which is better the u.s m1 garand or the german made mauser?

the germsn made mauser is significantly BETTER than the M1 garand. i have shot an m1 garand, and it has jammed up on me a few times..... plus the mauser is just a dependable rifle........and by the way......please specify what mauser rifle? there are quite a few...

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"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." -Winston Churchill

have you heard of the term: "German reliability?"

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"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." -Winston Churchill

Having fired both more than once I would take the Garand in combat every time. The only thing to really recommend the K98 is that it is lighter by a couple of pounds. Now the Enfield, if it one of the pre-war models like the No. 1***, that would be a real toss up.

i like the garand plenty, but as you said weight was an issue.....i also would hate to be shot while cocking... now what about the gewehr thats a pretty nice gun, simi auto too i have exploded quite a few water melons with that thing...

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"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." -Winston Churchill

I've shot both and own a K98. Although both are outstanding rifles, I have to go with the M1 Garand. Its higher ammo capacity coupled with semi-automatic fire make it a much more devastating opponent. Couple that with 30.06 ammunition, which is a little more powerful than 8mm Mauser, and you've got a hell of a gun. Of course there were problems, namely not being able to reload mid-cycle and a loud 'ding' that alerted everyone to your lack of a loaded gun, but overall it was a wonderful firearm.

Thats not to say the K98 is a slouch. Its an absolutely marvelous bolt-action rifle, superbly accurate and very reliable, in addition to firing a powerful cartridge. I would take it over most other guns of its type, although the Enfield did posses higher magazine capacity. And if we are comparing the Gewehr 43 to the M1 Garand, I would take the G43, since it combined the best aspects of both. Indeed, it was seen as the German response to the M1 Garand.

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"If your gonna buy the angel s**t, you might as well go for the zombie package as well."
-George Carlin

i would like to have a G43 in combat, because my grandpas M1 has had jamming problems

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"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." -Winston Churchill

In a Norwegian mag there was an article about the best infantry rifle in WW2. The Assault rifles were excluded. The final results was

1 Lee Enfield.
2 Mauser.
3 M1 Garand.
4 Mosin Nagant.

The difference between the top two was the ammount of abuse the Lee Enfield could take (including hand to hand combat) before breaking.

I still use a Mauser (made in 1937) for hunting. The only modification I have made is to put a scope on it, new stock and polished the trigger.

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'We march. The enemy is retreating in transport. We follow on foot.' Lt.Neil McCallum 5/7 Gordons 19th November 1942

hand to hand combat is a MUST in a military firearm

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"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." -Winston Churchill

I've fired both. The M1 and the K98 are both effiecent, accurate, and powerful rifles. I like shooting the 98 over the Garand though because I dont have to worry about M1 thumb! lol It also has easy to use sights, and I like the feel of it. The Garand is great too, and is one of my favorite shooters. When aiming down the sights of a Garand I feel like I can concentrate more on the target.

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http://s13.invisionfree.com/AirCombat_WWII

one of my friends lost his finger in a garand...quite nasty if you saw it... but it is a wonderful gun...

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"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." -Winston Churchill

I have seen the damage that a Garand's slide can do. There is also a Swedish rifle with the same issue. I forgot what is is called, but you can smash a finger really easy with the way it operates.

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http://s13.invisionfree.com/AirCombat_WWII

ok if i had to chose, the k98. sights are much better compared to the M1. the K98 has a higher muzel volocity, more leathal at longer ranges, but of course the M1 is a semi, but i would still stick with the K98.

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I hid my brain and forgot where I put it...

The K98- the last of the long line of Mauser rifles!

I fired a Lee Enfield(#4) and a K98, I found the K98's high muzzle velocity extremely damaging, even more so at longer ranges.


The #4 was also a superb rifle, if you made me choose between a #4 or a K98 I wouldn't be able to choose!

The Germans had the notoriety for making the best of the best in terms of technology. It is suprising that the British also made such a good rifle considering that they didn't really have such good technological advancements.

I've never fired an M1 but have heard that it packs quite the punch!

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Whoa there Celestial!

The Brits had serious technology.
Here's just a few as a reminder;
Radar
Asdic (sonar)
Frank Whittle's jet engine
The Rolls Royce Merlin engine
The Flail mod for Sherman tanks
An incredible code breaking group
The Duplex Drive flotation mod for the Sherman
and a host of others that I will no doubt remember later!

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“It’s the unconquerable soul of man, not the nature of the weapon he uses, that insures victory.”

True, but what I meant was that German technology was of a higher standard, for example Tiger I- there was numerous reports of shells literally bouncing off it!

I believe that the Germans were the most technologically advanced of all the armies of WWII.

when the Germans built something, they built it well!

An equally incredible group made those codes

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Dunno how you can call either the Enfield or the 98K as 'advanced trchnologically' given that the basic design was some 50+ years old by WW2 for both rifles...

The Germans did build things well. So well they didnt work properly at first or were so complicated they couldnt build them quick enough. Dont matter how good something is if you aint got enough of them...

German Intelligence during the war was incredible.

Incredibly crap that is.

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"Watch that Fu*ker, he'll 'ave someones eye out!" King Harold at Hastings 1066.

That's not technology, that's being thick-skinned.

Yes, the horseshoes they used were made of titanium.

Yes, like the Panthers that caught fire of their own volition when they tipped to one side and the gasoline sloshing at the bottom of the engine compartment (heck, not even my car does this!) hit a hot component and woosh!

Please see the post of today on this subject by T.A.Gardner at:
http://www.ww2forums.com/ubb/ultimat...434;p=1#000008 ,

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Celestial

Try a bit unbiased view of things.

The phrase that says that the Germans made 'the best of the best in terms of technology' is just stupid.

What about the muzzle velocity ? Can you hit a stationary target with an open sight at 500 yards?

The K98 the last in the long line of Mauser?? Take a look at the Mauser catalogue.

As for the german codes... Rubbish.

The Ultra machine made in 1929, the constructor died before the war started. Blind faith in that the machine would swamp the British intelligence and outdate the intercepts that were broken. Strange that the Germans didn't think that the british would use machines to break the codes aswell eh?

Really Celestial read varied sources from different eras and you might get a bit more unbiased. Many modern writers are extremely pro german.

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'We march. The enemy is retreating in transport. We follow on foot.' Lt.Neil McCallum 5/7 Gordons 19th November 1942

I would say the Garand is the better combat rifle while the k98 is the better precision rifle. Arguably, the k98 is the best bolt action rifle ever made.

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I shot 1000 rounds on a mauser and it did not jam once. I go for the mauser

The phrase goes: If a Mauser dosen't fire, it's something wrong with the ammo.

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'We march. The enemy is retreating in transport. We follow on foot.' Lt.Neil McCallum 5/7 Gordons 19th November 1942

Okay all that stuff about German dependability aside. And the fact that the peep sights on the m1 are not as good as the mauser's. I have to go with the 8 round semi auto, quicker reloading m1. When the bullets are flying around, i dont want to be stuck with my thumb up my a## jamming bullets into my gun one by one.

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"When we come to a minefield, our infantry attacks as if it were not there. The losses we get from personnel mines we consider equal to those we would have gotten from machine guns and artillery if the Germans had chosen to defend that particular area." - General Zukhov to Eisenhower

Eagle

I really like the M1, but discussion is based on more than preferenses. I have also done a fair bit of shooting with the k98. I can reload the k98 a lot faster than the M1. There are ammo clips for the k98 that make realoading dead simple. The reloading clip is unusable while mounting a scope, but we're talking regular combatrifles...

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'We march. The enemy is retreating in transport. We follow on foot.' Lt.Neil McCallum 5/7 Gordons 19th November 1942