Boers with Boring Bores

[WildBillG]

some one here nust have an old 7x57 mauser military rifle with orrigunal sights to try this. It seems pointless to argue about some thing we have not tested. Some times simple is better then technology.

 

[swe123]

7x57 will do everything a 6.5 Creedmoor will do.

 

[smokepoler]

I hunted with a fourth generation Boer in South Africa. He broke the 1000 yard record for an original black powder cartridge rifle with iron sights and still holds it. I hunted with his son. They are crack shots and the skill is handed down from generation to generation. His great grandfather fought in the Boer war(S). As far as the comment, if they were that good, they would have won. They won the first but for the second war, they basically lost the same way the South did in the Civil War, lack of supplies, support and strategies. It was during this war that the British invented the concentration camp and forced the Boer's women, children and old or weak men in to these camps where thousands died. But hey, it's the internet and it's full of experts who've never been outside the county or state of their birth, let alone in Boer country.

 

[eastbank]

the british have nothing to be proud of in the boer wars. and the brits used prison ships in out war of independence that were the cause of many deaths too.

 

[John Klingenberg]

Maybe this pic can put it in perspective some. That's a Mauser 93 with an original barrel cut to 20 inches and simply restocked. The ammo is some 70s surplus ball. If gets really accurate with the old roundnose ball. The three shots up in the right corner. I suppose a pioneer that shot game for years while riding across that flat plain called the high veldt could get pretty good versus the guy that only shoots during military practice sessions.

 

[5.56×250]

I sporterized an old 98 in 7 mauser several years ago. All I did was cut the barrel to 20" and have a Smith drill and tap and turn the bolt down for scope clearance. Installed a cheap bushnell sportsview 3-9×32 .Gun shot really good. 140 rems shot close to MOA at 100. 175 round nose rems shot sub MOA. Took my best off the cuff shot with that rifle. 330yds on a walking doe. Perfect double lung shot. Held at the tip of her nose, fully expecting the round to fall in right behind the shoulder. Some combos just make you look good. The 98 in 7 mauser has always been one of those combos. Same gun, shot a 7pt buck on a dead run, straight at me, after the guy I was still hunting with had liver shot it. He was slipping down a parallel logging road when he shot the deer. I heard the shot, then heard the deer busting brush. I turned in time to see the buck break out of the woods about 20 yards from me. In one motion , I flipped the gun up, saw the bucks eyes on either side of the crosshairs and pulled the trigger. Bullet hit the deer square between the eyes. It slide to a stop less than 10 ft from where I was standing. I called it the magic combo !
Thanks OP! I had not thought about the old 7 in a long time .

 

[sentry53]

the 1908 dwm mauser in 7x57 rear sight 1 is 100meters 20 is 2000 meters. I can not see any thing to shoot at that distance. without a good scope that is.

 

[Afrikaboom]

600 meters shots with iron sights is easy. I am South-African and we grew up shooting with iron sights only. Shot my uncle's Mauser and Lee Enfield and hit targets out from 300 meters to 700 meters. I was then just 13. Later on, in the military, that was 30 years back, I could easily shoot down 12 x 12 steel plates at 500 meters using iron sights with a R-4 5.56mm. We only trained on the 300m and 500m line. Shooting with iron sights is easy; I had a hard time getting use shooting with a scope. I heard from other families that the Boers were very skilled shots. They were excellent hunters and with the areas of open plains had to learn to shoot long distances. The British had no answer for it. They got shot off their horses and had no idea where it came from. Even 14 year old boys were taking the Brits down. The Boers were very skilled in guerilla warfare. So the Brits (Pommies) rounded up woman, children and the elderly and threw them in concentration camps to break the spirit of the Boers. I believe 700/800 meters kill shots are highly possible.

 

[tomsd]

I recently watched a documentary on the Boer war where the Boers were " accurate out to 1200 yds" using Paul Mauser 7mm factory rifles. BTW that's:

No custom barrel
No trued action
No special bullets, powders, etc.
No telescopic sites... that's KENTUCKY F—-ING WINDAGE!


I was amazed, so I did some further research and found that those guys were for real and anything within 600yds was a guaranteed kill. Most of these threads makes the sport seem too technical and intimidating to the layperson, so how were they so accurate?

 

[tomsd]

Remember - the Boers were like our Frontiersmen - but with Mausers. As one who grew up in Rural Oregon - hunting etc - and shooting a customized Springfield 03 in 30.06 - I could hit dead center at 100 yards (was later on the frosh rifle team at the AF Academy for a year - 1964-5 but quit that to concentrate on baseball. Rifle coach was ****ed. ). Now dad usually carried the "big" gun when we went Mule deer hunting (which had a nice 3x9 by 40 Simmons scope) - and I had a trusty little side mounted 4 x fixed Weaver scope (20 mm ? ) on a Winchester Model 94 in .32 Special - which worked fine for my young eyes - and in the woods - especially as I liked iron sights ) as we had a lot of timber. But South Africa has a lot of Veld - grasslands - and shots for hunting could be long. With a good rest - I bet they could with some regularity hit soldiers at 600 yards - and even hold over for some hits out to 1,200 yards. I do know they won battles against a supposedly superior British Army - until they were just over-whelmed.

 

[tomsd]

Gun - see my reply at the end.

 

[Canhunter35]

I hunted with a fourth generation Boer in South Africa. He broke the 1000 yard record for an original black powder cartridge rifle with iron sights and still holds it. I hunted with his son. They are crack shots and the skill is handed down from generation to generation. His great grandfather fought in the Boer war(S). As far as the comment, if they were that good, they would have won. They won the first but for the second war, they basically lost the same way the South did in the Civil War, lack of supplies, support and strategies. It was during this war that the British invented the concentration camp and forced the Boer's women, children and old or weak men in to these camps where thousands died. But hey, it's the internet and it's full of experts who've never been outside the county or state of their birth, let alone in Boer country.

Sorry that comment was poorly worded, I realize why they lost(same reason why every tribe lost to Rome), what I meant was they aren't super human crack shots. Not everyone was running around sniping brits at 1200, but I certainly believe many would've been crack shots, but people are still people and as much as the history channel loves to generalize history and push stereotypes down our throats it's just not realistic paint all the boers with the same brush

 

[ofbandg]

About thirty years ago I picked up a couple Carl Gustave '96 Swedish Mausers in 6.5x55 (military) for $50 bucks each. I sporterized the first one with a cheap new stock, altered bolt handle, drilling and tapping, Timney trigger, and a shortened and recrowned barrel. It was glass bedded and floated but I didn't go out of my way to maximize accuracy. It was destined to be a truck gun. The first serious range session I had with it I shot about a half MOA in a number of three shot groups. A friend of mine saw me do it and he immediately decided he wanted the rifle so we traded for something. (He's a carpenter and I always need work done on something.). A few years later I got around to doing the same thing to the other Swede, minus the Timney trigger and new stock. I found a much abused old classic stock that would fit it and I glassed and floated that. The best I can do with this one is about .9 MOA for three shot groups. This rifle came out of the Carl Gustave factory in 1901 and the steel in a bit soft by today's standards so I keep the pressures down but I can still put a 120 gr. Nosler ballistic tip out at 2900fps from a 26 inch barrel. I find that acceptable and I have no doubt the Boers were able to hit targets at 600 meters and beyond with similar rifles.