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Old November 16, 2004, 11:23 AM   #6
jtkwon
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Join Date: June 4, 2004
Posts: 99
The Mauser M2 is a quasi-DAO striker-fired semiautomatic
rotating barrel pistol. In many respects, it bears a great
resemblance to the original Nickl design made for Mauser
prior to Nickl moving to Czechoslovakia where he refined the
design further. It also bears a resemblance to the
experimental Walther rotating barrel pistol from late WW II,
especially in its use of pinned blocks for mounting pieces in
the frame.

The Mauser M2 is only made in 45 ACP (as far as I know at
this point).

Barrel and Locking System

The stainless steel barrel does not incorporate the feed
ramp. It has a cam lug at the 6 o'clock position, and two
locking lugs at the 10 o'clock and 12 o'clock positions.

Pinned blocks

There are two steel blocks pinned into the aluminum frame.
The forward block contains the bolt cam track and the trigger
and trigger pin (around which the trigger rotates). It also
serves as the mount for the forward slide rails.

The rear block contains the rest of the trigger mechanism
(sear, disconnector), ejector blade, and the rear slide
rails. It also contains the manual safety (the pistol is
available without the manual safety).

The slide is blued steel, and touches only the rails, not the
frame. There is a pronounced gap between the slide and the
frame.

Pulling the slide to the rear partially cocks the striker.
It is not possible to accomplish this partial cocking by
pulling the trigger alone so there is no second strike
capability as there might be in an ordinary DAO pistol.

When you load a magazine, and press the slide release, the
slide moves forward and pushes a round from the magazine, up
the feed ramp and into the chamber of the barrel. As the
slide continues forward, the barrel moves forward away from
the feed ramp, and it rotates counter-clockwise to lock.
This rotation is accomplished by the barrel cam lug, which
rides in a slot in the forward block. Once the slide is
forward and locked, the pistol can be fired by pulling the
trigger.

Note that the only connection between the striker system and
the rear block is through the sear, which must pull the
striker back through an additional distance before the
striker is free to be released. Since these parts only reach
each other when the pistol is fully in battery, it is not
possible, as was the problem in the original Nickl design, to
have the pistol fire out of battery.

As the trigger is pulled, the striker is fully cocked and
released, with the connecting hook on the bottom of the
striker moving to the fully forward position at firing. At
this point, it is completely out of reach of the trigger
mechanism. The cartridge fires, and rearward motion begins.
As the slide moves to the rear, it carries the barrel back,
which turns in the bolt cam slot after about 8mm of rearward
travel. Resistance to rearward motion is provided by the
recoil spring under the barrel and the mass of the slide and
barrel. After the barrel completes its slight rotation to
the 1 o'clock position from 12 o'clock, it unlocks, and the
slide continues to the rear on its own. The barrel remains
in position during extraction.

The pistol has an internal slide mounted extractor, with
about twice the grab area of the standard 1911 extractor.
The ejector is a large fixed blade mounted in the rear
pinnned block. The position of the extractor claw and the
ejector blade tip are set up to provide a 2 o'clock ejection
of the empty case. Due to the very wide ejection port, no
contact is made by the empty case with the slide on ejection,
and the ejection is very brisk to 2 o'clock and slightly to
the rear. As the slide completes its trip to the rear, the
striker is again partially cocked for the next firing cycle.

If you were holding the trigger down through the cycle (which
is likely, given the speed of the cycle), you must release
the trigger to let the sear assembly go forward enough to
pick up the connecting hook of the striker assembly. Because
the striker must again be fully cocked by the action of the
trigger, the weapon cannot double or go auto.

The weapon has a magazine safety - it cannot be fired without
a magazine inserted into the weapon. The connection between
the trigger and the rear pinned block that contains the sear
is out of position if the magazine is not in place.

The manual safety can be manipulated on the rear of the
slide, and it blocks the movement of the sear assembly,
preventing the striker from being completely cocked and
released.

Dislikes

The pistol has a heavy trigger pull compared to a single
action pistol, but not compared to a full DAO pistol
(especially compared to a revolver). The pull required to
complete the cocking of the striker is relatively short and
sharp. So, to describe the trigger pull - there's a long
takeup with almost no pressure, the short sharp stackup of
the cocking, and then a sudden release. Some might consider
the stackup sensation to be a creep - but in anything except
slow fire, it's not noticeable. Those of you who like a
finely tuned single action trigger will HATE it. Those of
you used to a revolver will like it.

The gun feels safe enough. I don't think it needs that
useless safety on the back.

It looks like a SIG. Some people think that's ugly. It's
definitely fat looking. The grip is completed by the
magazine, as if there were some effort to make the weapon
more compact, but as in the case of the HK USP Compact, it
ain't compact.

Likes

The grip is wider and more square in the back than a 1911. I
believe this gives it a wider area to recoil against in the
hand. I also believe that the brief rotation makes the
firing cycle last just a tad longer than the ordinary 1911.
So, in felt recoil, the firing is noticeably gentler. My
wife thought that the felt recoil as compared to her compact
38 and her compact 357 revolvers was much more moderate
(well, the 357 compact isn't a fair comparison), and she
perceived the muzzle flip to be non-existent with the 230gr
FMJ.

The pistol digested a wide variety of 45 ammunition (lead SWC
target stuff, hardball, Golden Saber (185gr and 230gr, normal
and +P), Federal Hydrashoks, and some Speer Gold Dot. There
were no malfunctions (I'm now up to over 3000 rounds with no
malfunctions).

It shoots where you point it. It's not an accurized Gold
Cup, but I can keep the groups roughly hand sized out to 25
yards in double taps. I needed no sight adjustment (white
dot front, single white dot slot rear). The "pointability"
at least for my hands, is excellent.

Fully supported chamber on firing. I'm not going to
experience a feed ramp blowout.
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