Trail Rated
AH veteran
I have been fixing up a 1901 Spanish Mauser, still in the original 7x57mm caliber, and have it shooting very well with factory ammo (Federal 175 gr soft points) after installing an old Williams aperture rear sight and a taller front sight. But I hadn’t shot anything other than paper targets with it until this evening. Wanting a “proof of concept” hunt before I use it on deer this fall, I decided to try it on a feral hog hunt. The outfitter was surprised to see me show up with an 118-year-old rifle and no scope — I imagine most of his clients use more modern hardware. He was skeptical until I drilled a mid-size boar that came out just after sunset from around 90 yards. One shot in the shoulder put the pig down where he stood. He kicked for a while but didn’t get up.
The bullet went in the left shoulder and blew a big hole out the right side. I was impressed with the stopping power and expansion coupled with the relatively light recoil. The aperture sight was great — even on a cloudy evening there was still plenty of light for the shot.
Now I have confidence that I can take down a whitetail, which will be a larger target than this hog, with the old Mauser 93. And soon I’ll have more sausage in the freezer. Someday I hope to try it on plains game on a real safari.
The bullet went in the left shoulder and blew a big hole out the right side. I was impressed with the stopping power and expansion coupled with the relatively light recoil. The aperture sight was great — even on a cloudy evening there was still plenty of light for the shot.
Now I have confidence that I can take down a whitetail, which will be a larger target than this hog, with the old Mauser 93. And soon I’ll have more sausage in the freezer. Someday I hope to try it on plains game on a real safari.
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