Spanish Mauser in 6.5 Grendel?

S

snowman748

New member
Ok, Spanish 1916 Mausers are selling for like $170 (or less) online and seem like a decent rifle to sporterize. "You can buy a new gun for the price..."blah, blah...what I'm curious about is this...

I already know the history of some of the Spanish Mausers being converted to 7.62x51 NATO (or 308 depending on who you ask) and it's been debated to death about how unsafe this practice is...I don't want to start that debate...

My question is has anyone ever thought about converting one to 6.5 Grendel? From my understanding a lot of these rifles were converted to 7.62x39 to shoot cheap ammo and NO ONE thinks this was an unsafe practice. I also understand that 6.5 Creedmore or similar caliber would probably be to much pressure for the rifle, also a lot of expense when you could just leave it in 7mm Mauser and get decent preformce...however 6.5 Grendel is cheaper the 7mm Mauser to shoot (especially with Wolf now selling steel cased 6.5 Grendel), has great long distance performance when compared to 7.62x39 and has a lot lower pressure then 7mm Mauser so should also be completely safe for the action...would be kinda cool to have a gun that old still be able to reach out and touch stuff as a plinker...

$170 rifle, a $180 ER Shaw barrel (it's going to be shooting steel case, I don't want to hear how bad Shaw barrels are)...would require being drilled and tapped for a scope, probably having the bolt handle bent more (or grinding it down) but might be cool? A lot better rifle in my opinion then guys that buy Mosins and try to accurize them...
 
6.5 Grendel performance ?

Hey Snowman, being an owner of two Spanish Mausers (both sporterized 1893's) both in 7x57, I don't see the advantage of the 6.5 mm.

Looking at Hodgdon's website the 7mm pushes a 120 grn considerably faster at the same pressure level (give or take).
There was no listing for a 140 grain, in the Grendel so I can't comment on that, I did not look up the BC for both 120 grainers ,
just wondering what the advantage is from 6.5 to 7mm. It does however sound like an interesting project ! :D

Neither of mine are tackdriver's, averaging 1-1/2" to 2-1/2" @ 100 yds with various handloads in various bullet weights, but they are hunting guns not target guns. mfg in 1921 and 1931.
 
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The SAMMI pressure spec for 6.5 Grendel is higher than it is for 7X57.

6.5G 52K PSI
7X57 51K PSI

Not much higher, and well under .308 (62K PSI), but still higher.

7.62x39 is well below the 7x57 pressure level, 45K PSI.
 
I own an 1893 Mauser that has been converted to 7.62X39, so I will speak of the rear end performance, i.e. the rim of the case.

* Poor feeding due to the rim size being different than 7X57 can be expected. Since the rim of the cartridge feeds up under the extractor during feeding in a Mauser, this is a real issue.

* The case has more taper than the 7X57 the rifle was built for, so the cases tend to pop out of the feed lips very easily. This can be good if you have fitted the extractor well, not so good otherwise.

* The case is much shorter than the 7X57, so you still have to cycle the bolt a long way to eject the case after firing. Not a major issue, but something to consider.

* Building a custom rifle on a 1893 Mauser involves a barrel and a low-clearance bolt handle (you mentioned), drill and tap for scope or irons (mentioned), threading/chambering (not mentioned, although you can buy short chambered barrels or just send the rifle to ER Shaw), a trigger, some sort of finish on the metal (bluing, GunKote, DuraCoat, etc), possibly a cock on open kit, a new safety, a stock, etc. Don't forget a scope.

Quite easily $1000 all together (I do this for a living, trust me on the numbers).

* You can buy one of the new Howa Mini-Actions in 6.5 Grendel in a Hogue stock with detachable mags and a Nikko Sterling scope for about half that, then use the rest of the money to buy ammo and pay for a trip to go break the rifle in. This is the direction I am going to go.
 
a $180 ER Shaw barrel
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^^^ As mentioned above, it's not going to chamber, thread, and crown itself along with the other items mentioned.

You're looking for an "inexpensive" conversion- not a custom Mauser build; and this ain't it.
 
This is one of those things, if you have to ask, the answer is probably no.

Now if you had the equipment and experience in more straightforward DIY conversions and wanted to up your game to learn how to alter bolt faces and magazines, fine.
Pay Scorch or somebody else, not worth it.
 
I've done the sportering a Mauser, mine was a Yugo M48 that I bought for $75 just for the action. So I was into the action for a lot less than half of what you're talking about spending and my finished rifle was closer to $2k when it was all said and done. Gunsmithing alone isn't going to be cheap and that's provided that you find an actual competent gunsmith to do the work. I found out the hard way that just because someone's business says "gunsmith" doesn't necessarily mean they are up to the task.

Mine was a neat project and I knew I would be heavily invested in it, but I went ahead and did it. What did I learn? It was definitely NOT worth it.
 
$180 includes having the barrel chambered, crowned and threaded for your action. I was just looking for a round that would fit in the action, produce about the same or less pressure the 7mm mag and had cheap steel cased ammo available that has better ballistics then 7.62x39
 
* You can buy one of the new Howa Mini-Actions in 6.5 Grendel in a Hogue stock with detachable mags and a Nikko Sterling scope for about half that, then use the rest of the money to buy ammo and pay for a trip to go break the rifle in. This is the direction I am going to go.
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Interesting, I wonder if CZ will follow suit in the 527 mini-mauser bolt action?
 
$180 includes having the barrel chambered, crowned and threaded for your action.
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That's not installed on your action- + $121.00 for that according to their website.

They're not clear on what you're actually getting for that $180. You can't just screw on a fully chambered barrel- it must be either short chambered, or "short" shouldered, to set headspace to your barreled action. I have no idea what they're providing for that price. It's only $30 more than a blank...guaranteed, gunsmithing is required.

We're just saying this isn't going to be as inexpensive as you seem to be thinking it is.

FYI, last time I checked their lead time was about 4-6 mos.
 
120 grn BC's

Nosler list's the:

Nosler Ballistic Tip
Ballistic Coefficient for

6.5mm 120 grn = .458
7mm 120 grn = .417

6.5mm 140 grn = .509
7mm 140 grn = .485

I think the bigger case of the x57 makes up for the "BC"
just a thought, what about a 6.5x57 ? the best of both worlds ? :D

I should learn to read better ! Steel cased ammo ?? :confused: Why ??
 
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just a thought, what about a 6.5x57 ? the best of both worlds ?
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I was thinking a 6.5x55, but that would work too. If you're going to rechamber a Mauser, why not rechamber it to a Mauser cartridge?
 
6.5x55 is a great choice ; sans the case head on the x55 is bigger and needs a bolt face and claw alteration .480" Swede vs .470" Spanish or does it?
I don't know ??
 
6.5x57 is very uncommon, no army adopted it, only a few niche sporting rifles.

Most US made 6.5x55 Swede is undersize, I doubt that you would have to open the bolt face of a 7mm. If that is the way you want to go, you could scrounge a single round and see if it would fit.
 
There's a tenth of a mm difference (about 0.004") between the 7x57 rim diameter (smaller) and the nominal 6.5x55 rim diameter.
 
If you want a project that is fine, as far as making sense and cost to do so, I would say not.

You can pick up a variety of 6.5 rifles that are pretty good these days, often for under $450.

Ruger is make 6.5 creed as is Savage (in the Cabella only 10T) on sale and discounts get a heck of a deal.

If I was interested in switch barrels I would go with Savage and get the equipment (about $150) to do the barrels yourself, tghen you can have any caliber choice you want for the price of a barrel.
 
6.5mm 120 grn = .458
7mm 120 grn = .417

6.5mm 140 grn = .509
7mm 140 grn = .485
Click to expand...

Not disagreeing, but because the 7mm is fatter, comparing the same bullet weight is not apples:apples. ~140 gr is about as good as it gets for LR bullets in .264 (yes, there are some slightly heavier), but that is not the case for 7mm, those are probably 180s, and those are mostly in the high .5s and low .6s for BC. One of the SMKs is over .7.

I would leave it in 7x57 and learn to reload. If you want to make it sound cooler, you can tell everyone is is a .275 Rigby.
 
The 7x57 is a great cartridge and has taken game all over the world, including elephants. Mild recoil and accurate. Buying reloading equipment would be the cheapest route - if cost savings was the initial driving factor.
 
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