1895 chilean mauser

[halfthrottle]

I have run across a 1895 chilian mauser sporterized 7x57 to 7.72 x51 nato-.308.
Looks good for its age, then I read there is a warning on this rifle not to use .308 winchester ammo, too high of pressure for the action. For $200.00 would it make a good cast bullet shooter or add a few more $ and get a newer .308 that can shoot
both regualr .308 and cast ammo? Being sporterized I dont think it has much collector value.
Has anyone had any experince with this rifle shooting nato ammo or low pressure loads under 50,000 psi. ?

Read More

 

[gimpyhunter]

A friend just gave me a 1895 from Berlin for Chile in 7x57. It's been modified with a new and nice looking stock. No sights. 23-4 in barrel. I'm trying to decide if I want to spend the money to have some type of scope mounts added. This caliber is of interest because my old shoulders have had surgeries and don't like the pounding of my 7mm mag. From my reading, this round seems to be an easy shooting round with good accuracy for as far as I will be shooting.

What do others think about this round for an old guy?

 

[mjbskwim]

I would guess if you loaded the 308 down a bit there shouldn't be any problems.Find out what the powder loading for the 7X57 was and start there.

 

[gimpyhunter]

Not really answering my question. I'm talking about using it with the standard 7x57 ammo. How well does it shoot up to 200 yards and how easy is it on my shoulder? The only 7mm I've shot is my 700 in 7mm mag and I don't shoot it anymore because it's hard on my shoulder.

 

[MountainBear]

I would likely not choose to shoot this rifle sporterized to .308 or 7.62x51. The small ring Mauser action was never designed to take the kind of pressure on a constant basis that modern calibers put it through. I have built and shot small rings in 6.5x55, 7x57, and .300 Savage, as all work on lower pressures.

I am certainly not saying that the gun will blow up in your face, but similar to low-number Springfield rifles, there's always a possibility. There is no third safety lug on the small ring Mausers like the one on the large ring, increasing risk if there is a catastrophic failure.

The guns can be made into nice sporters. Ludwig Lowe Berlin made nice guns, with fairly good finish and machining for the time. I would not hesitate to make one into a lightweight sporter, but would probably stick with a lower pressure cartridge.

 

[gimpyhunter]

MountainBear,

Thank you. That is what I was asking. I am not interested in changing the bullet/caliber. I was just asking about this rifle in 7x57. I take it from your post that it is a good round and I might want to keep the rifle for my own use instead of unloading it. After all the work that has already been done to it. About the only thing I'll need to do is have scope mounts installed.

Again, thank you for answering my specific question.

 

[taylor]

I have a beautiful one and I like the cartridge, 7mm is a great flat shooting round. A lot of them don't have original bolts and if so get the headspace checked

 

[Goosebrown]

Nice article on 7mm here.

http://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/7x57.html

Pressure of 7 mm is 56,000 and 308 is 60,000.

I believe most of these were produced in Germany and their steel at the time was brilliant. I would trust these rifles with handloads if you work up to them and look for signs of pressure as you go.

The early 1903s were heat treated wrong and the problem was well known very quickly. I have never heard of similar problems with Mausers.

FWIW, the most famous Ivory hunter in history (before the invention of the AK47 and poachers...) was W. D. M. Bell who shot 1011 elephants in his career and of those, killed 800 with 7x57 Mauser (technically 275 Rigby, the English designation).

http://www.chuckhawks.com/bell_elephants.htm

 

[MountainBear]

Enjoy it, love it, shoot the hello out of it. 7x57 is a great round. I almost bought one of these actions myself last month, but figured I already had 9 or 10 mausers and couldn't really justify another one.