1891 Argentine Mauser-new to me

[hpbear101]

Won a 1891 Argentine on an on-line auction. The butt plate, barrel band, nose cap, and magazine had some light surface rust. I scraped them all down with a piece of brass, boiled them, and re-oiled. The whole thing turned out pretty good for a hour or so's worth of work. The bore looks fantastic so I am optimistic it will shoot. Does anybody have any pet loads for a 313299?

Tom

[littlejack]

That's a nice look'n rifle. Congrats.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I own several, but have no pet loads. I will say that you've got a very fine rifle there, among the best and most finely crafted that Loewe/Mauser turned out. Great deer hunting cartridge. They make very nice sporters, but I'd never cut down an as-issued rifle like you've go to make one. Here's one I made from an action only, purchased at a gun show in Colorado for $20.00 "back in the day." When I barreled it up I made it a 7x57mm, but have a couple more in the original 7.65mm cal.


DG

[Adam Helmer]

hpbear101,

Lovely Rifle! In 1961, at the age of 16, my twin brother and I walked into Aurand's Sporting Goods Store in Lewistown, PA on a nice July day and saw a rack of MINT 1891s for $16.88 each.

We each bought a rifle, a box of Ball ammo and strolled back downtown to our dad's pickup truck parked on the Circle in Lewistown and then dad drove us back to our lovely cabin on Jack's Mountain in Strodes Mills.

No background check, no hassle, no problem and no SWAT team responding to "a man with a gun", but I digress.

I still have that mint 1891 and shoot cast Lee C312, 185 1R sized .311. I later acquired a Belgian M1889 and an M1909 in 7.65MM. It is a great cartridge suitable for deer, bear, plinking and gong "ringing" here on my farm. Well done.

Adam

[deces]

I have an American made 1889 Mauser, saw service in Europe and ended up in Libya, before being repatriated.

[KCSO]

Try 12.5 of red dot. This works for me!

[Texas by God]

Some day the stars will align and I’ll get one.
I’ve admired them since the first one I saw.
And a sporter that someone else already “sportered” will do fine!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Larry Gibson]

I've four Argentine M91s. Three are 7.65 and one [middle one in photo] is re-barreled with a 26" Shilen barrel in 35 Remington. The bottom is a M1909 Argentine, also in 7.65.



My pet load for all the 7.65 Argentines is 27.5 gr of IMR4895 with a Dacron filler over a 314299. The 314229s are generally cast of COWWs + 2% tin and WQ'd out of the mould. That load runs 1850 fps out of the longer barrel M91 and M1909.

[Dutchman]

Common as warts on a witch. Everybody's got at least one This one a C-prefix made in 1892.

10 to 12 grains Unique with 311299 is very nice.

[Hick]

Not exactly a direct comparison, as my 7.65 is a 1909 Argentine carbine (the shorter barrel for support troops, engineers, etc)

12.5 gr BR-5 at 1380 fps
11.0 gr CFE Pistol at 1340 fps
11.5 gr HP-38 at 1340 fps
10.5 gr Titegroup at 1360 fps
29.5 gr IMR 4895 at 1750 fps

Strange as it might seem, mine especially likes the Titegroup load, giving me groups as good as 1.5" at 100 yards. My Mauser is fairly well used-- I've never been able to find any load, cast or jacketed, that gets me down to 1 moa consistently, so for me 1.5 seems to be as good as it gets

[hpbear101]

Dutchman I have lots of Unique so I'll give that a try, I also have quite a bit of Tight group so I'll see if Hick's recipe will duplicate in mine. I also have some 4895 for a little faster load.

Mine is a B-prefix from 1892 as well.

Dies arrive Monday, this will be a project to my grandson and I he wants to learn how to convert brass and loves to help in the reloading shop. I'll post an update after we get a few rounds downrange.

[Texas by God]

It appears that the stars aligned
Here’s my new to me nice little sporter.
The bore is very good, too. It came with a Tasco 3x9 but I think the steel K2.5 looks more proper….
This one is a U prefix 4 digit number.
I’m excited about finally having an 1891 Mauser!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Dutchman]

It appears that the stars aligned
Here’s my new to me nice little sporter.
The bore is very good, too. It came with a Tasco 3x9 but I think the steel K2.5 looks more proper….
This one is a U prefix 4 digit number.
I’m excited about finally having an 1891 Mauser!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That rifle is capable of accuracy that will benefit much more with the higher power scope, IMO. You'll handicap yourself with 2.5x.

I have Webster's book: Argentine Mauser Rifles 1871-1959. Your U-prefix made by DWM was made in 1900. Serial numbers ran T8000 to V3999 for 214,400. In the U.S. it is not an antique pre-1899. The serial number series all had 4 digit numbers running to 9999 then switching to the next letter prefix for the next 9999 rifles. What makes the m/1891 so cool is all the production variations. Some very small such as polished screw heads or blued. Polished or blued band keepers. There are bolt variations though your bolt and rifle being late production will have had those variations done already.

Mine has a long eye relief scope and it'll put 5 rds into 1 hole @ 50 yrds with the Lee 170 gr flatnose for the .30-30 Winchester. .314". Surprised me but it really liked that boolit.


I was at gunshow in Indianapolis. Big show lots of people. Through the crowd I spotted a fellow carrying this rifle. I saw the fiddleback and headed to him like a hound dog on a scent. Said hello and whatchagot? I took it and looked at it and said 'how much'. He says $100. And he had a 2nd one out in his car trunk. They were his late father's. Came with a ammo can full of Argie military ammo and a nice set of RCBS dies. Another $100. For $200 I came home with both of them. I sold the 2nd one for $150 for a quick sale and kept this one.

[Texas by God]

Thanks, Dutchman.
I have that mould and the 309200 Lee to try.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk