Testing the Mauser DSM34

[haiha]

Hello, fellow lovers of fine weapons. This weekend I went to the countryside, and I brought the Mauser DSM34, a military trainer from the mid-1930s. Sunday was a very pleasant day, with little wind, perfect for shooting while the grill was heating up to grill a nice piece of meat. I had vintage ammunition, but it was good quality. So I fired a few shots that left me amazed by the quality and accuracy of the Mauser. A luxury!!!

I had a couple of boxes of Orbea Poligono from the '80s, but the first bullet I put in didn't go in, so I discarded that brand and continued with the others.I had Remington Match, Lapua Valmet, and Winchester high-velocity bullets, all from the '60s or older! I didn't miss a single shot with these, and they were all close. A luxury, premium ammo!!!

This Lapua ammo was given to me many years ago by a great TFABA shooter, who sadly left us recently. It had been given to him by the Finnish shooting team many years ago.

I had both the Remington Match and Winchester High Speed ammo for a long time, sort of as a collection, but I decided to use it, and I was pleasantly surprised.

In the yellow circle are the 5 Winchester Super Speed shots, in the red circle are the 5 Remington Match shots, and in the blue circle, the 5 Lapua Valmet shots, in a single hole!!! What a marvelous piece of ammunition, with a copper case!!!All the shots were even, and the target was at 45 meters.A separate comment on the DSM34: it was a rifle purchased by the Argentine Army's General Directorate of Shooting and Gymnastics for training cadets and troops in 1937. No one knows for sure how many shots this rifle must have fired—thousands, millions, who knows! And it's incredible that at 90 years old, it still works like a good competition rifle!A big hug to everyone and happy shooting.

 

[Joseph Burke]

Yes, they are incredibly accurate. I shoot my various Sportmodell, DSM, KKW, and other. 22 rifles quite often and far more often than my full power rifles. I've found all my German pre war trainers as well as commercial .22s (Mauser ES340 and a couple other models) are extremely accurate within their range with their only real limitation being the limitation of my vision in seeing the target at farther ranges. At 50 yards/meters with a proper rest they are absolutely amazing. Beyond that my own vision becomes the primary issue (the same of course applies to larger caliber rifles).
I've settled on using the same .22 ammunition across the board in them. I've had excellent results with various high velocity ammunition but after seeking a more consistently loaded ammunition for my diopter sight Walther KKM that same chosen ammunition has become my standard for all since I was so pleased with the results with the KKM. I chose CCI Standard Velocity 40 gr RN primarily because of easy availability here in the USA. I tried the Eley Target equivalent previously but was not as pleased as I am with the CCI Standard Velocity.
I'm not a young man anymore by any means but in hindsight I sure wish I'd had such a high quality rifle such as any of those mentioned .22s to learn to shoot on back when I was a kid. Instead, I had a rather hit and miss
shorter barrel semi-automatic Winchester .22 that my father bough me when I was 10 years old. Still, over 50 years later I'm fortunate to still have that first .22 from my father but it's surely not on the level of these prewar German .22 trainers and sport rifles.

 

[swjXE]

Am I correct in assuming that any other ammo than standard velocity will cause unacceptable headspace sooner than you'd expect with a DSM?

 

[Fal Grunt]

I'm not a young man anymore by any means but in hindsight I sure wish I'd had such a high quality rifle such as any of those mentioned .22s to learn to shoot on back when I was a kid.

My son started out shooting a Walther Meisterbuchse and progressed to a Mauser Es 350b. I tried explaining how spoiled he is. Then one random range trip I brought my first 22, an absolute garbage rifle, some Stevens or something I can't remember. He was absolutely appalled. As a father it makes my day when he asks to go to the range and plink with a DSM or Es350b.

Am I correct in assuming that any other ammo than standard velocity will cause unacceptable headspace sooner than you'd expect with a DSM?

Shooting subs, standards, or high velocity should have no effect on the headspace of the rifle. I uh.... may know someone... who has modified some 22's to fire much more powerful rounds with no ill effect.

 

[swjXE]

My son started out shooting a Walther Meisterbuchse and progressed to a Mauser Es 350b. I tried explaining how spoiled he is. Then one random range trip I brought my first 22, an absolute garbage rifle, some Stevens or something I can't remember. He was absolutely appalled. As a father it makes my day when he asks to go to the range and plink with a DSM or Es350b.


Shooting subs, standards, or high velocity should have no effect on the headspace of the rifle. I uh.... may know someone... who has modified some 22's to fire much more powerful rounds with no ill effect.

Thanks, Fal Grunt!