I'm going deer hunting and will be shooting a 7mm mouser. but have no idea how to sight it for yardage or any thing. it is a wwII sniper rifle. I took it out to the range yesterday and well 4 people shot the gun and didn't even come close to the target while aiming straigh at the middle. the gun shot either way high or way low. and also off to the right. but one of us did get the corner of the paper. any suggestions would be great. or if any one knows any thing about this perticular type of rifle.i

 

are you using the peep sights that the rifile came with ??

 

its all original equipment. so yes

 

it it was me I would take it and set a target at 50ft and adjust the sight til you get it right on target then try at 25 yds then 50 yds then at 100yds

 

the issue you are having is the sights. go to a gun club & sight it in. the peeps were good sights in 1945 but in 2005 they are tired and the stops are worn out. also chk the barrell wrap. it's an old rifle. mauseres are tough but not bullet proof

 

It is a good possibility that the bore is shot out no matter how good it looks! Have a gunsmith slug the barrel and see if it has been shot out. Your rifle could have had 100,000 rounds or more put through it by the time you received it.
If it is in overall good condition, original and a large ring receiver you may want to have it re-barreled. This can be had for a few hundred to a 1000 dollars.

Also check to see if the sights are well staked and not loose. This is a problem in many of the old military bolt-action rifles!

Also depending on the model, factory and year of the rifle there can be some bore diameter differences (tighter or looser tolerances) from the factory. If you have a loose tolerance barrel (or even tight) you may need to go to a special load with a bullet to mach the barrel! Both loose and tight will cause the problem you have described.

 

Did the pattern travel as more rounds went through? Many older rifles were known for not having the bore perfectly centered, and the barrel would warp as the passing rounds heated it, making it almost impossible to sight in. Keep in mind, you have to use soft point rounds to legally hunt with that rifle, you can't use FMJ's.

 

First of all, I apologize for the long post.

You said it is a 7mm Mauser.
Is it a 7.92 mm (aka 8mm Mauser) or a 7x57mm Mauser? Two totally different animals.
I am more familiar with the 7.92 mm, but, I am far from being an expert at it.

I'll attempt to help with information as if it were the 7.92. . . . .

Some people are having issues with the 7.92 because of the rifliing in the barrel. There were many manufacturers of the Mauser during the war period, and barrels for them.
Some bores are small, while others can be quite oversize. This is usually the problem. (Other than lack of maintenance and being 'shot-out.')
A book called, "Backbone of the Wermacht" by Richard D. Law goes into detail about the different bore sizes.

Some of the rifle barrels will group better with the earlier bullets, normally in the 154 to 156 grain range, while others will produce better groups with the latter ammo of 196 grains.
What kind/type of ammo are you using? (You didin't say. . .)
This leads me to - some 7.92 mm ammo is of questionable quality. There is early (50's) Turkish ammo that shoots pretty well, and some late (70's) Yugoslav ammo that shoots exceptionally well. (None is reloadable, though.)
Is the ammo current 'Sporting' ammo? (JHP or SP) for hunting.
All of this information will aid in diagnosing and correcting the accuracy problem.

What markings are visible on the rifle? To ascertain what the bore size is, IF it is a 7.92 mm, look on the top of the receiver, and at the forward edge of the receiver, where the barrel screws into the receiver, you should see some numbers. It might be 79; 7.9; 7.91 etc., etc., etc. Even including 7.94 which is quite oversize.

Next, upon reading your post again, you stated that the rifle was originally a sniper rifle. Does it have a scope on it, or, does it just have the open sights?
(The original 'open' sights were NOT peep sights.) The original sights were mounted on the barrel, forward of the receiver. (A very narrow and shallow V notch which did not help with accuracy.)

Next, the front sight blade CAN be replaced IF the shots are consistently low or high. The front sight blade can also be loose in it's dovetail. This can be peened with a sharp punch to lock it into place after sighting it in.

IF the rifle has a scope on it, from it's previous 'life', the scope mount and rings could be loose. This will cause the shots to go all over the place, as you describe. (Or, the scope is bad. . . .)

There could be other possible issues with the stock, the front barrel bands, the action screws could be loose, etc., on a rifle that is 60+ years old.

Lastly, IF this rifle is an authentic sniper rifle from the war, I would suggest not using it for deer hunting. The market value of it, IF a complete sniper rifle, COULD be in the 'several thousand dollar' range.

I hope that this has been of some help.

Again, I apologize for the long winded post.

Keith

 

I fired 175 grain rounds. it has a sight that you slide, to I'm guessing the yardage that I want. the rounds were the fedral brand name. the sight goes from 3 up to 20. what the numbers mean I have no idea. but I am taking it to a local gun shop tomarrow to see if they can help me. I'll keep you posted on what they say. I think that I'm going to take it to a couple of different shop to see what they say. I don't even know what the make is. my dad bought it for 30 dollars. and gave it to me. so I really don't know much about it.

 

I think the numbers denote yards or meters for range.

 

The rear sight is the standard issue rear sight for the Mauser. The 3-20 denotes exactly what Ford_Six said.
It stands for 300-2000 meters. For shorter distances, you want to slide the rear sight toward you. (Backward, or, toward the receiver.)

Next, if the rifle is shooting consistently 'high' at 100 yds, you could replace the front sight with a taller blade, which will bring the shots (groups) down.

IF the rifle is a 7.92mm (8mm) Mauser oralso kow as the K98k Mauser, the manufacturer's name should not be on the rifle, unless it is "Mauser" which will be inside of a 'banner' on the top of the front receiver ring.
From the mid 1930s until the end of the war, the manufacturer placed a 'code' on front receiver ring.
The code is usually a two or three letter code, such as: ar; byf; duv; dot; bnz, etc.
Knowing what those letters are, I can look up the manufacturer for you.
Also, there should be two numbers below the three letter manuf. code. That will denote the year that the rifle was made.
(This is all information that pertains to the K98k Mauser rifle.)

For me, Federal ammo has been extremely consistent and accurate.

Lastly, IF you can post some pictures on a remote site, we can see exactly what you have, and go from there.

Let us know what comes from your visit from the gunshop.

 

I took the gun to a locakl dealer yesterday. and found out that it is actually a wwI japanese 8 mm mauser. and is worth some money. the only draw back is that the only way to get shells for it would be to have a mold made of chamber and have them custom made. very pricey. or the other two options that are totally out of the question are to have it re-chambered, or re-barrelled. so now I have to find another gun to go deer hunting with. not very fun.

 

Is your rifle a 7.7mm Arisaka?
Did the gunshop say "Type 38"??? "Type 99"???
Unless the 'mum' is still on the front receiver ring, these rifles are usually worth no more than $125-$150.

Now, the German government DID sell some pre-war 7.92mm Mausers to the Japanese government. Not many, if I recall.
They are worth some money! (That's what makes them valuable to some collectors.)

What is baffling me is that you said that you were shooting 7mm ammo (8mm ammo??).
What caliber ammo were you shooting, when you had the accuracy problems?
You stated Federal ammo, if I remember correctly. To my knowledge, Federal hasn't made any 7.7mm Arisaka ammo for a long time (if ever.)
If you were shooting 7x57mm Mauser ammo, no wonder you were having accuracy problems.
If you were shooting 8mm Mauser (7.92mm) I'm surprised that you didn't blow up the rifle, even though the Arisaka is built as a 'clone' (more or less) of the Mauser action. (IF the rifle is in fact, an Arisaka.)
At the very least, I'm surprised that you didn't have any case separation problems! (Or case splits, etc.)

Next issue. . . .
I suggest for deer hunting, for less than $300 you could pick up a 'RC' (Russian Capture) 8mm German Mauser. The caliber is 7.92 mm, and is comparable to the .30-'06 Springfield cartridge.
Another fine rifle is the Marlin 336 in .30-30. Great little rifle for woods hunting.

Keith

 

Or a Swedish Mauser in 6.5X55. Great rifles. If you had a 7.7 Arisaka then you were not putting federal rounds through it. Norma is the only company that makes these anymore. Trust me, I have one and finding ammo is a royal pain. I load them myself with .303 british bullets and the best brass I can find(Which is getting to be bad). Now I myself am wondering what kind of ammo you shot through your rifle. It is starting to sound less like a problem with the rifle, and more like you fed the wrong ammo through it. You may not need to buy a new deer rifle after all, just new ammo!

 

If you need a cheap rifle for hunting you could get a Mosin Nagant 91-30. One in pretty nice shape goes for less than 100 bucks at Big 5, and Winchester makes some nice 7.62x54R soft points for it (hunting.) Power on this round is roughly equivalent to .308 Winchester. I've shot one a few times, it's a fun rifle. The bolt was pretty stiff though.