There was a retired German businessman who was a member of our gun club for years, and this man was famous in our area for being a fine rifleman and hunter. He love to acquire quality-built European rifles and shotguns, and he was a man of superb taste and judgement.

One of his rifles was a new Colt Sauer in 300 Weatherby. It was a beautiful rifle, and it shot very well. But as time went on, this man had more and more trouble opening the bolt after the shot. Finally, his cases came out badly bulged just ahead of the belt. It was pretty clear that for some reason his rifle developed seriously excessive headspace, so he sent the rifle back for repair or replacement. I never did find out how it all worked out.

But that episode turned me off on Sauer rifles for good. Personally, I think the action is way over-engineered and too complicated. Every time German riflemakers have deviated from Paul Mauser's original 98 pattern, they've created overly-complicated gadgets that are functionally inferior to the great Model '98..........

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