1916 Spanish Mauser Ammunition

J

johnwilliamson062

Moderator
So I got one of these. Rumer has it this is one of those few guns shooting 308 out of would be a bad idea. As much as I don't really believer that I also realize my eye is directly behind the bolt.
What does everyone think?
I may be buying a few more of these. Pick a few I like and use the rest to trade up.
 
I had one and factory loaded .308 is fine just don't go any hotter. The steel in these isn't heat treated. Hot loads after a time will stretch the receiver. It won't blow up or spit the bolt back in your face but once it starts to stretch it will get increasingly hard to open the bolt.
 
I don't care for the cock on closing but I've got a Bubba'd Spanish 7MM I use for a truck gun. Does a good job.
 
Well, the 7x57 it was designed for runs around 45,000 psi; the .308 Winchester can go as high as 62,000 psi. Your decision. No, it probably won't "blow up", but it won't last long on a steady diet of .308 factory loads.

Also, there is a question about how some of those rifles were converted. Some were re-barrelled, but others were rebored and re-rifled, then the chamber drilled out and a chamber sleeve installed. I have posted a picture of such a conversion at

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=41185&d=1232476324.

Jim
 
Jim, I believe the picture you posted is 1895 Chilean Mauser conversion not Spanish Mauser. Kind of misleading and fuel the rumor.

http://dutchman.rebooty.com/1895Chile.html

This website talks about 1916 conversion and demostrate how it is done:
http://www.geocities.com/fritz125541/Unmarked1916

There is also rumors that this rifle is converted for 7.62CETME round, not 7.62NATO. The website master talks about a Spanish manual that he has showing it is converted to shoot 7.62CETME or 7.62NATO. I found a picture of the 1967 Spanish manual somewhere on the internet but can not locate it anymore, here is the picture I saved on my harddrive. It clearly says 7.62NATO on the cover.

1916762NATO.jpg



This article shows 1916 is capable to handle 7.62 load:

http://www.geocities.com/fritz125541/Gammo

I would think it is safe enough to shoot 7.62NATO but always check headspace to monitor wear, it is a 100 year old rifle anyway.
 
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