wont be sorry.

[Sponsor]

[billt]

I'll second the quality of Mitchells Mausers. Here are my 2, M-48's complete with Bayonets and all accessories. Mitchells ships promptly to the dealer of your choice, and has an "A" rating with the BBB.  Bill T.

[tombogan03884]

No one I have heard of has had anything bad to say about the QUALITY, the complaints I've heard are that they claim "matching numbers" on guns, when in fact some of those numbers have been restamped.
Also that their prices are far higher than the actual value of the gun.
As with Piazza and Frontsight, the complaints are not about the product, but the business practices.

[billt]

Here is the deal about Mitchell's and their rifles. I looked at gun shows for years to find one of these really nice Mausers that were supposedly avaliable for cheap. I never found one. Most all I've ever seen were in nowhere near the condition of the rifles Mitchell's sells. My rifles were exactly as Mitchell's advertised. All numbers matched, and I could see no evidence of any re stamping or metal working around the stamped numbers that would indicate anything deceptive. I've heard of the "re stamping" accusations myself. I have yet to see any proof of it. The price on these guns are not bad at all for what you get. I have seen far worse selling for far more.

The complaints about Mitchell's come from mostly collectors that don't like clean, arsenal refinished military weapons. It's no different with Mosin's, Enfield's, Garand's, Springfield's, and all the rest. I saw a guy get kicked off a Mosin Nagant board for posting before and after pictures of a Mosin he sporterized with a Walnut stock, and mounted a scope on. The guy did a nice job, and the gun looked beautiful ! That is just plain silly. These are the same guys who badmouth Mitchell's.

As far as their business practices. Mitchell's gives a money back guarantee with every weapon they sell. They have an "A" rating with the Better Business Bureau. Mitchell's Mausers advertises a nice clean rifle for a fair price. If that is what you are looking for, and don't care about historical significance, official "Pancho Villa Toothmarks" on the stock, and other such battlefield scarring, Mitchell's sells the product you are looking for. The rifles are very clean, the bores are perfect, the actions run like they were on ball bearings. In short they are beautifully put together rifles. I bought them because they were simply the best looking Mausers I could find, and they arrived exactly as advertised. In short I couldn't have asked for more.  Bill T.

[billt]

I should add the guns shoot flawlessly, and both are very accurate. The only issue I had was my fault. When the guns arrived they were accompanied with instructions that said to clean the weapon completely. I gave it the usual new weapon treatment consisting of a good barrel cleaning, followed by a oil wiping and lubrication. When I got to the range neither gun would fire, and the rounds showed a very light primer strike.

The bolts were full of Cosmoline. I soaked each one overnight in a coffee can full of WD-40. In the morning I gave them a good brushing and blew them out with compressed air. I oiled them, greased the bolt lugs, and headed back to the range. All of the ammo I ran through them fired without a single problem, included the rounds that didn't discharge the day before. Moral of story. If you buy a gun from Mitchell's be sure the bolt is completely clean and free of grease before you shoot it.  Bill T.

[tombogan03884]

The cosmoline is a problem with the Yugo Mauser's  and SKS's as well.
When they say say "clean thoroughly"  they mean it