My amazing Mauser mod 66 rifle

[Ramandeep]

Here i would like to share with my fellow IFGians my amazing Mauser mod 66 rifle, this rifle i have bought from the son of original owner who had imported this gun directly from Germany sometime in 1970 back in the day this particular gun had seen lot of action the previous had hunted couple barahsinghas, sambhar, panther, bear and a leopard with this rifle. In itself this is very accurate well balanced and ideal for big game hunting with a good shooter it can shoot effectively upto 1000 yards infact there has been a sniper rifle developed from this particular which is SP66 which has been reportedly used by military and spy wings of some countries, Israel's mossad had used sp66 till i guess mid 1980s.
The cartridge used with particular rifle is 9.3x64 Brenneke which was developed by Wilhelm Brennekke exclusively for previous models of Mauser then to this gun, the idea of this cartridge was to make more effective and not large in size, infact this particular cartridge has ballistic performance at par with .375 Holland&Holland magnum while being smaller and using less propellant - it has 8% less case capacity, making it a more modern efficient design.
This weapon is more than forty years old and is excellent in shape the bluing is perfect, the wood is in amazing condition it has a unique cutaway bolt action has an original factory fitted scope the mount are permanent has double set triggers which significantly reduces the trigger pull. The only problem i have with this rifle is the availability of the ammunition in India, which I am having lot of trouble finding.
So admire the beauty I am presenting...

[Ramandeep]

more pics

[Ramandeep]

The ammo

[Ramandeep]

The grip

[winnie_the_pooh]

A bit mystified about the 'amazing' bit. DO NOT fire those cartridges.They are probably the last ones in the country.Congratulations on your new purchase.I hope you did not pay too much for it.

[Skyman]

Are those rounds from 1972? I saw something of a date on the box.How much did you pick up this amazing gun for?

[Ramandeep]

A bit mystified about the 'amazing' bit. DO NOT fire those cartridges.They are probably the last ones in the country.Congratulations on your new purchase.I hope you did not pay too much for it.

Well by "amazing" i did not mean something which would topple someone from chair but ya this is the most amazing piece of weapon i've ever had, I have fired 5 round straight through it the barrel was absolutely clean from inside as if nothing has been fired through it shining like a mirror then one might say its more of a cartridge thing than a rifle but the cartridge was made for the rifle, the cutaway bolt action is as smooth as it could be possible the bullet loads in the chamber so smoothly its hard to believe that these are metal parts, I have experience of other rifles as well own a couple but nothings loads and works like it, the double set trigger is another delight once you pull the back trigger the effort required for main trigger can put airsoft guns trigger to shame. The factory scope that came along is another delight. Above all the gun is superbly balanced.
I am NOT willing to fire the remaining ammo unless i get new ones, its exactly not a new purchase i bought it around 5 years back and definitely i did not pay too much for it.

[Ramandeep]

Are those rounds from 1972? I saw something of a date on the box.How much did you pick up this amazing gun for?

Well i think so they from 1972 wont be at all surprised if they are. Sorry i would pass on the price factor.

[Grumpy]

A Mauser 66 ? Wow, that`s amazing .....................................

[Vikram]

That is a cool rifle,Ramandeep. Definitely the first Model 66 I saw in India or on IFG. Congratulations. The 9.3X64 Brenneke is almost equal to the .375H&H.

How did you find the recoil? Have you tried obtaining ammunition for the rifle?


Best-
Vikram

[Grumpy]

`That is a cool rifle` ?
Don`t you mean it`s an amazing rifle Vikram ?

[herb]

Very nice rifle in an interesting caliber. Sourcing ammo would be easier if it was in 9.3x62.

Thanks for sharing.

Herb

[Katana]

A beautiful thing indeed. If only the ammo issue was sorted out.

[BowMan]

Very cool and very interesting rifle indeed...

Ramandeep why not give us a pictorial demonstration of some of the unique design characteristics of this rifle so we all can enjoy and appreciate it a bit more. We would love to see pictures of how the 'telescopic short-stroke action' works on this. Can you please post step by step sequential working pictures of the action? Can you also show us how the double trigger works and what is the trigger pressure and feel like on the front one (which I believe is the firing trigger) after the rear trigger is engaged? Also one of the unique features of the Model 66 was the easy interchangeability of barrels. Does this rifle also have another barrel and if yes than what calibre?

[Ramandeep]

That is a cool rifle,Ramandeep. Definitely the first Model 66 I saw in India or on IFG. Congratulations. The 9.3X64 Brenneke is almost equal to the .375H&H.

How did you find the recoil? Have you tried obtaining ammunition for the rifle?


Best-
Vikram

Well the recoil is pretty decent if one would consider the size of ammo, I have IOF 30.06 as well the recoil in IOf 30.06 is actually much higher than this rifle. The rifle is very steady is amazingly comfortable to shoot in prone position.
As for the ammo I can say i have tried far and wide but could not find, I have come to known an interesting fact through gun dealers around my place that actually there were 2 same identical guns that were brought from Germany for 2 friends who were fond of shikaar back in the day. One is with me which I bought around 5 years back and other one was sold to some gentleman from Hyderabad way back in mid 90s and that particular gentleman was smart and procured all the ammo that was available and is still constantly looking out for more, the gun dealer who facilitated the deal says he has close to 700-900 rounds of ammo with him. My only ray of hope is that these ammo are still being manufactured not phased out of production as yet.