Mauser question w/pics

[tahoe2]

I think when those mausers were converted, it was for 7.62 CETME (or something like that) which was a lower pressure than the NATO stuff.
I believe the CETME round is about 45,000 psi = 37,000 cup which is in the same category as the original 7x57 mauser pressures;
I think the 7.62 NATO/308 Winchester is in the 60,000 psi = 52,000 cup, which is certainly to high for one of those Spanish mauser actions,
it might not blow up, but high pressure use, could set the lugs back or stretch the action and/or chamber.
Someone who knows for sure will chime in.

 

[emcon5]

Moloch, why would you say that commercial 308 Win ammo is hotter than 7.62x51 NATO?

Because it is.

.308 Win is rated at 62,000 psi.
7.62x51 is rated at 60,200 psi.

Not a lot hotter, but hotter it is.

If it passed headspace, I would not be afraid of it, but I would also reload to middle of the road 300 Savage pressures, which would be on par with the original 7X57 pressure the rifle was built for.

 

[FALPhil]

Because it is.

.308 Win is rated at 62,000 psi.
7.62x51 is rated at 60,200 psi.

Not a lot hotter, but hotter it is.

The difference between brands of primers. Well within the safety margin. Seriously, if you are worried about a 1800 PSI differential, you have a wall hanger, not a rifle.

 

[Slamfire]

Because it is.

.308 Win is rated at 62,000 psi.
7.62x51 is rated at 60,200 psi.

Not a lot hotter, but hotter it is.

The difference between brands of primers. Well within the safety margin. Seriously, if you are worried about a 1800 PSI differential, you have a wall hanger, not a rifle.

Yes but, when you are dealing with an early Mauser which was proofed below 308 or 7.62 operating pressures, either reload, or make it a wall hanger.

 

[emcon5]

The difference between brands of primers. Well within the safety margin. Seriously, if you are worried about a 1800 PSI differential, you have a wall hanger, not a rifle.

OK, but that rifle was built for 7X57, which has a max pressure of 56,565 psi.

So do you want to use ammo that is ~4000PSI (~7%) over the design max, or ~5500PSI (~10%) over the design max?

Me, I would load down to the ~50Kpsi range. Still plenty to kill just about anything in North America.

 

[Slamfire]

OK, but that rifle was built for 7X57, which has a max pressure of 56,565 psi.

Max pressure when?

The 173 grain 7mm Mauser Cartridges captured in Cuba, during the Spanish American war had a velocity of 2200 fps out of a 29 inch barrel. These are 40 K psia loads.

These were M1893 actions and that is the correct pressure levels for these older actions.

 

[tahoe2]

So IMO those are pics of a 1895 Spanish Carbine-1916 Pattern that was re-arsenaled to 7.62 CETME( basically an under-powered 308).
And it looks to be in great shape. It's not an 1893 due to the strip clip loading cut out in the receiver.
I have both; an 1893 long rifle (no cut out) and a 1895 /1916 pattern carbine, both in 7x57 mauser and I only load to 40,000-45,000 PSI which is about 33,000 - 37,000 CUP.
These loads offer plenty of killing power for deer, antelope, and black bear and with 110 to 130 grn Ballistic Tips great for varmints too.
Well, that's my take on it!

 

[44 AMP]

I don't know, I think it was quite irresponsible to sell this milsurp gun without warning the buyer of the danger of shooting regular ammo through it.

I'd be willing to cut the dealer some slack, he may not have remembered it at the time. Obviously he recognised his error, taking the rifle back without any argument.

There are a lot of Mauser variants, clerks at shops seldom know them all...and some who do don't always remember to make sure that you know what they know..