Seeking advice on Chilean M1895 Mauser short rifle rebuild.
The teenage son of a friend of mine has a sporterized Chilean Mauser M1895 short rifle with the 21" barrel in 7x57mm Mauser. The rifle originally looked like this:
It is now missing the upper handguard and the stock has been shortened just back of the now-missing barrel band but is very nicely rounded. The military buttplate was replaced by a civilian rubberized butt pad (circa 1960s, I'd guess). The barrel and receiver match, but not the magazine floorplate or the bolt. There is, in short, absolutely NO military collector value to the weapon. Worse, when I first saw it during a recent visit to their home, I noticed that the fired brass (US commercial of recent production) exhibited signs of excessive pressure -- primers backing out, punctures in the primers, swollen cases. Indeed, a careful examination by a gunsmith subsequently revealed that the chamber was dangerously eroded. So, it needs a new barrel on that small ring receiver. The receiver itself seems quite sound. Still, the young man was fortunate not to have the rifle experience a catastrophic failure. The rifle also now has a broken firing pin.
While he only paid a hundred bucks for it, he would like to save it by rebarreling. He also wishes to maintain the caliber, since he has existing stocks of ammunition and reloading supplies. He would prefer to make a scout rifle of it, with a small scope mounted forward of the receiver so that it does not interfere with loading by stripper clip.
We will likely refinish the stock with some non-slip, matte finish and of course the barrel, receiver and floor plate will be parkerized in some subdued finish rather than reblued. The main question is: his resources are limited so should he try to find a good, used military barrel (in which case the rear sight mount could, I suppose, be used as a mount for the forward-mounted scout scope) or a new civilian production one? He will not be redoing this himself, for I have volunteered to help in order to build up my jackleg gunsmithing knowledge base with the assistance of the best gunsmith I know. (Translated, that means I'll do the scut work of refinishing while he does the critical work of swapping the barrels and headspacing the bolt as I watch and take notes.)
The one thing that bothers me is that I have been burned before on buying "good, used military barrels." Also, what scout scope/mount combination should we use? Any suggestions?
18 comments:
A 1000 thought running thru my brain on this one. Not sure the piece is worth fooling with. The 95 is basically a 93 which is why 7x57 was (& still may be) factory loaded to such anemic velocities due to maintaining safe (lower) pressure. Model 95s are not as strong as 98s. The only thing that gets stronger with age is cheese.
The mismatched bolt tells me the "pressure" problems may be more like headspace problems. Primers wont back out if the case is locked up snugly to & fro. They will flatten & there will be leakage around the circumference of the primer, or if the case expands too much the primer will just fall out on ejection. Punctured primer sounds like a misshapen firing pin or possibly headspace again. Where & how are the cases bulged? Did they stick in the chamber? How hard did the bolt open?
Was the suspect ammo home brewed? If so, was the sizing die set down to touch the shell holder following die makers instructions? This could be another cause of excess headspace with a minimum die & a maximum chamber.
God only knows what manner of butchery was unleashed on the piece before your friend bought it. Personally I would save the rifle as a reminder of youthful inexperience. We were all young once.
We only have 2 eyes & 2 hands. Unfortunately, there are no spare parts available yet. Pressure is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master.
There's a guy out in vermont who puts nos .308 barrels on mausers. he put a barrel on a 1909 argentine of mine for 257 dollars.
This guy runs ads on gunbroker, he specializes in making sniper rifles out of k98 mausers and does excellent work.
Charlie Romero 802 379 8469
295 puddingstone rd.
Pownal VT 05261
The young mam will be throwing good money after bad.
The money spent fixing that thing up would be better spent finding and buying another 7 X 57 in better condition.
We have bought several model 91-30 Mosin Nagants and a few have had headspace problems. If encountering the problems you have encountered I would first check that it is headspaced properly. Headspace gauges can be rented from these guys I have used before, for around $7.
http://www.reamerrentals.com/searchresults.asp?cat=26
A new barrel in 7x57 for the small ring Mauser is available from Midway for $88. This is a 21" Green Mountain barrel, in the white, with the chamber cut .050 short so that one can rent a reamer and headspace gauges and finish it easily. It is available here:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/641107/green-mountain-barrel-mauser-series-2-7x57mm-mauser-7mm-mauser-f14-contour-1-in-9-1-2-twist-21-chrome-moly-in-the-white
While it might not be the sharpest rifle in the world these old warhorses are fine things to learn on. I think this would be a great "first rebarrel project" as you are not risking something real valuable is some sort of mistake should be made. Once you get this together,headspaced and working well, then you can go get a Mauser 98 and put a 25-06 barrel on it like one that I have, and see what "flat shooting" at 3000fps is all about. These old Mausers are fine examples of the gun builders art.
NP
Kinda agreeing with Miles and Anon #1 here...
https://www.samcoglobal.com/1-1916.html
I suggest that this would be cheaper and 308 is more common ammo, and performs much better. Although these can have problems they are better. I have a couple squirreled away for emergencies.
I have a sporterized M48 yugoslavian mauser but I had a reputable gunsmith do all the work including a .308 barrel new Bell&Carlson stock. I had it drilled and tapped for a scope but he had to bend the bolt handle and put a different safety on it. In other words it can be a money pit. Used barrels are a no no because altho the rifling maybe ok but the throat of the barrel shoots out first. Tell the lad to mark this gun off and save his money for a new rifle and start out fresh. The money he will spend he could buy a new rifle. Don't get me wrong I love my mauser but I would never do another one. Just my advice.
Mike;
You can probably get your local gunsmith to throw a takeoff on it and set the headspace much easier then sending it off.. keeps the money local too.
According to Kuhnhausen it could be either Lowe or DWM mfgand was standard in 7x57.
The threads should be: .980"Dia x .645"L 12TPI, 55 deg Whitworth
Midway has this one in stock for $88.00 now
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/641107/green-mountain-barrel-mauser-series-2-7x57mm-mauser-7mm-mauser-f14-contour-1-in-9-1-2-twist-21-chrome-moly-in-the-white
I second the notion of replacing rather than repairing. You will come out cheaper in the end.
DD
I think I would hang it on a wall and buy a Savage Axis or model 10/110. Does your Gunsmith think it will be safe to shoot when the barrel and firing pin are replaced? Is there any pitting on the underside of the receiver ring? Buying a surplus barrel is a shot in the dark like you said. I think it is silly to put 200- 300 dollars into it. Then after that will it really be safe to shoot?
The Germans made good steel but the thing is 100 years old and after hardening they used to draw temper the steel by sight back then. It is not worth the risk in my opinion.
Must agree, I think he will sink more money into this - and still not know how safe his face is each time he touches off a round - than he would just buying a decent Mosin and ammo. If he had a K98, I might think differently but not with this one. In addition, no matter how much 7x57 he has on hand, that caliber is nowhere near as easy to come by in most markets. I would encourage him to realize that there may come a point when his rifle is what stands between him and death. That is not the moment to realize that he should have invested in a better rifle.
posted a link to this on the Scout Rifle yahoo groups page...many of those guys really know what to do with an old rifle. let's hope this goes well.
This sounds like a GREAT project. Head on over to www.scoutrifle.org and ask some questions if needed, We all talk about Scouts there.
Leopold now has a scout rifle scope that has variable magnification from 1.5 to 4 power. This is an excellent scope for any rifle in the scout configuration. I agree with Miles, who said fixing up that rifle would be putting good money after bad. I do think he would be better off to just trade that rifle toward a better 7x57 Mauser. Those are pretty cheap at gun shows in pretty good condition.
In post 4 I suggested that this rifle could be easily checked for headspace problems, and could easily be rebarreled. This would be a fun job for a first time barrel project for a young man who wanted to learn.
Sadly most posters have suggested that the rifle be abandoned or thrown away.
I hate to see any gun discarded just because it is old. These were fine rifles in their day and with proper checking and barrel work can be just as fine as it ever was, if everything else is proven to be safe by examination/testing.
The Mauser action is the finest bolt action ever designed, and has been copied by many others for that reason. Any competent gunsmith could tell you if this rifle is safe to shoot, or what needs to be done to make it so. I have many fine guns that have lots of years on them, I would never part with any of them......just because they are OLD!
NP
Hello all. I am seeking a bit of advice from a Mauser fanatic. My grandfather has passed on and given me what he believes to be a 1895 Spanish Mauser cavalry carbine (.308 or 7.62mm). Its a bolt action and has a capacity of 5 rounds magazine that is built in. The front flip sight only goes up to 14 not 20 that I have seen on pictures from Google. It has no saddle sling ring or whatever it is called. It only has the sling mount on the left side and up around the front sight. It is a relatively short rifle I must add. Does anyone cares concur with my grandfathers assessment on what this rifle that I have described or does someone else have a different idea? Kind regards, Simon.
I bought a 7mm 1916 Spanish mauser for $125. The wifey and I headed down to the gun range. Neither of us could get a bullet on paper at 50 yards, and my wife's a better shot than me. Barrel was totally shot out. A bullet fit completely in the muzzle. But it was a really good looking rifle. All the metal had been parkerized, the stock looked great, so I figuratively bit the bullet.
I bought a short chambered 7mm mauser sporter barrel from Midway that was 1/2 inch shorter than the military barrel. I asked a machinist friend of mine to turn the outside of the barrel down so that it matched the dimensions of the original. It fit the stock perfectly.
I read everything I could find about chamber reamers and head space measurement, bought the reamer and go gage from Brownells, and ever so gently, nailed the headspace.
I transferred the front and rear sight onto the new barrel, drilling pilot holes to keep them centered then soldered them in place with a propane torch.
The final insult was to paint the receiver and barrel with flat black high temp BBQ paint from a can. It matched the parkerized parts beautifully.
So when I was done, I had a good looking 100 year old rifle with a brand new barrel that shoots great. And I defy anyone to tell it's not original.
What's my point? Was I stupid to spend more than $300 to fix a $125 rifle? Or was it worth it to bring a hundred year old rifle back from the dead and have something unique that I built with my own two hands. Your choice.
Should have mounted a scope on it. Will be a great machine then.
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