A commenter on the Mauser post below, sheds some light.
Standard chambering for Argentine Mauser was 7.65x53.
I don't doubt that a bit. When I acquired that old Mauser in the mid-80s there was no internet, and information was limited. It was sold to me as an Argentine, but the barrel was marked 7mm Mauser, so that's what I shot in it. Remington green box as I remember.
It cocked on closing, which makes it a 93? My ignorance on Mauser models is here on complete display.
The question becomes: Will the Mauser I have now shoot well enough to pass along? I won't know that until I've gone through it, acquired some better glass, and bought some ammunition. Luckily, good ammo is available from Lapua and Norma, so that shouldn't be an issue. Right now, it's a project rifle and I'll tinker with it as a the muse strikes me.
I haven't had a project rifle since 2011. I'll enjoy the exploration.
3 comments:
An Argentine Mauser that cocks on closing would have to be a '91 Mauser, which would have had a single stack magazine protruding below the stock. The later 1909 Argentine was a '98 Mauser action, would have cocked on opening.
I checked the specs. Given that machining then wasn't as precise as it is now, and given the wear in the chamber from being fired a whole lot, AND given a rifle magazine with a bit of extra space in it, then a 7x57 WILL chamber in a 7.65x53 Argentine. It won't shoot for beans, but it will go bang. Mostly.
It's going to be a tight fit, as the max case length of the 7x57 is 3.2mm longer than the chamber length of the 7.5x53. But that chamber is 8.8mm across, and the neck of the 7x57 is 8.25. so plenty of side room. And most new brass is minimal length anyway. So you could probably force it. At most you'll be putting a helluva lot of crimp pressure on the bullet. But OTOH, that's it; that's all the pressure on the bullet, as the 7mm bullet is going to bounce down the bore, barely touching the lands. (the 7.65 actually specs to use a 7.94mm bullet, so it's really an 8mm. Or a 30 caliber, as this is the same .312/.313" that the .303 British uses. So you might see a few ripped case mouths, but it's not going to blow up on you: the force of a LR primer is enough to push a jacketed bullet about 4" down the barrel, even without gunpowder.
I bet you had pretty inconsistent ignition, and couldn't hit a door sized target at 50 yards.
And there's no guarantee somebody didn't stick an actual 7x57 barrel on there at some point. Chamber castings are your friend! (assuming you don't own Go/No Go gauges for that cartridge. )
Cock on closing also indicates a small ring 98. All 93s were small ring IIRC, and all of them did cock on close. All this really means is that you shouldn't load +P+ ammo, just to play it safe. OTOH, a good pre-war or early war 98 large ring was an exceptionally well made rifle, easily capable of pressures a good bit higher than the military 8x57
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