24/47 or M95

[Beekeeper]

Well maybe I'll get it posted this time.
Twice I have tried and been called by the theropist

Which would you consider the best for an all around truck/hunting gun.
I have both and was thinking of sending one to a nephew who wants his own gun instead of having to use his Dads.

I lean towards the 24/47 but the odball rear sights make it hard to sight in sometimes.
The M95 steyr is a straight pull and again has a weird rear sight.

What would be your choise


Jim

[Larry Gibson]

The 24/47 hands down. Very easy to file a square notch in the rear sight and replace the front sight with a blade. Best to just remove the rear sight leaf and D&T rear side of receiver for a Lyman receiver sight. Handle can easily be forged for scope use later as well as adding a scope safety. Many after market triggers available also. The 8x57 is a great cast bullet cartridge and my 24/47 shoots mow with hornady and Sierra J bullets. The 125 & 150 SPs do yeoman service on varmints and smaller deer. I like the Sierra 175 SP on deer and the Remington 185 is excellent on elk/bear. Heavier bullets are available but my preferences are stated from experience. For cast The Lyman 323470 is excellent as is the 323471 if you can find one. My GB mould casts 190 gr bullets and they also shoot very well indeed.. The 8x57 is an excellent cartridge and the 24/47 has the potential to make the most out of it.

Larry Gibson

[TNsailorman]

Beekeeper, I side with Larry on this one. I have 2 of the 24/47's at present and I like them both. As stated, it really is not hard to file a square notch in the rear sight to widen it for a better sight picture and you can deepen it at the same time to lower the impact of the bullet(after you develope a load for it please). Every old mauser I have ever owned shot high. Seems the front sight heigth is lower for the longer ranges expected on the battlefields of europe. Most of the ones I owned have hit about 4-6 inches high with 150 grain bullets and about 4 inches high with heavier bullets and loads at 100 yards. I did have one mauser, a French assymbled after the war SVWMB code model 98 that was really accurate and hit dead on at 110 yards with a 170 grain Hornady RN bullet and 47.5 grain of IMR4895 powder. My son has it now. I have never been able to get what I consider acceptable accuracy out of any of the 98 or 24/47 mausers that I have owned with cast bullets. The best I ever was able to do was with a 200 grain bullet and it would only go about 3 to 4 inches at 100 yards, which I don't consider particularly accurate from a rest. There are a lot more knowledgable people on this board than I am who can probably do better but this is my experience. I have never owned or even held a model 95 mannlicher so I will not comment on that one. Don't give up on the rear sight though, it is fixable if your not worried about "collectibility" which I am not. James

[MtGun44]

Mauser is a LOT more gun than the Steyr M95.

M95 has a seriously oddball groove diam, a PITA to fit a boolit, there is one Lee mold
the is reported to work, haven't had the time to get to this one yet.

Also the 8x56 in the short M95 carbines is a thumper, takes a bit of the fun out of it.
Of course the heavy machine gun bullets in 8x57 can be a hard kicker, too. Lower wt
and/or velocity with cast will be a lot easier than factory to shoot all day.

Bill

[Bret4207]

For a pure, off the rack hunting rifle the M95 is hard to beat. Light, handy, great safety, accurate, fair trigger, more than adequate cartridge for deer. In a hunting scenario it makes the Mausers of the day look clunky, clumsy, over weight and HUGE! OTH, factory loads aren't cheap, it requires clips, it can be a thumper and it's resale value is questionable. Scoping is troublesome and irons are a make do job, but the Springfield revc'r sights can be made to work rather simply.

The Mausers are easier to use and have better support. Cartridges are less expensive and easier to get. Accuracy is probably easier to get with the Mausers better trigger and after market sights. The Mauser will be much easier to scope.

As far as cast, my M95 loves cast. BUT- I lucked onto a an old Walt Melander cut NEI 330-245 that drops well over .333. With all the custom makers we have today...things could be worse.