1909 Mauser Peru

[giz189]

Hey guys, I also have a 1909 Peru Mauser that I don't know anything about. Such as original caliber, as this one has beeb rechambered to .30-06 and the bullets fairly rattle down the barrel. I am guessing it was originally 8 mm. It looks as though it might only have two groves but I haven't been able to slug the bore yet as I don"t have a mould to make a lead slug yet. I was wondering, if it was originally 8mm and when I mike the inside of the barrel at the muzzle end, I get around .318. I know this is not as good as a slug, but is the only way I have to reference it right now. It looks good down the barrel, no rust or pits and good rifling. I wondered if I might not mould up some cast boolits of the proper barrel diameter and expand the '06 neck up to that size. What say ye?

[StarMetal]

A popular rechamber back in the old days for an 8mm Mauser was to rechamber it out to 8mm-06. That is a 30-06 just necked up to 8mm. Slug your bore make sure it's 8mm. Then take a 30-06 case and fireform it to the chamber and see if that is what it is, an 8mm-06. If it is, there's nothing wrong with it if the bore is decent. You'll just have alittle bigger case 8mm. The gunrags say that it's not really an improvement over a 8x57 Mauser.

Joe

[Leftoverdj]

Peru used the 7.65x53. Groove diameter varied, but should be in the neighborhood of .313. A muzzle measurement as big as .318 suggests cleaning rod damage. Slug it from the breech end and you will find out both actual groove dimension and whether the last inch of bore is damaged.

Those are fine rifles and well worth some effort. The rechamber wrecked the collector value so I would not hesitate to shorten the barrel 2" if there is muzzle wear. The .30-06 rechamber may or may not have enough room in the neck area to take .314 cast bullets, but it will almost certainly take .311 jacketed and should be accurate with them.

Sears butchered thousands of 7.65x53s like this, and you could once pick them up for peanuts when the buyers found out how badly they shot with .30-06 ammo. A couple passed through my hands and they shot very well when loaded with .311-.312 jacketed.

[jethrow strait]

Levtoverdj, I've got a couple of them 1909 Peruvians, one's about like yours and one's made into a beauuutiful 7mm Mauser sporter. I really enjoyed your comment on Sears' sales. Got any more details on and approx dates they flowed into us, and how they was buggered? I know custom sporterizers loved the action cause it was shorter(only 1/4", but much was made of it).

My buggered one has the chamber reamed out to '06 on the long original 7.65X53 barrel. Happily, the bore is in great shape, running a consistant .312" in the grooves. Dont shoot very well with any '06 ammo, but the chamber is loose enough that it will chamber 30-06 cases with fat 30 cast or j... boolits. It's a great shooter in "31-06", especially since I put a Foolproof Receiver sight on it. Didn't want to cover up that dazzling front receiver ring in the white with the Peruvian Crest and MAUSER ORIGINAL across the top with a scope. Suppose I'll rebarrel it eventually, but right now I just drag it out with my 7.65 Argies, as something a bit different. -------jethrow

[jethrow strait]

Sorry giz189, I'm still in my Sunday mornin fog! Got it right now. Yer the one with the rifle and lodj's got the data! Apologies to you both.-----jethrow

[Depreacher]

Giz, Don't you dare shoot that rifle. Everyone knows they were made from pot metal and used washing machine parts. I will be in Magnolia in a few days to take and dispose of it in a safe manner. What I will go through to help my friends still amazes even me. cbp

[Leftoverdj]

Jethrow, best I recall, Sears was selling the rechambered Mausers in the late 60's, early 70's. The one's I saw were Argentine, but I suspect that they used what they could get. At the time the dominant milsurp outfit was Interarms, under various names, and my guess is that they did the actual work.

My memory is that they offered two models. The cheaper at about $50 was straight military, but rechambered to .30-06. The "Sporter" model was $20-$30 higher and was straight bubba. Rechambered to .30-06, stock chopped, and I think they drilled and tapped and did a crude bolt bending job. Sears had a long milsurp history and they could circumvent GCA '68 by selling from the catalog, but through their outlets. I was doing more watching than buying in those days, but I believe that in most places you could order by mail and do the paperwork and pickup at catalog outlets in most any small town.