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Mauser M12 Impact

Mauser M12 Impact

I’ll say it from the outset, though I know the M12 to be a good rifle, I was not prepared for how impressed I would be with their new Impact version! The M12 was launched at IWA 2013 and was Mauser’s first attempt at a non-M98, fixed barrel design, as their main model is the switch barrel M03. I have owned one of these for coming on 9-years now and have few complaints, but always thought they were missing a trick by not making a more conventional and for that matter less expensive design that might have greater universal appeal!

ALL THAT AND MORE

Well, the M12 hit and was a success and you could not fail to see the M03 influence in areas like the magazine, bolt and ejection port, plus it had modern yet classic looks that harks back to the Mauser name of old. It however has a conventional, 3-position safety located on top of the bolt shroud, which to many Brits is much preferable to the M03s lateral de-cocker. Initially, it was offered in a grey synthetic MO3-style (Extreme) and grade 1 walnut furniture. It’s a long action receiver only, with a shrink-fitted and pinned barrel and doubtless both feature were used to save on production costs. Saying that, back when I tested one, the price was around the £1400 mark, which was maybe a tad steep; but it proved a shooter and also a sweet handling rifle! Suffice to say if I did not own an M03, well, I would have an M12!

Though I loathe using the words ‘making an impact’ in this context, that is exactly what the new M12 Impact does, both visually and more importantly in its sheer shootability too! The idea, which I believe was Robert Sajitz’s (MD of Blaser Sporting Ltd) was to create a model that visually leapt off the shelf, amongst a plethora of similar black, synthetic-stocked sporters! Let’s face it, you go into any gun shop and look at the rifles in the racks; anything that is different will stand out from the black, brown and blued crowd!

THE WOW FACTOR

Currently the Impact only wears the Extreme stock, which is fine by me, as it’s by far the most sensible and practical choice for the serious hunter! That grey furniture is nice, even though it’s a simple design with a straight comb, moulded-in gripping panels with a rubber recoil pad and QD sling studs as standard. However, a number of things have changed up top; the metal finish is a semi-matte silver which is in fact the corrosion-resistant ‘Ilaflon’ first developed by Sauer. Barrel length has been reduced from 22 to 20” with a light/medium, semi-fluted build, threaded 15x1mm. It comes with a one-piece, Picatinny scope base as standard and the bolt knob has been extended.

Good news too; the price is little short of amazing, at just £1150. Which makes the Impact a lot of gun for not a lot of money, at a price point where it’s going head-to-head, if not beating on cost alone a number of top makes, all competing for this lucrative sector of the market. This is an area where perhaps slightly more discerning shooters want a sensible yet quality product and are prepared to pay between £1000 to £1500 for the pleasure.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Visually, I think the sliver finish is the Impacts’ only Marmite feature, as it does what it was supposed to do in drawing your eye, be it in a ‘love or hate’ that look way. However and saying that, Ilaflon is tough and pretty much impervious to anything including salt water, so is to be recommended for a hunting rifle, Sauer offers it in many colour and even camo options for their guns. Currently silver is the only choice for the Mauser, but what the future holds, who knows?

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Calibre-wise, the Impact only offers 243 and 308 Winchester, a marriage made in heaven for the UK market. Barrel length is always a concern with 243, as I have found that the lighter/faster loads (sub-100-grains) favoured by many Brits can struggle to make large deer legal (1700 ft/lbs) in shorter tubes like this. However, keep the weight at 100-grains and you should be hitting 1700 ft/lbs + easily! My tester came in 308, which is the complete opposite, as it can handle short barrels easily. For example Fiocchi’s 150-grain SST load averages 2765fps/2560 ft/lbs, which is very good!

GET YOUR BRASS OUT!

The M12 action offers no real surprises, as we shall see. The bolt shows a big and solid body with a 6-lug engagement, which offers an easy 60° lift angle. Unusual is the fact it features twin, opposed, sprung plunger-type ejectors in the face, so no problems getting the brass out. The bolt handle drops straight down and the original was finished off with a synthetic ball end. The Impact’s is identical but with a longer, tear drop shaped end piece, which does give a lot to get hold of. At first, I thought this might give too much leverage and cause the bolt to bind, but that was not the case as the tolerances on the main body and receiver are kept good and tight and it just glides beautifully!

The safety catch in my opinion, is very much like that of the Heym SR21, saying that both Winchester and Ruger also use a similar 3-position swinging lever. Mounted on the bolt shroud it gives forward FIRE, middle SAFE with bolt operation and rear SAFE bolt locked. At the rear is a red-coloured, cocked action indicator pin that protrudes, so can be both seen and felt. The safety’s position is quite good and does not disturb the firing position that much.

FEED AND FUNCTION

Feed is from a 5-round, double column polymer box magazine, not unlike the steel M03 original. The release catch is at the front of the well and the empty pops into your hand when it’s pressed. The M12s receiver bridges are stepped and originally came with two piece bases, and like the M03, the ejection port is massive, so allows easy single loading or top ups as required. However the substitution of the one-piece, Picatinny rail does reduce access to the port a little, though and by the same token you get a seriously secure scope mounting platform. The trigger is set at around 3lbs and breaks crisply; not too light but precise enough!

The stock offers a sporting free-float to the barrel, and the forend is rigid enough to do the job too. For the test, the Impact was supplied with a Minox ZE 5i 2.5-15x56 scope in Tier-One 30mm rings. Apparently Mauser and Blaser rifles are now being offered with Minox optics, as there’s a tie up between them and the SIG group. Also a Barton Gun Works compact, muzzle-mounted moderator, I have a couple of these for my 223 and 6.5 Swedish and Grendel and they offer an efficient and light package. I added a Harris BRS bipod and we were ready to go.

THE MARK OF A GOOD RIFLE

With a 1-12” rifling twist, I selected a cross section of ammo; Fiocchi 150-grain hunter using a Hornady SST bullet and 168-grain BTHP Match, Hornady 150-grain Superformance GMX (non-lead) and the classic 168-grain TAP, A-MAX. I was expecting some good results but what came out was some near target-like performance. Both the heavyweights were literally putting rounds through the same hole at 100m, with the Fiocchi SST printing a cool ½”, with the GMX just a tad over that at .7”. I think I was most impressed with Fiocchi’s 150 SST as ½” is some very serious performance from a standard barrel. Equally, the GMX, as it’s a non-lead and will not always shoot well but in this case proved it could.

As we know, 308 can be a barky cartridge, even in moderated rifles, but this was not the case with the Impact, as it was very recoil-friendly. OK, a moddy helps, as it puts some weight up front and that heavy Minox scope too. But I have shot similar weight combinations before and they have not been as well behaved. It looks like Mauser got the Impact just right!

PRICE: £1150
CONTACT: Blaser Sporting Ltd, www.blaser-sporting.com,  www.mauser.de

  • Mauser M12 Impact - image {image:count}

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  • Mauser M12 Impact - image {image:count}

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  • Mauser M12 Impact - image {image:count}

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  • Mauser M12 Impact - image {image:count}

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  • Mauser M12 Impact - image {image:count}

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  • Mauser M12 Impact - image {image:count}

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gun
features

  • Model: Mauser M12 Impact
  • Calibre: 308 Winchester (on test)
  • Action : turn-bolt
  • Barrels: 20” light/medium fluted
  • Length: 40”
  • Weight : 6.75 lbs
  • Threaded : 15x1mm
  • : Metal finish silver Ilaflon
  • Stock: Extreme (synthetic) grey
  • : One-piece Picatinny base included
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