the bolt body of support and increasing bolt play. Additionally, a long bolt throw reduces contact at the bolt stop.
The Mauser bolt face, left, shows its signature split lug, claw extractor, and open bottom for controlled feed.
Mauser Competitors & Derivatives WvZ
While the 98 was still teething, military establishments around the world began designing mechanisms for the new smokeless smallbore cartridges that were obviously superior to traditional infantry rounds. The conversions came as quickly as engineers could come up with functional bolt rifles. U.S. ordnance officers by-passed Arthur Savage’s lever-action rifle to adopt the Krag-Jorgensen, a Norwegian-designed bolt gun with a single right-hand locking lug, recessed bolt face and long, top-mounted extractor that grabbed the 30-40 case upon chambering. The ejector was a foot pivoting up from the belly of the raceway. Norway’s 6.5x55 Krag had a similar action and side-box magazine, but a third of the bolt face rim was cut away to allow the case head to slide into the extractor. Both actions work smoothly with loaded cartridges, but only the Norwegian Krag offers controlled-round feed.
Britain’s 303 Short Magazine Lee Enfield also appeared in the 1890s. An improvement on the 1888 Lee-Metford, it featured dual rear locking lugs and a flush bolt face with a short claw mounted at 10 o’clock in a detachable bolt head. A pin in the left receiver wall served as ejector. Despite their stamped, detachable box magazines, SMLEs feed smoothly and reliably. The little extractor grabs the 303 case rim as soon as it pops free of the magazine. A well-used SMLE that I examined recently slicked up empty cases from the battered feed lips like a cat gulping sardines. Slamming the bolt home or closing it gently, I couldn’t jam the open-mouthed hull. Few rifles of any design will function flawlessly (if at all) with empties.
The 1903 Springfield rifle featured Mauser’s dual locking lugs and an external extractor that grabbed cases immediately from the magazine. Its coned breech was something new. The first successful Winchester bolt rifle, the Model 54, showed Mauser and Springfield lineage. Its ejector derived from a Charles Newton design and eliminated the need for a slotted locking lug. Meanwhile Remington developed its Model 30, a sporting-class 1917 Enfield that also evidenced German ancestry. Winchester’s Model 70 appeared in 1937. It retained the coned breech, dual locking lugs, Mauser extractor and offset ejector of the Model 54 but wore a much better trigger. The 54 trigger, like the Mauser’s, doubled as a bolt stop. Sturdy and reliable, it had a long, heavy pull that could not be adjusted. The Model 70 trigger, still widely acclaimed by aficionados as the best ever for a hunting rifle, is bomb-proof and features adjustments for weight of pull and over-travel. A separate bolt stop interrupts the left lug.
Model 54 rifles stayed in Winchester’s line until 1941, but production slowed to a trickle during the last 5 years. Shooters were quick to embrace the Model 70’s trigger and its low-slung safety that, unlike the Mauser-style 54’s, swung horizontally under a scope. Misfires that had plagued the Model 54 disappeared when Winchester added 1/16 inch to striker travel (though lock time increased 20 percent). On the Model 70, bolt-head gas ports got help from a vent in the right side of the receiver ring. The 70’s low, swept-back bolt handle mandated a receiver slot that served as a safety lug abutment. The bolt shoulder was later eliminated. Machined bottom metal included a hinged floorplate and looked classier than the 54’s stamped assembly. Winchester did not fit new barrels to the 70 because the 54’s hook-rifled tubes had earned a fine reputation. Fact is, the first M70 barrels had the same threads and contours as the 54’s; they were interchangeable.
The Mauser’s British counterpart in the Great War was the Short Magazine Lee Enfield.
In 1937 you could order a Model 70 in one of nine chamberings: 22 Hornet, 220 Swift, 250-3000 Savage, 257 Roberts, 270 WCF, 7mm Mauser, 30-06 — plus 300 or 375 Holland and Holland Magnum. Between 1941 and 1963 nine more rounds were added, though only eight appeared in catalogs (they omitted the 300 Savage). With only one action size, Winchester used fillers and blocks and, in the case of the Hornet, a special magazine to adapt the 70 to short cases. Its magazine had been designed to accommodate the 300 and 375 H&H cartridges, introduced to American shooters in 1925 but then available only in costly custom Mausers. The M70’s long action featured a magnum-length magazine, properly engineered to hold four cartridges. Shorter boxes tailored for the 30-06 held five. Incidentally, though the Winchester 70 emerged a Cadillac among factory rifles, it cost less than a commercial Mauser. In 1939 the 70 retailed for $61.25, while a Mauser sporting rifle listed from $110 to $250!
Vern Woosley shot this dandy Oregon buck with a reworked 1917 Enfield.
Remington’s 721-722 series, announced in 1948, differed in two important respects from the Model 70. First, receivers came from tube stock and wore a separate recoil lug sandwiched between barrel shoulder and receiver ring. This was a cheaper approach than the machining of a receiver from a 7 ½-pound slab of chrome-moly. Stamped bottom metal and a trigger assembly comprising stamped parts gave the Remingtons a bargain-basement look, though barrel and stock contours resembled those of the Model 70. The other chief difference was in the bolt face, which featured a small half-moon extractor clip secured in a groove cut into a thick lip surrounding the recessed bolt face. This lip fully enclosed the case head, prompting Remington to boast of "three rings of steel" (bolt head, receiver and barrel) supporting the cartridge and protecting the shooter. There was no ejector slot; the plunger-style ejector operated through a hole in the bolt face.
A recessed bolt face did not allow for controlled-round feed because the cartridge had to be chambered before the extractor could engage its rim. Cost savings were substantial. These Remingtons lacked a coned breech. Despite their cheap appearance, the Reming-ton 721 and 722 handled high-pressure cartridges with ease. They shot accurately and fed reliably. Triggers were adjustable for engagement, weight and over-travel.
During the early 1940s Roy Weatherby had no rifles in which to chamber his peppy 257, 270, 7mm and 300 Magnums. In 1948 he began using commercial Mausers. A decade later he and Weatherby engineer Fred Jennie developed the Mark V, a new rifle that would handle higher pressures and accommodate the huge 378 and 460 Weatherby Magnums. The Mark V bolt had a recessed face like the Remingtons’, but the small extractor claw was fastened on the side of the bolt head. The round receiver wore an integral recoil lug. Roy added three gas ports to the bolt body and enclosed the bolt sleeve to prevent gas escape to the rear. Breaking with tradition, he used three sets of three locking lugs in an interrupted-thread design. This lowered bolt lift to 54 degrees. The "push feed" Mark V is essentially the same rifle now that it was in 1958 (the year Savage also introduced its Model 110 bolt rifle). A recent lug version proportioned for standard cartridges weighs about a pound less than the original Mark V.
Husqvarna sporting rifles appeared in the U.S. around 1954, first with steel bottom metal, then with alloy. Essentially a Mauser, the Swedish Husky had the 98 extractor and a Model 70-style ejector that did not require a split left lug. Early Husqvarnas (also marketed as the Sears 51) were later supplanted by the Model 8000, which had a Sako-style extractor and plunger ejector.
The 1952 Mannlicher-Schoenauer, which to my mind was the best of the series begun in 1903, had a rotary magazine. Its short, side-mounted claw looked like a Mauser’s from the front and offered controlled-round feed. The ejector was an intricately machined foot fitted to the bolt face in a slot that allowed it to kick forward at the end of bolt travel.
In 1962 Remington replaced its 721-722 (long- and short-action) rifles with the new 700. Two years later Winchester revamped the Model 70 to pare costs. By 1965 all major American rifle
