A Piece of History
Sportized Persian Mauser

This note was kindly sent to me by Mr. Shahrokh Alebooyeh:

I was only 14 years old when I shot an Ibex (KAL [Boz E Koohi]) with an army Brno which my uncle who was a colonel in the Gendarmerie has lent to me. I dare say that the bolt and action is practically the most rugged ever built. Even today with the most advanced hunting and sniper rifles the M98 bolt & action is copied with minor modifications to the safety system being moved to the right side of the action so that a scope can be easily installed. With the original safety on top of the original bolt (once a scope is mounted) the safety knob can not make the full turn to the right, although the rifle will be safe if the safety knob is even half turned and this is what most hunters who have sporterised the Brno and mounted a scope, do. It is worth to note that a company by the name of "Buhler" has developed a safety knob which is somewhat smaller, especially for the Brno bolt and action. In so far as sporterising the Brno for hunting purposes is concerned, there is one other draw back and that is with its original "two-stage" pull on the trigger. This makes it quite difficult to hit the bull's eye (target) during hunting because more pressure needs to be exerted on the trigger, as well as passing the first stage on the pull to reach the second stage, as the shot is squeezed off. To over come this difficulty two companies by the names of Jaeger & Canjar manufacture trigger assemblies that are not only adjustable to the hunter's requirement, they also overcome the two-pull concept. In the vent that you are not aware, presently the army is selling some of its Brno's to hunters at a price of 1.5 to 2 million Tomans, depending on the condition of the rifle. The stock is thrown away, the barrels re-blued as and as a new stock which is made by local expert craftsmen, fitted. Once the Buhler safeties and the new triggers are fitted, one hunter has one of the best hunting weapons. It should be added that due to the heavy weight of the bullet (180 to 220 Grains) the rifle falls short behind the much loved 270 Cal. or the famous 30-06 Cal. of the M1 Garand. The 8X57MM bullet of the Brno, does not enjoy the flat trajectory of the 270 or 30-06 calibres, or the modern magnums. However many big games continue to fall at long distances from the bullet of the famous Brno. The company Interarms Inc. in USA imports a bolt & action under the name of Interarms Mark X, which is a very near copy of the Brno bolt & action with better trigger and a safety located on the right side of the action. Many new hunting rifles by well-known manufacturers are fitted with the Interarms Mark X.