Lee enfiled, Mauser, or K31?

So just to say this right off the bat, I plan on getting all three later down the road but right now I am only able to afford one. And here is what I know about each of them

Mausers: The apex of the bolt action, most commonly found I 8mm, most common of the three?
Lee enfield: Comes in a few variants, most common in .303 but there are .308 versions that are less common, everyone has their own option on countries and manufacturers even more so than mosins.
K31: straight pull, never fires corrosive ammo, easiest to find in great shape,

I am looking for is more towards, basically a rifle to shoot and something talk about with people when they see it in the case. Thoughts?

More Mausers and Lee Enfields made than K31 ever, options and choices are much wider with them.

Mausers in many countries and calibers.

Lee Enfields also in many countries but in 303 only, with India manufactured and sniper versions in 7.62.

Three different action characteristics. All are sufficiently accurate and dependable.

K31 not used in war. The other two used in many conflicts all over the world, thus more to talk about.

Buy the first one you find in good condition at a good price, then go for the next one, etc. My preference is Lee Enfield.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Daan Kemp

My preference is Lee Enfield.

---

Mind if I ask why? I'm always looking for people with personal experience with the guns I am looking at?

Buy the first of the three you can find in the best condition that fits your budget.
The rest will take care of itself.
Very addictive this hobby of ours.

The K31 is going to get the wow factor at the range hands down. Everyone has a Mauser and Enfields are all over the place and are not super popular in the US. K31's prices have been going up faster than the others. Mausers really depend on which country and which make. K31 has the potential to eventually be a hard to get ammo but it is plentiful now and not expensive. 303 ammo is not what I would all common in the US but there is no shortage of it and not likely to be one either anytime soon. Most common Mauser calibers are easy to get.

I'd go K31 first, then Enfield, then Mauser but would not pass up a good deal on an out of order one.

One asks the question why not a Swedish Mauser 6.5x55, nice low recoil flat shooting round, very good quality rifles and a choice of the 96, 96/38 or 38

Dick

Mausers are found in different calibers... if you want something common, .30-06 and .308 versions are out there. Israelis converted most of theirs to .308. I picked up a Yugo M48A and some 8mm ammo... but at the worst, if I run through the surplus, I can buy some commercial. Yugos, especially the M48 series, tend to be in great condition.

I have an Ishapore 2A1, which I do like. Very well built design, as it was a No 1, Mk III. I wanted an Enfield, but not the .303. The Ishapore .308s are a great solution for that problem. Having a M1A (actual got it after the 2A1) and a Remington Model 7 in .308, it is a nice fill in. My M1903 and Garand share .30-06... but didn't want to get a .308 Garand so I can keep .308 off enblocs to reduce a mixup.

I wish I got a K31 years back. I know they are great shooters, but I think I missed the boat on them. Ammo comes in, but not as common as .308 or .30-06.

Import mark not important as far as value and collecting?

Import mark is a factor in both value and collecting. How big a factor depends on the type firearm. Those without an import mark will often be worth a bit more Those with a really ugly ill placed import mark will often be worth less. Just don't have a choice with a lot of rifles. Most Swiss, Russian, Austrian rifles were imported after the requirement so almost all have one. Very few Japanese have an import mark. I don't think it is a huge deal for most people, maybe just the very hard core collecgtors.

K31 and as many cases of GP11 as you can get. If you get one matching with a good bore (and most are matching with good bores, don't settle for less) it'll almost certainly be a great shooter. Superlative quality, wonderful actions, and very few "bad ones" out there.

Get whatever one seems like it will be the most fun to you.

Mausers have tons of variety, from action types (89,91,93,95,96,98), to configuration (carbines, short rifles, long rifles), to caliber (more common calibers like 7.62 Nato, 30-06, etc, common calibers like 8mm Mauser, 7mm Mauser, 6.5x55, 7.65x53, etc, and rare calibers like 8x50r, 8x52r, etc.).

Lee Enfields have a little less variety, calibers are generally limited to .303 and 7.62 Nato. They also tend to be in the short rifle configuration only (yes there are carbines and long rifles, just not even close to the same quantity as the short rifles).

K31s are well K31s, not much variety in them. Beautiful rifles though, which I absolutely love (I possess most Swiss rifles from 1889 to the 1950s).

Also I wouldn't really consider the M98 Mauser the apex of the bolt action, the only reason it is still a popular action is because it can handle higher pressures than most the alternative actions which matters more for the sporting community then the military community. It became the most popular rifle for a while more due to marketing and luck then anything else (Mannlichers were popular alternatives until after WWI, when Steyr wasn't allowed to produce firearms for foreign markets, that left Mauser rifles only and even then not German Mausers rather FN and CZ produced rifles).

The problem I had with the K31 is that after I fired it, I had to have every other Swiss Rifle made. I honestly never had that reaction with an Enfield or a Mauser. So I think I have 5 straight pull Swiss rifles, all different, I do have more Enfields but there are just more varieties of them. I'm thinking at least 7 including the 410 single shot, the Grenade launcher and the Indian 308. Mausers, at least 18 that I can think of off the top of my head from at least 10 countries.

All of the military firearms I own or have owned make me want more an more.
Maybe thats one reason I buy an sell an trade them for a living now lolololll

Lee Enfield for me, every one has a personal preference but for spares if something goes bust, mag capacity 10 + 1 V's the K-31 or the Mausers, 6 for the K-31 which has pressed paper charger clips (Our guys just brought spare mags for the speed shoots)and 5 for the Mausers plus you will always be chasing your brass if cycling the K-31 at speed they launch a case @8' in the air and 5' to the rear right.
As for cycle speed it would be neck and neck between the K-31 and the Lee with experienced shooters but the K-31 would probably edge the Lee out, we do not see many K-31's here probably about 5 in our club, plenty of Mausers including the Swede's majority MkIII's with the No.4's close by.

Its just personal choice really and what crops up in the search for one of the trio your wishing to acquire.

lyon13
I have owned an ex-Israeli Mauser in 7.62, still own a LE No1 Mk 3* and LE No 4 Mk2.

I found the action of the LE to be smoother and faster than the Mauser, the 10 shot mags a bonus [cut them to flush fit for 5 shots]. Especially the No 1 just seems to be easier to handle than the Mauser. The Mauser always felt chunky, and jerky in action.

The reason for disposing of the Mauser was the smoother action, handling and working of the LE. The Mauser used to be my hunting rifle, replaced by the No 1.

Accuracy between the three rifles with standard military ball was the same at the same distances. Literally fired thousands of shots through all of them, still fine. Ammo isn't a problem.

Of course, the LE was never manufactured for commercial use, only military [remanufactured for commercial sales yes], as was the K31. Many Mausers were made for sporting use only.

Lyon13: Back to your original post- you mention wanting a rifle that could lead to conversation around the gun rack. Goes without saying that Mausers and Lee Enfields are orders of magnitude beyond the Swiss guns in the history department. Unless you're guests are predisposed to an interest in things Swiss, those conversations could be pretty short if a K31 is the main attraction.

Ridolpho

It's mostly about how much money you want to spend. However, Lee-Enfields of any type have a few issues caused by places like Century Arms and other people assembling rifles out of parts bins with no QC. The total lack of QC resulted in most, but not all, milsurp Lee-Enfields having headspace issues. Easily fixed, but not cheap these days and it's more expensive with a No. 1 Rifle than a No. 4 or 5. Usually doesn't apply to Indian made(Ishapore) Mk 2/2A's though. Those are not rebarreled No. 1 Mk III's. They were purpose built out of new a better steel in the 1960's. Rarely applies to No. 5 Rifles(Jungle Carbine is an American marketing term) either, except there are hordes of fake No. 5 Rifles out there.
Which rifle has the most head turning appeal depends on where you are at the time. Mind you, these days, any milsurp in full military configuration will turn heads. There are fewer Swiss rifles around though. Most people wouldn't recognise 'em.

I get a chuckle out of reading the responses and seeing where everyone is from. No offense to anyone because I understand where you are coming from but all the Enfield recommendations come from Commonwealth guys, no real surprise there.

Hey wait I love my Enfields even the cut up sporter coarse I love all military firearms

Well we could hardly ask the Turks or the Germans if we could use their weapons now could we!:madsmile:

Thats like saying its no surprise the M1 Garand is liked by those in the United States of America!

Ive got a .303 brit and a k98...i refinished the K98 COMPLETELY stripped all metal and reblued. Had that Russian tar..paint crap on it everywhere hard as hell to remove. Yes its a capture...yes i took the old crap off and refinished whole rifle which some people say ruins it ...and yes my rifle looks DAMN GOOD

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Aragorn243

Enfield recommendations come from Commonwealth guys,

---

I actually was leaning more towards an Enfield just cause the looks are starting to grow on me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sunray

milsurp Lee-Enfields having headspace issues. Easily fixed, but not cheap these days and it's more expensive with a No. 1 Rifle than a No. 4 or 5. Usually doesn't apply to Indian made(Ishapore) Mk 2/2A's though. Those are not rebarreled No. 1 Mk III's. They were purpose built out of new a better steel in the 1960's.

---

I keep hearing that the headspace is an issue with the enfields but no one has actually mentioned what fixing them entails, I am told everything from it just needs polished to the whole bolt head will need to be replaced.
Speaking of maintenance I have heard that all three of are kinda hard to take apart and clean, I've heard horror stories about taking apart the mauser bolts and such. I know that none of them are as easy to tear down as my mosin but from a maintenance standpoint what can I expect?

I don't think any of them are difficult to work with. The K31 is probably the most complex of the three but it's not bad. Mauser bolts are no problem. I never really heard much about headspace issues with the Enfields either except from guys that don't know much about them which seems to be common on some of the other groups. They do have different bolt heads and they can get switched which is what some say the problem is with some importers that just slap things together. The vast majority are probably just fine.

Only real hard thing on the enfields for the unwary is not taking the top fore woods (hand guards) off then the bottom fore wood off before removing the butt stock on the MKIII as they have a recoil plate (not visible when assembled) at the back and when you turn the stock bolt its square head forces the ears of the plate apart which can split the back end of the bottom fore wood which is rather sad......

The hardest part of the lee's both the MkIII & No.4 is fitting of a new bottom fore wood but if your confident and good at wood work then you can do it as there are scads of threads here by the experts on how to do this anything to do with the action like replacing barrels or bolt heads I get my gunsmith to do it as its allot more involved than just chucking on a new bolt head to get it into spec.
I have pulled my Parker Hale bolt head down to clean it is based on the Mauser 98 action and they are a piece of cake to do I agree with Aragorn the K-31 bolt is complicated and the Lee enfield is the simplest.

yes...i was fortunate to land a very nice excellent condition ww1 1917 British SHTLE Enfield with Canadian acceptance markings on it. Which im currently trying to find the forend for now. oh by the way..My K98 above I actually used OUTERS gun blue that i bought at Canadian tire or u can get it at Walmart to. both stores very cheap. Going on 2 years now and i just took those pics 2 days ago. Ive reblued 4 guns now so anyone needs tips i got some crazy ones that obviously work.