Hi Otto, likewise. ;-)) Yessir, tis a bolt-action w/ sliding sights. The first time I fired this excellent rile, was about 2 years ago. I could not believe how well made this rifle is and for a rifle that is now about 95 years old, the darn thing shoots like a sweet dream. At the time I bought it, I knew I was paying too much but, it was well worth the extra money spent. I don't have any active plans to place a scope on my Mauser but, I still would not mind having a nice Zeiss or Steiner made scope and a rail set to go with it.
I think one of the biggest issues with a weapon is reliability. Pretty sure the AK-47 had that one in the bag. Does anyone know how reliable the AK-47u is? the AK's little sister.
Let's not forget the Kentucky rifle. A long-range weapon of it's day, allowing the American colonials to out-range and out-shoot their Brown Bess equipped English counterparts. tom