Spanish Mauser 1916 .308 what should I do with it?

I've had this old rifle since I was 20. The stock has been some what sporterized due to bad wood from it's long storage and has some heavy exterior pitting in a spot or two but doesn't effect its function just it's looks. It is one of those rechambered it .308 and is a fairly good shooter as it has a bright shiny bore with good looking lands. It has all matching serials except the thumb safety shroud.

I've thought about rebarreling it to .243 and put it in a new stock. What would y'all do with it? Change it , sell/ trade for a .243 or do the rebarrel restock it?

A few pics of the ole girl...

I am a 243 fan,,,,, but I would never swap to a 243 barrel over the 308. Ballistically just don't make since. If I did anything to it,,,,,, I might would find a good sporter stock. Or add a scout scope.

But honestly, I think it's a nice piece as it is.

Man I would shoot it.
Dad says he is going to give me his in full form...but I like the looks of that!
I have a MAS 36 that has been sporterized and I really like it....except the 2 stage drag a brick trigger.
Your gun looks spankin. I agree, a scout or red dot....or nothing would be fine.
cw

.308

The rifle looks like one of the Spanish 7X57 Mausers that was re-chambered to .308 when they went NATO. There are a lot of warnings about not shooting them due to the big difference in chamber pressure between the 7X57 and the 308. I have had them in both calibers and shot them without any problems. If I was going to rebarrel the gun, I would go back to the 7X57 which is an excellent cartridge and easy to shoot. There are still bunches of surplus 7X57 barrels out there that are relative cheap to buy. Just my 2 cents worth.

You want to leave that gun as is and bury it deep if the time comes.

If I am not mistaken, the M1916 is built on the old M93 action instead of the newer, more popular M98. When rebarreled for the rebuild, it was actually chambered for the 7.62 CETME - which has the same dimensions as the 7.62x51mm NATO but operated at a lower pressure. These rifles were not made for the .308 Win and I would hesitate shooting any commercial loads through them, just in case.... For that reason, I wouldn't recommend a .243 rebarrel (but the 7x57mm is a great idea, as long as it is kept to M93 levels).

Any plan on selling it? Let me know.

Go and Google the Spanish Mausers and you will find plenty of information regarding their safety in respects to the 308Win. It may be safe to shoot or it may not. If it is built on a small ring, then it would likely not be safe to shoot often with 308Win factory rounds.

If you handload you can load down to safe levels.

Having had this gun 20+ years I've read prolly 90+% of all the comments about whether it is safe to shoot or not with .308Win loads. This article here covers it pretty well, http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting/spanishinquisition/index.asp

I've shot many factory loads as well as hand loads, taking care to monitor the cases and have never seen any issues. Thanks for pointing that out as some may not be aware that it COULD be an issue although I've never read of any actually occurring. If you know of any please point them out to me.

Now I guess some back ground would help. I already have a Savage/Stevens .308 that I hunt with. I've been wanting a .243 as a varmint rifle and thought this might make a good donor action since the bolt can still be used, a barrel, Timminey trigger and new stock can be found fairly inexpensively. I'm not apposed to keeping it as it is with a new trigger and stock and maybe add a scout scope or grind down the receiver hump and drill/ tap for normal scope mounts.

These Mausers can still be found on the gun listing sights for about $200-$300 depending on condition of course. If I sold this one what price point or trade value would you put on it?

Here's one with the full stock and a scout scope on Gunbroker...
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=118215726



Now with that frame of mind what would you do?

Send it to me and let me test fire it for you.

Just a follow up for all of you who have read, like me, that these rifles having questionable strength in handling full loads. Here's what I feel is the final word on the issue...

http://www.theothersideofkim.com/index.php/ggps/5637/

"Spanish “Guardia Civil” Mauser M1916 (.308 Win)
May 29, 2003
9:00 PM CST

This GGP is dedicated to Rick Lucas, with my apologies.

Shortly after WWII, the arms factory at Oviedo converted a number of the elderly 1916 Mausers from 7x57mm to .308 Win, for use by the Spanish Civil Guard, and fine-looking rifles they are too:

image

I read somewhere that these rifles were to be treated with circumspection, because the metal of the breech and receiver might not have been able to handle the added pressure of the more-powerful .308 Win cartridge, and I’ve mentioned that little snippet on a couple of occasions on this site.

Well, apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought this, because a bunch of Guardia Mausers were sent to H.P. White, a testing company, and tested to destruction. The SAAMI maximum of 55,000 psi (lbs/sq.in.) for the .308 Win was exceeded—and the rifles were finally destroyed at 98,000 psi!

In other words, I was talking total nonsense, and these rifles are perfectly capable of handling the .308 Win cartridge. My sincerest apologies to all, and to the Guardia Civil Mausers too.

The M1916 is based on the M1893, with a shorter barrel (21") than the older model. Possibly because of the rumors of their weakness, they are selling way below what they are really worth. The typical price is around $130 - $150, which is a steal. So if you see one and need a rifle in the wonderful .308 Win caliber, grab it.

(And everyone should have at least one .308 rifle—it’s possibly the greatest all-round cartridge ever made, and is certainly one of the most accurate cartridges ever made. And, as I’ve said before, everyone should own at least one Mauser, so with the Guardia Civil model, you get a twofer.)"

I think I'll just keep her as is, get a better stock , a Timminey trigger and a scout scope and put her back in the safe.

I don't know if anyone ever found out what happened with this FR7 (M1916 action):

http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?t=20039&highlight=M1916

njanear said:

If I am not mistaken, the M1916 is built on the old M93 action instead of the newer, more popular M98. When rebarreled for the rebuild, it was actually chambered for the 7.62 CETME - which has the same dimensions as the 7.62x51mm NATO but operated at a lower pressure. These rifles were not made for the .308 Win and I would hesitate shooting any commercial loads through them, just in case.... For that reason, I wouldn't recommend a .243 rebarrel (but the 7x57mm is a great idea, as long as it is kept to M93 levels).

Click to expand...

Just to clarify, the 7.62 CETME is not the same as the NATO. The dimensions are quite different. Although the 308w is a higher pressure round, the rifles have been tested time and again by multiple companies. Every test found that the rifles didn't "blow up" until the pressures hit in the area of 98,000 psi. That being said, use caution with the rifle. If it starts developing excessive head space STOP SHOOTING IT.

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just like carcanos,fall apart if you shoot them,Bul***t

Seems a reoccurring question huh ? LOL

I second the reply of SmokyMtnSmoke the spanish mauser 1916 action, particulary the one converted to 7.62 assigned to the guardia civil are fine action, as good as the german 98, they handle the .308 cartridge without any problem, I agree the .308 cetme operate at few towsand psi less than the .308 nato but do you think that the army would approve a conversion if only few towsand cup or psi of extra pressure would risk to blow up the action?
SmokyMtnSmoke is right when He state that when this action was tested to destruction they resist up to above 90000 psi. before blowing up.
I have one of this baby, is my only rifle still in military configuration, I only added a peep sight, since the previous owner dammage the original rear sight. I did fire some commercial round on it the rest are my own reloads.

I had two of them ! Both rifles shot high and about six inches to the left . Both had beautiful bores but I did not like them not being accurate ! An inch or so would have been ok . I got rid of them !

EMC-GUN said:

Any plan on selling it? Let me know.

Click to expand...

How about this one?

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=454938