Help with 1891 Argentine ID

[Tripplebeards]

My dad was positive this was his rifle he bought as a kid and sporterized. We saw it at the LGS around 88’ or so. I traded two of my guns and $40 for it back In the day. A h&r 410 and a single shot lever action 22lr ithica.

My pops had a Williams peep sight drilled and tapped onto it after I bought it for him. If I remember the front ramp sight was already on it.

The numbers all match. I think I have the rear adjustable sight put up somewhere. I called pops and he says they’re not at his house so I’m going to do some digging. I would like to restore it to original issue. My question is the barrel is 23.6” or so. Is that the correct length or has it been cut down? I can fill in the screw holes and cold blue over them on the barrel and receiver. If the barrel hasn’t been cut down I’ll give it ago. Looks like I’ll need s stock set and barrel clamps. Is this a Carbine model? And if so what dose it look like assembled and are parts expensive and hard to find?

[Tripplebeards]

Well, I just dug through all my stuff and no rear sight. I figure it still could be in my dads stuff. He’s always fast to say no...and never look. I’ll have to check his bottom gun cabinet drawer that always has a little pile of who knows what.

[30calflash]

I have one very similar in layout, D&T'd for the williams peep, replacement hunting front sight. Bolt handle has been turned down, the numbers have been stretched widerfrom the alteration. I believe the collar/ sight base from the original rear sight is gone on mine. Also, mine has an original stock that has been altered to a sporter configuration.

23.6" barrel has been cut, rifles were 29"? long and carbines close to 18". With the work done including not easy to find parts missing it would be an costly restoration, you could probably find a legit one for a lot less money.

[Tripplebeards]

I figured it’s been cut as well but it’s weird that the front of the barrel has been turned down to accept something to slip over it that’s what confused me...it’s like it was that way from factory?

If it has been cut down I won’t be wasting my time doing anything with it.

[Uncle Grinch]

I put a cut rifle together last year and made a “short rifle” out of it. It didn’t look bad and to the “uneducated”, it looked authentic. I sold it with full disclosure to a gunsmith friend of mine.

While I don’t agree with sporterizing an authentic milsurp, you can bring one back to life as long as you are upfront on what was done to it. Good luck with your project!

[30calflash]

I put a cut rifle together last year and made a “short rifle” out of it. It didn’t look bad and to the “uneducated”, it looked authentic. I sold it with full disclosure to a gunsmith friend of mine.

While I don’t agree with sporterizing an authentic milsurp, you can bring one back to life as long as you are upfront on what was done to it. Good luck with your project!

I've seen a few nicely done cut down and restocked with original wood that were pretty neat. The 'look' is there but it's a handier package to take afield.

[Texas by God]

You can’t restamp the crest, so enjoy it as a sporter. All I would add is a recoil pad. And a scout scope since it’s set up. I’ve always wanted a 91 but never matched cash to availability.

[Earlwb]

For a moment there I thought it was my old 7.56 Argentine Mauser. Except yours had a Williams rear sight and mine had a Lyman rear sight. My brother in law lost the rear sight small peep hole insert though. Plus they weren't making a Picatinny rail for mine at the time I owned it. Anyway they are nice deer rifles. Nothing wrong with the caliber other than it is harder to find ammo for it.

[lefty o]

the vast majority of argentine 1891's do not have a crest as they were scrubbed prior to being surplussed. that is probably the one thing with that rifle that is not a detractor to returning it to original configuration. most original arg 1891's seem to run around $300-400, therefore being yours has been cut both barrel and stock altered, and holes drilled in it, id enjoy it as it is.

[Tripplebeards]

The only question I have is why is the last inch of the barrel tapered like it was cut down for something to slide over it?

[afish4570]

[QUOTE=Earlwb;4609004]For a moment there I thought it was my old 7.56 Argentine Mauser. Except yours had a Williams rear sight and mine had a Lyman rear sight. My brother in law lost the rear sight small peep hole insert though. Plus they weren't making a Picatinny rail for mine at the time I owned it. Anyway they are nice deer rifles. Nothing wrong with the caliber other than it is harder to find ammo for it.[/QUOTE

Occassionally you might want to anneal neck and alittle of the shoulder. Mine shoots great with the Lee 185 gr.bullet and 311284. Powder I use is 2400 16 grs. afish 4570

[EDG]

The original el cheapo conversion of thousands of those rifles used the original banded front sight transplanted from the original muzzle. The new muzzles were turned in a lathe to accept the old front sight band. I have two set up that way. Yours was changed to make it look better. The original sight looked really ugly mounted on the far end of the barrel. They were also too low for normal hunting use so the bubba conversion factory filed down the top of the leaf of the original rear sight.

The only question I have is why is the last inch of the barrel tapered like it was cut down for something to slide over it?

[Tripplebeards]

The original el cheapo conversion of thousands of those rifles used the original banded front sight transplanted from the original muzzle. The new muzzles were turned in a lathe to accept the old front sight band. I have two set up that way. Yours was changed to make it look better. The original sight looked really ugly mounted on the far end of the barrel. They were also too low for normal hunting use so the bubba conversion factory filed down the top of the leaf of the original rear sight.

That’s the information I was looking for. So it’s been cobbled twice.lol I will leave it the way it is then. The stock has a crack by the receiver so I will need to eventually find another sporter stock or Acuraglass the crack some day. It hasn’t been shot since I drilled the doe with it in 1989.

[Tripplebeards]

My dad stopped over today. He said there was a front factory sight pinnned or screwed into the front taper hole on the barrel and it wasn’t cut down. I did google 1891 Argentine maulers and found some with with 23.6” barrels all original. He said he remembered both the front site and the rear site he put in a box somewhere, he’s gonna look again but I’m sure they’re long gone

[Uncle Grinch]

[QUOTE=afish4570;4609086]

For a moment there I thought it was my old 7.56 Argentine Mauser. Except yours had a Williams rear sight and mine had a Lyman rear sight. My brother in law lost the rear sight small peep hole insert though. Plus they weren't making a Picatinny rail for mine at the time I owned it. Anyway they are nice deer rifles. Nothing wrong with the caliber other than it is harder to find ammo for it.[/QUOTE

Occassionally you might want to anneal neck and alittle of the shoulder. Mine shoots great with the Lee 185 gr.bullet and 311284. Powder I use is 2400 16 grs. afish 4570

If any of you 7.65 Argentine fans are looking for brass, I’ve got some reformed 30-06 to 7.65 Arg for sale in the classified section.

[Binky]

Your Dad probably spent (probably, depending on when he bought it) between 15 and 25 dollars for the rifle when he purchased it. Another 40 or 50 bucks to make it into a nice , shootable, sporter.(1960s prices, when I built mine) (the scope mount came later) You spent some cash and trade value to get it back. So whatever you have in it is its current value. If you try to make it into a full fledged milsurp again you are going to spend way more cash in parts and labor getting it back to what you want than you could get a correct rifle or carbine for. And you will still have a 200-250 dollar gun with no collector value The time and love your Dad put into the gun would be worth way more to me than buying the parts to change it back as far as you can go(which will be way short or a correct, not original, 1891.) Love it for what it is and not for what it was. (a 19.95 clunker in a barrel at the local Sear, Wards, gun shop, hardware store or filling station) As a shooter the ammo is easy to find and inexpensive (PPU) cases are available, again PPU, or easy to make. The caliber is as good or better than many of the current hot item calibers and is able to handle anything you are likely to hunt in North America. Most will shoot cast well and jacketed bullets are easy to come by. In the end, it is your gun and your money and I am just an old guy on the interweb who owns 4 or 5 of these things, from orginal to basket case rebarreled. because I like them.

[Tripplebeards]

Yeah I saw one for sale For 475 complete from an actual company today