This is a great topic for discussion. It looks liks some are getting blisters on their fingers from shouting through their keyboards. Here's my 2cents............

The clearance in a Mauser action is designed that way. It is not usually a manufacturing defect. Remember these actions were designed to kill the enemy in every possible situation without failing to function. 100 years ago the Mauser 98bolt gun was the state of the art assult weapon that was purchased or copied by almost every military in the world. They didn't purchase them to target shoot, they bought them because they were the most reliable killing machines available anywhere for any price.

We now are blessed with millions of Mausers all over the world available at a reasonable prices to build some of the best, most reliable and safest hunting rifles money can buy. There isn't another bolt action that can hold a candle to these "sloppy" Mausers when you compare safety, and function. Ask any professional hunter in Africa who doesn't carry a double rifle.

If you are looking to build an accurate hunting rifle then your choice of actions has less influence on the average group size than the quality of barrel from chamber to throat to rifling to crown and quality of bedding. This is asuming you have quality ammo. The extended lock time of the Mausers is designed to insure firing and has no ill effects on accuracy unless you have a bad flinch. All BS aside a properly bedded and barreled hunting rifle should be capable of 3 shot groups near .500" at 100 yards regardless of what action you use. Some of my personal hunting rifles include a 30-338 and 25-06 both built on Mauser 98 with match grade Shilen barrels. One is bedded in Bisonite and one bedded in Devcon Steel Epoxy. They both shoot in the .500" class and are generously free floated.

When I was a student at Trinidad, the bench metal teacher had spent a number of years in Keyna as a gunsmith. His experience with Weatherbys was common. They lined the shelves in most of the gunshops. The reason for this was when a hunter brought his shiny new Weatherby to Africa, quite often the excessive heat would cause the pressures to exceed the already excessive factory pressure and many bad things would happen.

Case would stick:

1)Whimpy little extractor would rip off a little chunk of brass leaving a second shot impossible.

2)Bolt handle would be broken off with the rock the hunter used to open his bolt leaving the hunter with a rock as his primary weapon.

3)Blown primer would cause spring loaded ejector to stick failing to allow a quick often necessary follow up shot if #1 & #2 above didn't happen.

Aside from stuck cases, Weatherbys had numerous trigger problems many of them with broken parts. My teacher said he never hear of an origional Mauser trigger failing to function.

If a hunter had a depressing time with his Weatherby he would usually give it to his PH as a tip. This is why the gunshops were filled with Weatherbys.

If I am blessed with the chance to hunt DG in Africa I hope I will have a Double Rifle that I'm very familiar with. If I'm "limited" using this term very loosely, to a bolt gun then it will be of a Mauser 98 design that I will bet my life on.

Although I have never hunted across the pond, I have had failures to feed while coyote hunting using a Rem 700. Most of these would not have happened in a calm shooting session at the range. I think hunting DG would not be comparable to a calm session at the range either.

Just my opinion

gunmaker
http://users.elknet.net/chico