About that Spanish Mauser. I just got the Kuhnhausen Shop manual for Mausers - excellent book BTW. Anyway - I read something alarming about those M1916 converted Mausers. I have one that started life as a M1893 - most likely 7x57 caliber. Anyway, the Spanish arsenal converted these some time back to what I THOUGHT was .308 Win. (7.62 NATO). I say 'thought' in that this Kuhnhausen book says that the caliber that it actually was converted to was 7.62 CETME (or something close to that). This was a revelation to me - I'd never heard this cartridge designation. Apparently, this cartridge is a kissing cousin of the now standard 7.62 NATO. The shop manual went on to say that this particular ctg. had a max pressure of 47,000 psi. This is what I believe to be at or near the max that this action can safely handle. This is WAY under the standard pressure for a .308 Win which is usually around 55,000 psi.
So my question is this: Should I be concerned for my peepers (and hands, face, arms, etc.) everytime that I touch this sucker off? Or should I head straight back to the 'smith and have him rebarrel this gewehr back into a safer cartridge? Let me go a bit farther and say that I haven't even thought about firing this weapon again since I read that information!
As far Stocking the rifle - I intend to investigate one of the drop-in's that MIDWAY is advertising. A nice laminated stock should be really stable and good looking to boot. Just as soon as I ascertain whether I have something that I can salvage, or if it's a wallhanger!
I'd really like to hear any feedback you folks have on the chambering of this 'arsenal conversion' and shed some light on a potentially dangerous situation. Thanks for any and all input!
Unkel Gilbey