My lefty Mauser M03 in 8&57IS
Hi all,
Previously posted this on a blog a year ago or so. But I felt like sharing it here as well, when I was cleaning it and fell once more in love…
Left handed people learn to improvise, adapt and overcome many things in life. Be it the use of scissors (they really don’t cut if they are not designed for lefties!), ladles with their beak on the wrong side or pistols with their magazine releases. All good.
One thing I never did and never will accept is the use of a bolt-action rifle with the bolt on the right side. There is something aesthetic in the smooth process of running the bolt. Something nostalgic or even romantic for some people. I count myself as one of those and, as a child up until now, Mauser was always the manufacturer I admired the most. Strangely, I always missed the chance to get a lefty Mauser until they unfortunately stopped producing them altogether. So, at that time, I opted for a Sauer 404 in .308 instead. I liked how it was slim and elegant, but it just wasn’t “that rifle”.
Quite a while ago my dream came true and I got hold of an M03 with a real left-handed system. However, it came with a synthetic stock, which is not my taste at all. I never got to the project of replacing it until recently. Now that I've completed the rifle to my liking, it's time to share the story with the other M03 aficionados.
The rifle is in 8x57 IS (yes, I am conservative that way). It’s a great and reliable caliber for hunting here in Germany. It has a 51cm standard contoured 17mm barrel with a M15x1 thread for the use of a suppressor. I opted for a Zeiss Victory V8 1.8-14x50 allrounder scope.
The stock I received from Mauser is the so-called “Alpine” model with a slight hog-back, a double fold Bavarian cheekpiece and a drop-point fore-end. The stock is made of what is categorised as wood grade 5 here. For me, the ideal balance of just enough structure to make it interesting and beautiful to look at, but still a tool to be used roughly without hesitation.
I like to personalize things to add a certain sentimental touch to it, so I sent the bolt to an engraving master. I had a pretty clear idea of what I wanted. The theme I chose was "Heimat" or homeland which, in my case, is represented by two symbols: the good old oak (heavy and with a certain pathos) and the daisy (light-hearted and pretty). Both symbols are separated by fish scale. In addition, since I already outed myself as a Mauser fan - although the company now being part of the Blaser group and no longer the original company in Oberndorf - I asked the engraver to make a pistol grip cap out of burnished steel with the Mauser coat of arms embedded in silver. And yes, I also exchanged the basic magazine with the engraved version...
Hope you like it!