When I took the Trail for the first time, my friend Guido’s words came to my mind: “it is so intuitive and ergonomic that you could hunt ducks with it”. Sensation was damn satisfying while bringing it to the shoulder: goes straight on aim, it’s short barreled, balanced, perfectly suitable for woods with the high visibility sight package. I Really had a great feeling that fully compensated the visual shock felt when opening the box.
A phosphorescent orange rifle, a huge blinding highlighter, light years away from my traditional home rack, strictly populateby steel and briar. I confess, I have never stopped thinking that hunting guns should be elegant, beautiful and with classic look. Those very efficient polymer stocks, for me, are only and uniquely very efficient, not beautiful, not exciting. However It’s true that a weapon exquisitely dedicated to searching injured animals, which at most can be used for driven hunts, must NECESSARILY be visible, short, resistant to mistreatment and certainly essential.
So, like any other work tool, it must be damn functional and assure absolute reliability.
Once at home, as usual, I disassembled the rifle in every single piece: if I have to use a gun and trust on it for my safety, I want to know how it’s made, and possibly understand weakness and strenght. Like all Mausers, M12 is made up of few pieces assembled with Teutonic precision. The barrel separates from the stock being one piece with the action and the trigger group. The stock is well made, finished inside too, and while being light and short it’s very solid. Trigger is essential, simple, with adjustable trigger weight simply acting on a screw. The six tenons bolt runs smoothly, without stitching; To remove it you just have to press the button that releas the bolt from the action. Taking it apart is child’s play.
It is sufficient to select the intermediate safety position, the one which allows to operate bolt with the gun on safety, remove the bolt from the weapon, and use a screwdriver on the small pin. Turning the bolt shroud clockwise, it’s released from the bolt body after a 15 degrees rotation. After cleaning spring and firing pin, the striker can be reassembled without any problem, proceeding in reverse order. This aspect of the M12’s design puzzled me at first. Accustomed to of old projects’ solidity, the first impression was one of distrust.
Looking closely, however, things are different. As mentioned before, turning the bolt shroud counterclockwise it repositions itself perfectly and remains in place thanks to the retaining pin. When inserting the bolt into the firearm it is easy to see how the cocking lever rotates a further 60 degrees when closing. Evindently bolt rotates 75 degrees between the firing position and release position, and it does inside a sturdy, perfeclty machined recess. Great, simple, and damn safe solution. Lighter than a classic 98 action, slimmer, easy to clean even in the field; Really well designed. Trail’s safety has three positions: When in the firing position it’s possible to open and close the bolt, and obviously the weapon is in fire condition. The intermediate position allows you to open the bolt, unload and load weapon safely. In this position, maneuvering the bolt is particularly easy, requires few force, and it’s therefore possible that inside dense vegetation, it can inadvertently open.
It is therefore advisable to choose the most advanced position, which physically locks the bolt. It must be said that moving with a loaded weapon, although with safety on, always represents a risk, especially on uneven ground, in densely vegetated areas, and under emotional stress. The hunting action’s urgency , dog barking steadily at an injured game, fatigue, all components that can compromise hunter’s safety. Personally I prefer to move with unloaded gun, loading it when needed, but obviously this is not always possible. The M12 Trail, like all M12s, can, on request, be equipped with the model “S” safety, that cocks and decocks firing pin. This model allows you to act in complete safety even with a chambered round.
The bolt handle is well proportioned, but it feels a bit small for my hands and especially with gloves. I replaced it with a bigger polymer made one, gaining some speed in rearmament phase.
As previously mentioned, manouvering the bolt is quick and easy. It flows perfectly, with no deadlocks, completely opens with a short 60 degrees rotation, so reloading takes a few seconds.
The magazine, two-wire, 5 shots, is made of plastic. Seen Trail’s destination I would have preferred a steel one, but this is personal taste.
Iron sight package is simply perfect: in low light condition it’s possible to acquire target in few moments, thanks to weapon’s excellent ergonomics and short barrel. A particular sling attachment is placed on the muzzle, easily allows you to apply the slingon the extreme point of the barrel. The same can be easily applied on the shaft, in classic position, while two supports are embedded in the stock to accommodate a quick release ring. This feature allows you to put on or remove a sling in few moments. The muzzle sling swivel is a gem for estimators, but it must be used carefully.
It allows you to literally wear the M12 Trail, without it getting stuck in thickest vegetation since the weapon doesn’t protrude from hunter’s silhouette and doesn’t constitute any overhang. However the short barrel is potentially dangerous at the same time. Carrying the Rifle in this configuration, the weapon could easily point towards hunter’s body while moving through the vegetation, especially in narrow passages or passing under an obstacle. It is therefore essential to pay maximum attention, and use this carrying configuration only when unloaded.
Muzzle cover is a noteworthy detail . A blaze orange plug, supplied with gun, fits perfectly on the muzzle. Removing the muzzle cover takes a few moments, but you can shot with it on if needed, without damaging weapon in any way. This modest accessory, easily be replaceble with a piece of tape, represents an added value in my opinion: high visibility plug allows you to check its presence in an instant, guarantees complete barrel’s insulation from water, mud or anything else. An uncommon, truly remarkable, details’ attention.
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This superb carbine’s caliber is the venerable 8x57JS: a sacred monster, ink’s rivers have been written on it. He is an old dear friend of mine, I have hunted for years with it and perfectly fits the task. In order to make it work at its best, I looked for an ogive that would ensure brutal energy transfe and lightning-fast killing even at very short distances.
Barrel lenght, just 47cm, suggests 200 grains bullets employmnet , and a good reliable powder, suitable for the singular task. Preparing a cartridge for such a specialized weapon is a small challenge that stimulates handloading enthusiasts. Achieving a ballance between bullet’s weight, burning rate and primer, without sacrificing muzzle velocity and obtaining the best possible accuracy is the goal. A nice mess.
In stutzens’ short barrels I often obtained excellent results just cheating: magnum primers, smooth loads, and heavy bullets; Anyway it was not necessary this time. After a few emails with Brenneke technical team, I received good suggestions.
They kindly provided me Bullet’s dimensions: Basic 200 grain, a softpoint that in all looks like the venerable TIG. They also suggested 75 mm as optimal cartridge length. I was going to use the outstanding RS60 powder, used by German technicians too. I choosed PRVI Partizan brasses, standard RWS primers and, as mentioned, RS60 powder. I assembled some cartridges with suggested dose.
Nevertheless I prepared a second batch with slightly higher powder dose; According to Quickload this recipe achieves complete burnth (99% combustion), close to 100% filling (ball seating on powder) and optimal working pressure. Barrel time is almost perfect, ogive exit is practically on knot, promising excellent accuracy.
The long-awaited test at the range have reserved some pleasant surprises.
First attempt was made with iron sight only. Pretty painful. Stock’s design, exquisitely dedicated to instinctive shooting, becomes uncomfortable on the bench. Very straight stock, low sights, together with a featherweight, produce prohibitive recoil on the bench rest.
In the same shooting session I zeroed an M03 in 8x68S, firing 13 shots, switching then to the Trail… I couldn’t believe how hard it kicked compared to the stouter 8x68S. Standing and knee position are radically different instead. Shooting from a standing position is fun, recoil is easily manageable, accuracy is good, especially with stronger load. This weapon’s design is exceptional, enhancing lightness and instinct.
Second shooting session took place with Minox RV1 Red dot, Trail’s perfect complement for our task.
This sturdy little Red Dot deserves some words being truly remarkable. The shell is extremely sturdy, presenting the switch on one side and adjustment screws, protected by nuts, on others. RV1 can claim 11 intensity levels, the first 4 suitable with low light conditions only. Selecting the highest level, dot always remains clearly visible, even with brightest light. Great quality lenses for this young and light device.
Mounting on Weaver rail is elementary, using the supplied tool, also suitable to zero the point of impact. Since I will employ this weapon in close shots, I decided to use a quick release mount: in dense vegetation, in extremely close engagement , nothing compare with iron sights, especially if intuitive like Trail’s ones.
Zeroing the RV1 is simple and intuitive. Unscrewing the two caps, you can access two adjustment screws. You can use the red tool provided by Minox, but I find the cover caps very practical: they have a blade that perfectly fits into capìs recess; a sticker inside them remind the right rotating direction. Simple, effective, robust, intuitive. Clicks are clear, corresponding to 1 centimeter at 50 meters. I took 3 rounds to adjust the point of impact. Fantastic.
The good RV1 with quick release mount is slightly higher than if directly mounted on the rail. This is not a fault, since raised position allows a faster acquisition, with milder recoil.
The shooting test took place on a hot sunny day, close to 30 celsius degrees and a light breeze. I zeroed the red dot with the laser at 10 meters, the first shot was low on the right, the second on the target, the third perfectly above the mouche, where I usually want it. At this point, being weapon perfectly zeroed, I fired some rounds in rapid succession, from 50 meters. Result was more than good. Thanks to temperature, the short barrel was now hot, not an ideal situation for meditated shooting, but why not pushing this beautiful M12 to the limit?
The trigger is crisp, clean, perfectly suitable for medium-long shots. Although it is 3 p.m. with very intense light, from the half-light shooting positions the illuminated point is perfectly visible even against white paper’s target. Lowering the intensity, dot’s size slightly reduces, allowing a more accurate shot placement. I fire three shots, without waiting the barrel to cool down.
An excellent result, the three holes on target touching each other, perfectly punched.
The recipe is perfect for the M12 Trail: the cartridge, 75 mm long, chamber smoothly, without uncertainty, is accurate beyond all expectations and certainly capable of spectacular terminal effects, seen bullet’s weight and construction.
We will try them deeply in next hunting season; can’t wait to tell you about their behaviour. Basics are classic soft point ogives, very similar in shape to the classic TIG. We surely have the utmost confidence in weapon-cartridge combination, seen great compatibility and precision.
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