Mauser Question

[richhodg66]

What exactly are the differences between the common Mausers, '92, '95, '98, etc? A couple of days ago, a local pawn shop had an unusual sporter, not just some hack job Bubba did. It's a Mauser, obviously, caliber 7x57. I know it's not a '98 as it cocks on closing. On the side of the receiver is;

DEUTSCHE WAFFEN-UND MUNITIONSFABRIKEN
BERLIN

It does not have the original military barrel, fairly beefy, though not a varmint weight. The stock, oddly, is a laminate and wears a Herter's buttplate. It has a low swing safety and the bolt handle is added on, not military. It is drilled and tapped for a scope and came with a Weaver K4 in decent shape. Overall, it's a pretty nice sporterizing job, and I really like the handling qualities, the stock has a rather slim and light graceful contour that is comfortable to me. The magazine follower was not ground to allow the bolt to close when the rifle is empty, which seems unusual. Most of the time, sporterized milsurps have that done it seems. There's also no thumb notch on the side of the receiver to allow use of a stripper clip, but the cut in the top of the receiver to hold a clip is there.

The bore looks perfect. I'm gonna see what 7x57 components I have around and try to shoot it tomorrow. Did Herters sell such a sporter rifle back in the day? I like the rifle a lot so far and it was cheap enough. I hope it shoots well. Anybody know what I have?

[john.k]

Extractor in bolt=91, bar extractor,flat on bolt at front=93, bar extractor,bolt round at lugs=95......DWM=made after 1896.....Doesnt really matter ,provided it has bar extractor,good chance its south american ....DWM is a much better maker than spanish arsenals.......as you say.its not a 98,so keep pressures conservative.

[richhodg66]

OK, this one is flat so guess it's a '93.

My plan is that this will be a cast only rifle and the bore is darn good. I have several 7mm molds. I think this one is gonna be fun.

[WILCO]

Congratulations! Small ring Mausers are a new interest of mine. The 7x57mm is an old work horse.
Glad to see components are still available. Would love to see a picture or two. If there's no import marks, it's been in the country for quite a few years.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

What exactly are the differences between the common Mausers, '92, '95, '98, etc? A couple of days ago, a local pawn shop had an unusual sporter, not just some hack job Bubba did. It's a Mauser, obviously, caliber 7x57. I know it's not a '98 as it cocks on closing. On the side of the receiver is;

DEUTSCHE WAFFEN-UND MUNITIONSFABRIKEN
BERLIN

It does not have the original military barrel, fairly beefy, though not a varmint weight. The stock, oddly, is a laminate and wears a Herter's buttplate. It has a low swing safety and the bolt handle is added on, not military. It is drilled and tapped for a scope and came with a Weaver K4 in decent shape. Overall, it's a pretty nice sporterizing job, and I really like the handling qualities, the stock has a rather slim and light graceful contour that is comfortable to me. The magazine follower was not ground to allow the bolt to close when the rifle is empty, which seems unusual. Most of the time, sporterized milsurps have that done it seems. There's also no thumb notch on the side of the receiver to allow use of a stripper clip, but the cut in the top of the receiver to hold a clip is there.

The bore looks perfect. I'm gonna see what 7x57 components I have around and try to shoot it tomorrow. Did Herters sell such a sporter rifle back in the day? I like the rifle a lot so far and it was cheap enough. I hope it shoots well. Anybody know what I have?

The BIG difference is that the 98 has the internal stop-ring inside the receiver ring, against which the rear of the barrel tightens. Earlier models don't have it, and the shoulder of the barrel tightens up against the front of the receiver like most other rifles. The stop-ring (and most often a little extra thickness in the receiver ring) gives the rifle much greater resistancef to bursting of the receiver ring if the case-head ruptures. It isn't as much of an advantage as it used to be in the days of dubious military brass from who knows where. A well made German 7x57 should be safe with all conventional ammunition of that chambering..

For someone with a similar 8x57 though, you should slug the bore or look for a 7.92x57J or 7.92x57S stamp, for about .318 or .323in. groove diameter respectively. The military round changed in 1903, but they continued making J bore sporting rifles for quite a while later.

[richhodg66]

No idea of import marks, they are usually on the barrel and the barrel isn't original.

I'm just puzzled. It was sporterized by someone who knew what they were doing, not some garage hacksaw job. Everything about it looks like it would be a sporterizing job from the grand age of such things, the '50s and '60s, but I never thought laminated stocks were a thing until fairly recently, and that Herter's buttplate suggests it may have been professionally sporterized and sold that way.

After some cleaning, the bore is perfect. I know I have some factory ammo, but I also have some of the RCBS 145 grainers and some of the Lee 130 grainers cast up and checked and lubed, so I'd rather find some of the brass I know I have somewhere and start with cast from the get go.

I was never inclined to hot rod a cartridge, and now that I'm past 50, I'm even less inclined to do so. I knew the '93s and '95s aren't as strong as '98s, I'd always heard the main improvement the '98 had was controlled feed. Guess Ineed to read up on Mausers some more.

I really like the weight and feel of this one, not a lightweight, but not cumbersome. I've wanted a 7x57 sporter, but the couple I've had over the years had one issue or another and went down the road. So far, this one seems like a winner if it shoots. It's not gonna win any beauty contests, but isn't the ugliest rifle I own either. Did I mention it was cheap?

If the weather will cooperate today it's gonna get shot with something after church. Haven't loaded 7x57 for quite a while, so gotta dig through some stuff and find brass. The only other one I own is a Mexican cavalry carbine which is another pretty interesting story itself, but it's purely a range toy and hence, I never got serious about loading for it.

[john.k]

Actually strength doesnt come into it,the important improvement in the 98 is the ability to handle gas escape.And in the improved bolt plug,with cock on opening and the detent plunger.All the guns you nominate have controlled round feed.....If you never push the case to the limit,gas escape will never concern you......Many owners dont like the thumb cutout on the 98,me included....yet factory sporters had the cutout.

[Texas by God]

Laminated stocks go back to WW2 and maybe beyond.
We've got to have pictures; sounds like a good score.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[kens]

i got a military 98 with laminated stock

[nekshot]

You will have fun since it is rebarreled. I really like those older and smaller mausers because they make sweet handling guns in the woods. I have no trouble keeping them to a little over 6 pounds with out scope.

[Uncle R.]

Actually strength doesnt come into it,the important improvement in the 98 is the ability to handle gas escape.And in the improved bolt plug,with cock on opening and the detent plunger.All the guns you nominate have controlled round feed.....If you never push the case to the limit,gas escape will never concern you......Many owners dont like the thumb cutout on the 98,me included....yet factory sporters had the cutout.

The larger 98 receiver rings were definitely stronger, but the most important difference is that 98s are sealed better at the breech than the earlier Mausers. The geometry of the barrel, extractor and internal ring allow the cartridge to be seated deeper into the barrel, with an absolute minimum of unsupported brass. This makes a case failure less likely in the event of a hot load or a flaw in a case.

If a case head should fail in a 98, the internal receiver shoulder not only helps prevent ring failure, but it surrounds the bolt nose and helps to seal off escaping gas. The cut through the shoulder to clear the extractor is fit tight enough to leave very little clearance for those gases. Any gases that do make it past that tight breech and into the left lug raceway are dissipated by that often-maligned thumb cutout, and finally deflected from the shooter's face and eye by the large flange on the cocking piece.

While newer designs with plunger ejectors and internal extractors (like a 700 Remington) might arguably be breeched even tighter, the 98 is probably the tightest, safest bolt action with a controlled feed claw extractor that's ever been designed.

All that notwithstanding, I too love a nice small ring sporter. They often have not only light weight but a certain gracefulness of line that's much harder to achieve in a 98. Your Mauser sporter sounds like a gem, and I confess I'm a bit envious. Keep your loads reasonable, avoid old or questionable brass, wear shooting glasses, and enjoy it long and well!


Uncle R.

[flounderman]

The thumb cot was probably welded up. Herters sold a laminated stock

[map55b]

Sound like you mike have a 1894 Brazilian contract action. The Spanish also made 93s without thumb cuts. Does it look something like this?

[Uncle Grinch]

Actually strength doesnt come into it,the important improvement in the 98 is the ability to handle gas escape.And in the improved bolt plug,with cock on opening and the detent plunger.All the guns you nominate have controlled round feed.....If you never push the case to the limit,gas escape will never concern you......Many owners dont like the thumb cutout on the 98,me included....yet factory sporters had the cutout.

John.k is spot on. The 98’s are safer primarily due to better gas handling, plus the third safety lug on the bolt.

[map55b]

If you measure the lugs on a 93-96 you will see they are quite large and offer plenty of strength. Gas handling is an issue, but many armories made improvements to deal with this. Below is what I do on all my 93-96 projects, if they do not already have the feature.







I think the bolt shroud is optional, as there are plenty of places for the gases to go before this point and if you look at a 03 Springfield it doesn't offer any more coverage and no one complains about them. It's also important to note, that cases are far better than they were back when Paul Mauser designed these things.

I think these little actions look great when done up. Here is the action above done.

[richhodg66]

Shot a box of PPU ammo through it today, 173 grain bullets, no idea what velocity. I shot most of it up getting it zeroed, but I really wasn't on my game shooting wise, just couldn't seem to get as steady as I should.

Held back the last five rounds and let my son shoot a group with that since he seems to be a better shooter than me anymore. His five shot group went between 1 1/4 and 1 1/2" at 100 yards which for cheap factory ammo is pretty good. I was plenty accurate enough with it for hunting, but he did better. As I get used to it, I still don't do as well with the two stage triggers, I'll shoot it better. I'm going to load the brass with some of the RCBS 145 grain cast I have and see how she does with that. Overall, I'm pleased with the rifle and think it's a keeper.

[Ben]

Got any photos of your new rifle ?

Ben

[richhodg66]

I'll have to take some and post them. Not a real good photo guy. It is a neat rifle. I'm going to need to refinish the stock at some point though.

[richhodg66]

I won't be able to shoot it again for a few days, but I loaded those 20 empty cases with the RCBS 145 grain silhouette bullets. My latest Lyman manual, which has data for some RCBS, Saeco and Lee designs besides the Lyman designs, gave the likely most accurate load for this bullet as 24.5 grains of IMR 3031, so that's what I loaded. I was a little surprised at that. Most calibers they seem to think 5744 is the best.

[WILCO]

Great report. Looking forward to learning more. Thanks for sharing.