Mauser or Enfield for SHTF rifle

Status
Not open for further replies.
elmerfudd : As far as I know the 6.5 Swede has a great reputation among recreational shooters, but was never really used in combat. The 6.5 Arisaka had almost identical ballistics, but was found to be ineffective in combat relative to full power cartridges and the Japanese abandoned it in favor of the 7.7mm and unlike the Swedes, the Japanese did a lot of fighting with their 6.5's.

And of course any of these cartridges are perfectly lethal, but bigger heavier bullets tend to be more so.
Click to expand...

I remember reading about how the Italians using the 6.5 Carcanos had some problems with some failures to stop in Ethiopia and that the Japanese had the same problem in Manchuria, but isn't the 6.5 Swede going a little bit faster than those two rounds?

http://www.rememuseum.org.uk/arms/rifles/armrjrc.htm

Japanese experiences in China showed the need for a more powerful cartridge than the 6.5 mm.
Click to expand...

6.5X50 Arisaka
http://ammoguide.com/cgi-bin/ai.cgi?sn=LBmxOPPrJp&catid=23=fpSTEjZEVi

6.5 Arisaka 120 grain - 2405 FPS - 1541 K.E. FT-LBS with a 30.5 inch barrel
Click to expand...

6.5 Swede
http://ammoguide.com/cgi-bin/ai.cgi?sn=LBmxOPPrJp&catid=19=BfSTsZFipK

6.5 Swede 120 grain - 2935 FPS - 2296 K.E. Ft-LBS with 22 inch barrel
Click to expand...

The faster velocity of the 6.5 Swede might make all the difference as far as terminal performance goes in comparison with the with the 6.5 Arisaka. The Swede is a Mauser and if I remember right the Arisaka is basically a Mauser copy so they should both make it in this thread as far as subject matter, but I might be stretching it a bit on the Arisaka being used for "SHTF".
 
In their military loadings they were very similar. Both fired 139 grain bullets. The 6.5 Arisaka was about 100 fps slower at 2510 fps. The 6.5 Swede's velocity was rated at 2625. The Arisaka had about 1945 fpe while the Swede had around 2127 fpe.
 
I knew that the Swede was faster than the Arisaka in it's military loading, but I couldn't remember by how much and I couldn't find any data on military 6.5 Swede ammo, I could only find the civilian loads which are all faster. 2500 FPS seems a bit fast for the Arisaka though, most of the ones above are going between 1800 FPS and 2456 FPS with the most rounds going around 2200 FPS.

Do you know of any links for the military loads on them both?
 
Well, I cased the stores in my city for a few days and couldnt find much of anything nice. I found plenty of nice SKSes, but I already have one. I found a few decent mosin nagants, but nothing special.

So, tonight I picked up a K-31. The outside of it looks a little rough, some of the finish is off, but the bore is immaculate.

I got it at Cabela's. All of the mosins they had came sporterized with a realtree camo stock :barf:, and the enfields I looked at had crummy bores. They had yugo SKS's but I already have one.

I'm going to get it re-blued I believe. Hopefully she'll shoot nice. There was a note under the buttplate that had a soldiers name and some other writing on it, im working on getting it translated.

Thank you everyone for your advice. BTW, anybody from michigan or ohio, Cabela's in dundee has a few garands and 1903s that are in EXCELLENT condition, they are however out of my price range.
 
A K31's an excellent choice. Get some G11 ammo if you can, (only the Swiss have match grade surplus ammo), and you'll be really pleased when you get it out on the range.
 
I've heard all kind of good about K31's and GP11 ammo.

If you go to the Swiss rifle boards, there's a lot more info on these rifles than you'd think. Those guys also tweak handloads- like a good many of us rifle guys- and come up with cast lead and hunting loads. If you consult the Hornady 5th Edition manual, you'll find the 7.5x55 Swiss uses the same .308" jacketed bullets as .308 and .30-06 too.
 
I'd like to get into handloading but I have no idea where to start haha.
They had some GP11 there, so I bought a couple boxes. I'm going to shoot it this weekend and I'm really excited.
 
As much as I like the Lee set-up, I wound up adding the Hornady manual and a Frankford Arsenal powder measure.

The Lee powder measure... the plastic one... IME is crap. It'll only feed ball powder such as H4227 reliably. I did also get a Lee dipper set which is quite good to use. The dipper you get with the dies... it's hard to tell right away which powder you dip with that particular scoop. Get the set though and you get a slide card that'll tell you what scoop for what type powder and charge weight.

The Lee instruction sheet is helpful to know how to set up the dies. As far as data goes, though, I found the Hornady manual much more helpful and easy to follow.
 
Like several people have already said, I would recommend a no. 4 Enfield. Although I don't have one, it's high on my "to get" list. All-around great gun in an effective caliber and relatively inexpensive to boot!
I'd have to disagree on the point that .303 ammo is scarce. My local gunshop keeps it in stock and I believe Dunhams sells commercial loads. If that's not so in your area, then you could certainly find plenty of ammo at gunshows and stock up.
 
collateral said:
I'm going to get it re-blued I believe. Hopefully she'll shoot nice. There was a note under the buttplate that had a soldiers name and some other writing on it, im working on getting it translated
Click to expand...

The little tag is the soldier's information that your K31 was issued to. You might want to re-think bluing it.
 
I have both a M24/47 and a No.1 MkIII* Enfield and I would definitely pick the Enfield over the Mauser. Even though my Enfield is 90 years old I still trust it to operate effectively and it is the obvious choice. Twice the magazine capacity in a detachable magazine, almost twice as fast to cycle the bolt, plus better sights.
 
I would take the Enfield, mainly for the reasons that Coronach posted. They are great rifles.If you want something a little more get your Self a Mosin Nagant gotta love the 7.62 x 54r. But accuracy wise you are best looking at the Enfield try and find one with the bayonet.
 
"Great, where is the site?"

What am I ...your research slave:neener:

Try swissrifles.com....if not there it may lead you to the right place

I don't actually remember where I saw it
 
As a result of this thread I think that I'm gonna pick up a Lee Enfield AND a Swiss K31 within the next 6 months. I might as well while they're fairly cheap, they aren't going to go down in price, they'll only go up. Hopefully I'll be able to find an Enfield in 7.62X51 as .303 doesn't seem all that easy to get in bulk, although it is out there.

I'll probably get the K31 first as there are less of them and alot of people really seem to like them.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

A
  • Locked
Yugo Mauser Questions
Replies
5
Views
1K
Rifle Country
Jim K
J
S
  • Locked
Mauser Rifle?
Replies
9
Views
1K
Rifle Country
Cosmoline
C
C
  • Locked
Which bolt action rifle actions are cock-on-closing vs cock-on-opening?
Replies
14
Views
19K
Rifle Country
ChronoCube
C
K
  • Locked
Yugo M24/47 Mauser OR Mosin M91/30?
Replies
15
Views
1K
Rifle Country
chevyforlife21
C
S
  • Locked
Some Mauser questions...
Replies
15
Views
731
Rifle Country
joe4702
J
Top Bottom
Back