A DOT of frustration and Mini Mauser; 2nd range trip 13.11

[majspud]

Getting cold at the range. Brought my bolt MM Romanian scrub K98 DOT 1944 and .32 1914 (1918) Mauser.

The DOT is my worst shooting K98. Thought I'd try once more to get it to work. Shot 60 flawless rounds of 1956 Yugo; 30 at 50 yards, benched, and 30 at 100 yards free. Bore is pitted and fair at best, but it sits in a matching DOT stamped stock. Most markings have been peened or defaced, but all still match. Bolt is a mostly matching Fabrique National; cocking piece and firing pin do not match. I have swapped out the bolt body for a WaA63 DOT marked 'ag' suffix one to match the 'ah' suffix rifle. Butt stock markings date to May, 1944.

I got 9 hits at 50 yards. I couldn't tell where the bullets were going. Previously I had the front sight left, but it wasn't working today. I finally gave up and put it back to the original set marks. Walked over to the 100 yard range and shot another 30; only 2 hits. I tried high, low, left, and right; nothing worked.

This reminded me of a "Tales of the Gun" show on the History Channel I had seen, where the IDF was reworking a batch of DOT or DOU44 rifles, when they found they couldn't hit anything with them. It turned out the sights had been buggered at the factory in an act of sabotage. Makes me wonder if I got one of them. I have posted many times on my shooting efforts; I'm embarrassed to post this.

The M1914 Mauser .32 "Mini-Me" is a great shooter. Serial dates it to 1918, all matching, Imperial proofed, no unit mark. I shot 50 rounds of new 71gr. round nosed Winchester; I later paced off the distance as 41 feet. Only three push forwards were needed to seat rounds, as well as two misfeeds.

Don't know what to do with the DOT44; seems a shame to waste ammo as I can't hit anything with it; I used to 25% of my available 8mm today.

MS

 

[whatluck]

Nice guns., and nice shootin with the .32, I'm guessing that's the right target, and the other two are from your K98. If this is the case, I doubt it's an issue with your sights because you'd still be grouping. Ever bore sight it? If it's shot out it's shot out.

 

[majspud]

Moderate rifling is visible in the DOT, although faint at the crown where it counts.

MS

 

[USMA-82]

I could definitely contribute a few minutes for the film project: "Beautiful Guns that Shoot Like Shit"

 

[majspud]

Some pictures of the bore:

MS

 

[whatluck]

That looks shot out to me. The grooves look real rough mid barrel.

 

[jpattersonnh]

I had a 1942 byf matching vet bring back that was pristine. Could not hit the board side of a barn with it. You just never know.

 

[majspud]

Some morning light barrel shots...

MS

 

[majspud]

A bullet test; two 1956 Yugo rounds, bottom rifle is a mint bore bring back byf43. Approximately 50% visual difference.

MS

 

[BigBill]

I would scrub the snots out of the barrel and let it soak. Maybe a counterbore an 1" or so? Then have it recrowned, then shoot it. My point is you still have some rifling left in it.

I have a german 98k that i paid only $20 for because the barrel was a sewer pipe, the worst bore i have ever seen. I picked up a "like new" / "excellent bore" czech barrel from numrich gun parts at the time for $37. I went in my shop and changed out the barrel. Since most mausers and machined on the same machinery it locked up on the money were it should and the headspace is dead on with the go gage and the bolt won't close on the no go gage so my headspace is perfect. You can turn the rear and front site bands too so the sites will align again. I used the czech handguard too. Since the receiver /trigger housing was nickel plated with the german eagles on it its not really a collectable anymore. So i cleaned the stock and added 10 coats of tung oil and mounted a 3 post military style scope on it. She's a real looker now. The total cost was under $150 for this build. It was either rework it or scrap it for parts. I gave it a new life. The bore in the new barrel is like new the guys who rated it at numrich were correct.

 

[majspud]

I cleaned the bore again with a .32 pistol brass brush. Looks better. Tomorrow I will try again at the range; I made up a 48" square backdrop of old oak tag and I'll use my reserve 18" splattering targets. I also shimmed the guard screws with two layers of hard plastic; they are now snug and do not move.

MS

 

[Larry Legend]

Your sight hood doesn't look properly seated.

 

[majspud]

The groove on one side has been buggered at some point so it doesn't seat properly. Someone punched a mark in the front sight base as well. The sight blade is currently set in the factory spec lines.

MS

 

[majspud]

Well, took a second trip to the range with a large home made back drop, about 48"x48". The 50 yard range was full of four shooters with pistols and chairs half way down the range, so I set up at the 100 yard range. Shot 20 rounds total, 15 of 1956 Yugo, and 5 of 1954 Yugo, one of which was a double tap.

I started benched with three sand bags. I fired three rounds at the bottom of the black as the minimum Mauser sight is normally 150m. Two rounds were low left and one miss.

I moved my aiming point to three o'clock outer black and fired three more rounds. Two three o'clock and one 10 oclock. WTH?

Fired five rounds in the same place. Two rounds low right, one low center, and two misses. This makes no sense.

Fired 10 rounds 1 o'clock high. Two at 3, and one each at 5, 7, and 10 0'clock, 1 scratch on the target, and 6 misses.

This makes no sense. My guess is that the crown is shot out and the rounds have no consistency. Probably best to swap in a barreled action to make a shooter of it.

MS

 

[SKS Ray]

The 50 yard range was full of four shooters with pistols and chairs half way down the range, so I set up at the 100 yard range.

One of my biggest pet peeves at our club!

Next time tell them you plan on shooting from the 50yd bench and if they're gonna shoot from 25 with handguns that they need to go to the 25yd handgun range next door.

If they give you any shit, get their names and report them to the BOD the next Sunday morning.

On a related note... you could try slugging the barrel and having someone conjure you up a handload for that particular rifle.