Any Mauser experts here?

The #1 community for Gun Owners in Indiana

Member Benefits:

  • Fewer Ads!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • Hogwylde

    Expert
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jun 12, 2011
    975
    18
    Moved to Tucson, AZ
    I was moving my ammo stash and "discovered" 500 rounds of NATO Espanol 7.62x51 that I had forgotten about. I looked this stuff up and apparently, it's downloaded 7.62x51 for old converted Mausers. I pulled this piece of crap gun out of my closet that I had obtained from my father in law and sure enough, it's a MAUSER CHILENO MODELO 1895.
    Man, this thing is rough. If I could find a decent sporter stock for it, I might think about keeping it. But, I'm not even sure if this thing is safe to fire. If I could find a decent reasonably priced stock for it, I MIGHT think about keeping it. But, I shoot guns, not collect them. If this thing isn't a shooter and would cost too much to get into shooting condition, I'll probably look for a good home for it. Any advise?
     

    mkgr22

    Expert
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    Dec 5, 2010
    1,244
    63
    Starlight, IN
    First thing you need to do is confirm the caliber of the rifle. The 1895's were made in 7x57, and some were converted to 7.62x51.

    For a caution about shooting full-strength NATO ammo, or commercial .308 Winchester ammo in these conversions, see this page:

    1895 Chilean Mauser, Modelo Mauser Chileno 1895, 7.62 Nato conversion

    Does your ammo say NATO on it? It might be some of the Spanish ammo made after the Spanish Civil War for their converted mausers.

    Edited to add: I don't claim to be an expert. Take my advise as worth what you paid for it.
     

    bstewrat3

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    142   0   0
    Apr 26, 2009
    1,520
    84
    Beech Grove
    Good Mauser gunsmiths/experts are going by the wayside. We lost a great one George Perkins a couple of years ago. I had a few old Mausers built into custom rifles by George and he was very knowledgeable on loading for them, but luckily we have the internet now. The link above makes some good points and if you want to shoot this gun I would err on the side of caution and rebarrel it if the action is good or sell it to someone looking for a project.
     

    Johnny C

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    8   0   0
    May 18, 2009
    1,534
    48
    Solsberry , In
    I have a beater chilean mauser also
    Below the cartouche it is stamped MODELO 1912-61 NATO
    The barrel is stamped M12 308
    the side of the receiver is stamped WAFFENFABRIK STEYR AUSTRIA

    How do I find out if it has the soldered barrel, since it is a 1898 model mauser instead of a 1895 mauserin the article a few posts up?
    Looking down the breach, I dont see a line that would suggest it has a section soldered in.
     
    Last edited:

    mkgr22

    Expert
    Rating - 100%
    3   0   0
    Dec 5, 2010
    1,244
    63
    Starlight, IN
    I have a beater chilean mauser also
    Below the cartouche it is stamped MODELO 1912-61 NATO
    The barrel is stamped M12 308
    the side of the receiver is stamped WAFFENFABRIK STEYR AUSTRIA

    How do I find out if it has the soldered barrel, since it is a 1898 model mauser instead of a 1895 mauserin the article a few posts up?
    Looking down the breach, I dont see a line that would suggest it has a section soldered in.

    Johnny C, your rifle is perfectly safe to shoot with any .308 ammo, because the 1912 models were re-barreled, instead of bored out and soldered as the 1895's shown on the linked page.
    In fact, many of the barrels used were surplus Model 1903 barrels the Chileans purchased from the U.S.
     

    traderdan

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    15   0   0
    Mar 20, 2009
    2,016
    48
    Martinsville
    Pretty is as pretty does....Being a fan of ugly guns I would encourage you to work with the old Mauser.I have owned some Mauser builds that outperformed weapons worth hundreds of dollars more.
     

    Perkins3135

    Plinker
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Feb 17, 2017
    1
    1
    Fishers
    George Perkinz

    George Perkins was my grandpa and it warms my heart to see him mentioned so many times on this site. He was a truly exceptional gunsmith. We lost my grandma 6 months ago and I take a lot of comfort coming here and reading all the neat tidbits about him. Thank you :)
     

    Thor

    Grandmaster
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Jan 18, 2014
    10,704
    113
    Could be anywhere
    I have an 1895 that I put in a Boyds Stock. The stories of unsafe conversions are exaggerated...thousands of them were sold here and the reports of their failure using standard ammunition are pretty much non-existent. They were converted for 7.62NATO and are marked so.

    Find a Stock

    Edit: I should have said that those that were converted are marked so. The remainder are 7x57mm.
     
    Last edited:

    Thor

    Grandmaster
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Jan 18, 2014
    10,704
    113
    Could be anywhere
    This is a good write up on the Small Ring:

    Mauser: Small Ring, Big Controversy
    By Mike Hudson

    Mark Twain once observed that a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes and nowhere is that axiom more true than in the world of firearms, especially since the advent of the Internet. A word then, perhaps, about the inherent “weakness” of small ring, non-98 Mauser actions, including the 91, 93, 94, 95 and 96 models manufactured for use by Spain, Argentina, Sweden, Chile, Turkey and many other countries around the world. This non-issue has been written about by illustrious gun scribes and aped by ignoramuses far and wide for decades.
    “The steel used by the Spaniards is considered to be soft,” one know-nothing opined on a web page recently, perhaps not realizing that all of the true 1893’s were built by Mauser, Ludwig Lowe or DWM in Germany. The truth is, while the earlier actions are indeed not as strong as the rugged M-98, they are plenty strong enough when used as intended. For years, the Swedish firm of Husqvarna turned out fine sporters based on 96 Mauser actions in .30-06 caliber.
    Thousands of beautiful custom sporters in useful calibers like 7x57mm Mauser, 257 Roberts, 8x57mm Mauser, .35 Remington, 9.3x57, 6.5x55 Swedish and the .300 Savage and .250-3000 Savage have been turned out using small ring actions, which have a number of advantages some believe offset the fact that they can’t be chambered for the .458 Winchester Magnum.
    In truth, the myth about the weakness of the earlier Mauser actions coincided almost perfectly with the foundation of the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI), a private organization established at the behest of the United States government. This was in 1926, more than a generation after Mauser began turning out smokeless powder repeating rifles.
    Currently, SAAMI dictates that ammunition sold in America for most of the calibers mentioned above generate no more than 50,000 psi when fired, a mandate that has led to the underloading of popular European calibers like the 7x57 and the 8x57, as well as some American calibers. The .257 Roberts very nearly became extinct because of SAAMI pressure standards set arbitrarily and absurdly low due to the large numbers of small ring Mauser and other surplus actions used as the basis for rifles built for the former wildcat cartridge.
    In its original military loading, the 7x57mm cartridge produced an average pressure of 50,370 CUP when fired through the M93 Spanish Mauser rifle, according to J.M. Whittemore’s 1899 treatise, Report Of Test of Mauser Arms And Ammunition Relative To Pressures And Velocities. Whittemore drew from the work five years earlier of the Spanish ballistician Salvadore Cardenal, whose 1895 report for the Spanish government reached the same conclusions.
    However, SAAMI has published a Maximum Average Pressure of only 46,000 CUP for this round, which leads to the possibility that commercial rifles built to SAAMI standards may not be designed to withstand the powerful military cartridges intended for the more robust pre-98 Mauser designs.
    It’s a well known fact that older military cartridges loaded for sale in Europe are hotter than their American counterparts, but it isn’t generally known why. Certainly, the European governments care as much as the Americans about citizens dying from catastrophic firearms failures.
    Instead of SAAMI, the Europeans employ C.I.P., the Permanent International Commission for Firearms Testing. A far more independent organization, the C.I.P. was founded in 1914 and does not answer to corporate American or European gunmakers. According to official C.I.P. guidelines, the 7×57mm case can handle up to 390 MPa (56,564 psi) piezo pressure. In C.I.P. regulated countries, every rifle/cartridge combination has to be proofed at 125% of this maximum C.I.P. pressure to certify for sale to consumers.
    By contrast, SAAMI specifies a far lower maximum pressure of 46,000 CUP or 51,000 psi. Although this lower specification is due to concern about the allegedly weaker actions of the older Mauser 93 and 95 rifles, this anxiety is misplaced, as the original ammunition developed for, and issued with, the M-93 Spanish Mauser produced an average pressure of 50,370 CUP in those rifles. Since the Spaniards continued building M-93s themselves into the 1950s, continued C.I.P. proof testing would have uncovered any inherent weakness in the action.
    Some might argue that the century old steel in original 1891, 1893, 1895 and 1896 Mauser actions is somehow not as strong as it was when first manufactured. In the case of rusted, pitted, dented or otherwise damaged examples, this would indeed be the case. Anyone who thinks fine steel somehow degenerates in ways not apparent to the naked eye over a period of time as brief as 100 years would do well to research Japanese swords turned out on primitive hand forges as early as the 13[SUP]th[/SUP] and 14[SUP]th [/SUP]centuries. The pristine blades are as strong as they ever were, in many cases stronger than steel blades turned out today using modern technology.
    I suppose I’m thinking about all this today because, on the table in front of me, sits a Spanish M-93 action, turned out by Ludwig Lowe of Berlin in 1896. A quarter of an inch shorter and two ounces lighter than the large ring M-98 action, it remains, I believe, the perfect platform for the 7x57mm cartridge, the round for which it was specifically designed 120 years ago.
    I’ve decided to go ahead with the project, a lightweight sporter in the classic configuration, and have just spent the morning happily ordering a new stock and barrel, an adjustable trigger and bolt safety, a set of iron sights, scope bases and rings. I know a gunsmith near here in the Santa Monica Mountains who can put it all together for me and in a few months I’ll be the proud owner of a custom 7x57 capable of taking anything I might find out here in the west, from coyotes to elk, so long as I do my part.
    One thing is certain. No matter what ammunition I use, I’ll be a lot more concerned about my own strength and stamina than I will about that of the Mauser action Lowe turned out 60 years before I was born.
     

    Thor

    Grandmaster
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Jan 18, 2014
    10,704
    113
    Could be anywhere
    Mine is marked 1895, manufactured by Loewe, Berlin. The top rear of the receiver is marked 7.62 N., mine was re-barreled. While it received a lot more use in storage than the range...and the stock had a screw broken off the butt plate with the plate missing (LEFTY loosie Miquel!), it is a nice looking weapon in that Boyds stock. Being a Mauser the action is a thing of beauty.

    When I bought the stock I was lucky enough to get a one off that Boyds had built, nicely finished with recoil pad and sling swivels.
     

    Thor

    Grandmaster
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Jan 18, 2014
    10,704
    113
    Could be anywhere
    Many of the early 1895's were made for shipment to the Orange Free States and the Transvaal for the Boer War. As the Boer said: "Trust in God and Mauser". When Britain blocked the shipments many were then sold to So. Am. Neat history.
     

    Hohn

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Jul 5, 2012
    4,444
    63
    USA
    I snoozed and lost-- BTB had a lovely Swedish Mauser (in 6.5x55 naturally) that was in amazing condition for it 110 year old age. Action was super smooth, very little patina on the metal.

    Unlike the 7mm Mausers they still have there, which look like they were dug up from the Somme.
     
    Top Bottom