My 7.65 Arg Mauser project update

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Creek Henry

New member
In 1970 my father bought a 7.65 Mauser Argentine for $20. He meant it for deer but just was not a hunter. Over the years I found some expensive ammo for it and shot some targets with it. But with no way to scope easily, i put it in my safe and forgot about it... Until 2 years ago. I found a place online to get an adapter so it could shoot 32 acp and HR mag rounds. Well, both shot well enough for it to be a decent rabbit gun but was sloooow to reload. So, i got some brass online and .311 90 grain pills and reloaded them with 8.5 gr Clays powder.

Ugh... At 25 yards i could barely stay on a target. Instead of giving up, I got some 100gr pre lubed .313 rounds. I seated them shallower in case the issue was also bullet jump causing the pills to hit the lands off center. I also guessed the 311 were too narrow and were just rattling down the barrel.

I finally got to shoot a few today and they are dead on at 100 yards. The gun sounds like a beefy 22 rifle so not too loud. Suucess at last.

Rabbits beware. We have some huge jacks in Texas so 3x more thump than a .22 will be nice.
 
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us920669

New member
Sounds like you have everything under control - congratulations.
I ended up with one of those that had been sporterized and put into 30-06, a bad idea since the bullet is undersize and the cartridge develops excessive pressure. Of course, the one problem tends to cancel out the other one, but it's still a very poor situation. I got some .311 bullets, I think 170 gr, and loaded then up a bit mild for '06. Accuracy was great but I realized I created a dangerous monster with those carts, still marked 30-06, so I tore them down, and also the rifle, and put together a 7X57 for my wife. The Argentine Mauser has a crest I really like so I made it a scout scope arrangement. The 7 m/m barrel fit the stepped Argentine sporter stock, but then I blundered into a drop-dead snazzy Mauser stock with crotch-feather that someone thought they had screwed up. They sort of had but you can't see it if you don't know where to look, so ... life is good.
 
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Creek Henry

New member
Interesting. I thought about rebarrelling it but that got away from my not pouring money into a $20 gun :)

But, you have to admit, there is something about that action... Simple and so solid. It is good we found ways to keep these old guns in service. They make for fun projects.
 
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us920669

New member
I bought mine for the action, absolutely. I forget the name but the importer had them sporterized in Argentina with a new stock, not Walnut, and the chamber ream job. If yours is still the original military configuration you wouldn't want to change it.
 
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T. O'Heir

New member
Have load data from my old Lyman manual if you want it. 150 jacketed to 214 grain cast.
90 and 100 grain bullets sound like pistol bullets.
 
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Sure Shot Mc Gee

New member
I bought one of those rifles from our old bachelor neighbor. He bought it surplus new from Klein's Sporting Goods in Chicago for $20.00 shipped to his door. Just a couple of farmers guys always do'in some kind business together we two were. Cup of coffee some cash put down on the kitchen table a handshake to seal the deal~~done. 17.00 and a half box of steel jacketed SP Norma 150s thrown in. (Wow!! A Package Deal.) My very first ownership of a Good shoot'in deer rifle. Shot allot of deer with mine. Day time night time all the time. 16 yrs old wild woolly and waiting to be Drafted for Vietnam. Oh my them were the days to be a teenager.
As I recall my 7.65 X 53 had a unique muzzle blast. Different than any other rifle back then in the woods. A sharp crack like lighting when it touches close by. Not a boom in any form. I guess its been said that the 7.65 had near the same ballistics as a 270 Winchester. It appearing to me it did have a tight twist down its bore. Whom ever filed its rear sight V notch on mine surely was gifted. Spot on center quarter size groupings always seen.
 
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William T. Watts

New member
7.65 Arg Mauser

These actions are very soft and even if rebarreled could develop head space very quickly if modern ammunition is used, these action are suitable for hand loaded low to mid range powder charges only. I rebarreled one of the Argentine mausers prefix A (the first lot sent sent to Argentina) which developed head space with no more than 40 rounds, looks pretty but strictly a wall hanger now. If the serial prefix is an A or a B these are the early rifles sent to Argentina I wouldn't touch them, many of these rifles already have a head space problem plus very soft steel and may not have been heat treated properly. I would look elsewhere and leave these alone, every time I look at my Argentine rifle I stocked and rebarreled it almost makes me sick!! William
 
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us920669

New member
Very interesting. Mine's a B and I still recall my gunsmith's apprehension when I mentioned a rebarrel, and his hearty approval of 7 X 57. I don't push them too hard either.
 
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oldscot3

New member
It's not clear to me which 7.65 Argentine mauser we're talking about. Model 1891 or model 1909? It should go without saying the old 91s (which were an export version of the 1889) weren't as strong as the later '09s. I've never heard about an '09 being "soft" though. The '09 is a very fine variant of the big ring 98s and a long time favorite for sporter builds. Back in the day the Norma factory loads were, shall we say, very peppy. I still have a small stash, and while I usually shoot my handloads, I don't worry for a moment about using them in my '09.
 
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Creek Henry

New member
I will try to post a pic of it.

Yes, I am using 32 revolver bullets. This is a recipe I found for a 308 using either carbine or some kind of light 7.62 bullet. It works well enough and my 11yo son can shoot it just fine.
 
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James K

Member In Memoriam
If, as Mr. Watts says, 1909 DWM rifles have soft receivers, does anyone know why other DWM-made Model 1898 rifles are not included? They sold a whole lot of them world wide and they usually have good reputations. The rifles made in Argentina were made in factories set up by the Germans and run under German supervision, so I would not expect them to be so far out of spec either.

Jim
 
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us920669

New member
I may have confused matters with my post #2. I was talking about an 09, a full fledged large ring German made M98. They do turn up in some whomping big cartridges, and my old gunsmith seemed to feel that was unwise. I am of the opinion that any WW I era Mauser action is not as strong as a modern one, such as the kind of commercial actions made in Belgium and elsewhere after WW II, including the Serbian Interarms. It's just a question of the available alloys.
 
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William T. Watts

New member
My rifle was a 1909 Mauser ( It was a variant of the German model 98) I read somewhere while I was in Gunsmithing school in Colorado some of the early Argentine 1909 receivers were soft. I rebarreled my rifle and chambered it to 338/06, I may still have a few rounds loaded somewhere in my shop, as I recall the powder I used was IMR 4064. As I recall I don't think I put 40 rounds thru it before I found headspace had lengthened.. William
 
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Creek Henry

New member
91

It appears to be a 1891 model as it looks lile this

1891-argentina-intero-copia.jpg
 
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William T. Watts

New member
Looks nothing like my rifle, additionally my floor plate fit flush to the stock, obviously this rifle is an earlier version.. I might add this rifle looks to have fired a rimmed cartridge also, I make that assumption based on the slant of the magazine well.. William
 
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William T. Watts

New member
Another point I should mention my rifles serial # was A 3462, this rifle was in the first lot of rifles Argentina received from Germany.. It's not unusual for the first lot of anything manufactured to have flaws, in this case the receivers were soft. This wasn't a big secret plus it wasn't unusual for these rifles after proof firings to have the head space lengthen enough to close on a max gauge when checked.. William
 
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F. Guffey

New member
My 7.65 Arg Mauser project update
Click to expand...

I have an Argentine 91 that was manufactured in 1913. The smith I got it from said it was a 308 W. I corrected him and said it was a 7.65 BM. Before I took it to the range I checked the chamber. It is a 308 W and the barrel came from a M1917. I contacted him to let him know I was wrong and the rifle was in fact a 308 W.

He said when hunters showed up to hunt without a rifle he used that one as a loaner. This rifle is unlike any other rifle I have ever seen before. When it comes to shooting I have a choice, I do not like the ideal of shooting a rifle without a third lug and I do not like the absence of gas handling characteristics of the older Mausers.

When it comes to loading for the Argentine 7.65mm53 BM I use a forming die. Cases can not cost me more than .10¢ each + time.

F. Guffey
 
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