Thinking of buying a 7.62 Spainish Mauser

Out of curiosity,

25 years ago I bought a Spanish Mauser (1943, Oviedo, 7x57) and promptly salvaged the action and discarded the rest. (Yes, I'm evil, I know:rolleyes:)

I had it turned into a .270win hunting rifle, it shoots exceedingly well, I shoot only handloads in the medium-high range, I care more for accuracy than speed.

It's never shown any problems, should I worry? I'm not being a smarty pants, just looking for info...
 
Well It finally arrived

Its been a long wait but finally got here, its beat up pretty bad on the outside but has a bright bore with really good rifeling. It seems to be void of any markings, i cant even find the importers mark or the calliber mark. It does have a faint 43 on it and a serial number. All and all i like it. I plan to load some light cartridges for it and have some 7.62X51 Nato for it as well. I will post some pictures when i get a chance. Thanks for reading my post.
 
TX Hunter:

I have a small ring Mexican mauser, at least that is what the gunsmith told me it is, re-barreled to .243 Winchester. I'm not sure if the Mexican and the Spanish are the same actions. However, I can attest to the Mexican's strength. When I was young I thought that I was smarter then the writers of the reloading manuals. I committed the following boner. I pulled the bullets from LC 7.62 match ammo and I weighed the powder. I formed the brass into .243 Winchester. I failed to ream the newly formed cases. With the powder charge that I interpolated I filled the cases and I seated 100 grain Sierra bullets. I was shooting under a direct 110 degree sun off the hood of my car. The fired cases of the first three or four rounda looked normal. On the fifth round I had to force the bolt closed. When I touhed off the round I got a face full of powder gas. The over charge blew the rifle's stock into three pieces. One piece cut my middle finger next to the knuckle to the bone. However, there's only skin here and I didn't need medcal attention. The blown case melted the brass and welded the bolt to the reciver. The late P.O. Ackley replaced the bolt and I was back in business.

Semper Fi.

Gunnery sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired
 
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here are my two spaniards ,,,,,mod 1916,,,,,, mod43 (some say 44?) but it has the front sight protectors (ears ,) which designates it as "airforce issue".
i have fired factory ammo out of my 1916 but only win 7.62 white box stuff , i handload only nowadays.
WHITE LABS did the pressure tests as shown in above post, but as i cast and handload i feel better about shooting the 1916,,.
mod 43 is reg 8x57 cal (8mm) i installed the lyman 57sme reciever peep sight and both rifles shoot great ,no complaints here.
have fun with yours and shoot safe.;)
 

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I have a question

Is there any way to uncock this rifle without dry firing it? And also would dry firing it damage it?
 
I would never own one or shoot one but that just me.

And I keep my handloads on Swedish Mausers to military velocities, ie 2575. At that velocity, I am in the Qickload Yellow, and well below book max.

Wildbettersurplus308soutthereAlaska ™©2002-2011
 
Is there any way to uncock this rifle without dry firing it? And also would dry firing it damage it?
Click to expand...
Yes, just lift the bolt handle and the bolt will spring backward about an inch un-cocking itself. Then hold the trigger down and slide the bolt forward and close it.
Dry firing wont hurt it.
 
LARRY

Thanks i will do this, I like to keep my rifles uncocked when not in use to keep the tension off the springs. I will take some picures next weekend when im off work. I really like the looks of this little Mauser.
 
#46
Wildalaska
Senior Member


I would never own one or shoot one but that just me .

why not?
Click to expand...

I have to agree with the "Why not?" part of this post.

I mean, If you dislike Mauser rifles, Or you don't care for the .308/7.62 nato round, Ok then, I'll buy it.

If you are concerned about the potential of a "KABOOM" then I must respectfully ask, do we not face that possibility virtually every time we chamber a round in any gun we shoot, I would say yes, granted the odds are stronger with some, but they are there in all.

There are modern guns that have a reasonably shakey reputation for holding together, I won't mention names but the first on that comes to mind starts with "G", Do you hold them in the same regard?

I bought an M-1916 spanish mauser years ago when they could be had for $90.00, Since I have owned it, there have been MANY .308win. rounds fired thru it, I have checked it many times and have read all of the "Horror stories" and much of the conclusions posted concerning the actual differences between .308win. and 7.62nato. And while I have personally chosen to take the route of prudents, and hold off shooting it with hot loads, until I have the equipment to load my own, I still like the gun, and it is by far the most accurate milsurp I own.
 
I'm very pleased with my 1916. I like the FR 8 better though. I wouldn't shoot hot handloads or commercial ammo, but am not afraid to shoot any 7.62 NATO in it.
 
chack:

Some quite seasoned Mauser guys told me that converting from cup pressure to Saami psi involves a correction factor of about 10,000 psi.
Another problem is that many people fail to differentiate between the FR7 and FR8.

This is reportedly why NATO 7.62 is around 58,000 and commercial .308 is 62,000. Considering that test (proof) pressures were another 50% or so Higher, combined with the 8mm action, the FR8 should be safe with .308.
My FR8 has had very limited wear.

Even an article at "Surplusrifle": "The Spanish Mauser Inquisition" (by Trope and Jeo) mentions the FR8 at the top, but then only addresses the FR7 issues with any statistics. This contributed to the confusion.

My once-used .new .308 brass looks brand new. Even though the gun did not pass the gun smith's Go gauge, which is very common for the best NATO rifles, it passed my new Field gauge (from Numerich) quite well: the bolt barely turns at all.
With 41 gr. of IMR 4064 powder and 170 grain CMP Match bullets, these .308s have been reloaded three times -full length resizing- and the brass still looks/feels fine, even the internal paper clip test.
 
Whats the internal paper clip test? I test fired a nato 7.62 in my spanish mauser and the case looked good as well im going to shoot it this coming weekend and see where it hits. I would imagine it will hit high like my Yugo did before i replaced the front sight blade.
 
TX H.
Some people describe straightening out a paper clip, then making a tiny 90* angle (or so) short 'hook' on one end.
They insert it inside, to the bottom then pull slowly upwards, to try to feel for a tiny snag/wrinkle, which can indicate stress and imminent failure.

I've felt it several times on some military .303 cases, which had already been reloaded numerous times (5+...I had not marked them), and already showed a thin, pale whitish ring just above the head/rim.
 
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i have had trouble loading picures, but have to report that this is the most accurate Mauser i have ever fired. It shoots to point of aim and carries well in the field. I bought some reloading components and plan to make some nice low pressure cartridges for it.
 
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