My first old gun.....Spanish Mauser Info Needed

[jlloyd73]

Ok guys and gals, this is my very first old gun and I have no idea about the infamous "Mauser".

I am under the impression this is a Spanish Mauser...... 1893 small ring Spanish Calvary rifle to be specific. I based this on what I was told and by what was stamped on the barrel (Oviedo Spain ?M19? Samco MIA FL 308W). Someone said it was a 95 action and not a 98 action. I have no idea what that means, how to verify that, or the importance of that statement. Everything looks good as far as the barrel and there is no pitting going on.

The only issue the gun has (besides age) is that when you engage the safety and pull the trigger.....when you try to disengage the safety it fires the hammer, thus could cause a huge problem if there is a round in the chamber. The previous owner thought it might have something to do with the previous/previous owner trying to lighten the trigger pull. I honestly have no idea.

I may redo it by doing a cheap Cerakote finish on the metal and refinishing the wood because I was told there is no real collector value to the gun. Is this a true statement?

Do you guys have any ideas or information that will help me with this gun? I will be looking for bits and pieces here and there, but if it is going to cost me an arm and a leg I will just sell or trade it and put the money towards something else. What would your opinion on that be?

Did I mention the gun was free to me......


5467754676

[atr]

manufactured in Oviedo Spain, date of manuf. should be stamped on the receiver just below the place of manuf.
most likely a Mauser Model 93 or 95, the bolt will have two locking lugs at the front of the bolt and no gas shield, as opposed to a 98 style which has 3 locking lugs, two in the front and one toward the back, and a gas shield.
I am unfamiliar with the MIA FL 308W marking, but wondering out loud if that might indicate this action was re-barreled and head spaced to take the 308W round?
The models 93s and 95 are not as strong as the model 98, and if this was rechambered for a 308Win I personally would NOT run hot loads through this action. The Spanish Mausers were originally chambered for the 7x57 cartridge which has a much lower working pressure than the 308 Win does.

The hammer/safety issue is an ISSUE ! Sounds like this gun is unsafe in present condition. The original trigger should be the typical two-stage military trigger.
hope this is of some help
atr

[3006guns]

Free is always a good price, however a firearm that discharges when the safety is operated isn't much of a bargain. That doesn't mean you should get rid of the gun though. For one thing you'd be passing a dangerous situation on to someone else and it could come back to bite you, so why not just fix it? The Mauser trigger assembly isn't complex and I'll bet Gun Parts Inc. has a complete replacement at a reasonable cost. Disassembly and repair techniques are as close as your computer these days to boot!

The original caliber was 7 x 57 Mauser, an excellent cartridge. If the bore is in decent shape is could be either a cast boolit shooter or a good "behind the pickup seat" gun, so either way you win.

If it was rebarreled to 7.62 Nato (and a lot of them were) you could use .308 Winchester handloads BUT KEEP THEM LOW PRESSURE. The Spanish either rebarreled or bored and rechambered oodles of these 1916 rifles to be part of the Nato alliance and there's always been an ongoing controversy as to whether the action was stout enough for the .308.

[jlloyd73]

Well, i do have one option for the gun.

I will replace the trigger as a start to fix the "firing when the safety is disengaged". Hopefully that will resolve that. Next, my father is wanting a dedicated silenced 308 rifle. So an idea would be to have the barrel threaded and throw a can on it. I would assume that if I am loading subsonic 308 rounds and running them through the gun, there shouldn't be any issues. IDK.....just an idea.

[Nobade]

I have one of those rebarreled 1916 rifles. Be careful with yours! Evidently when the factory proofed it, they set the lug seats back so far that it will swallow a field reject gauge. I use a Redding body die as a full length sizer, it sets the shoulder back just the right amount. I have learned that loads equaling full pop 30-30 level are absolute maximum in this rifle. It has been relegated to shooting 165's at 2000 fps and does very well with those. But do not load it any hotter or you will be sorry! It should be fine with subsonics, that should be a very good use of it.

[KCSO]

What they have done is grind the sear notch so the striker doesn't come back far enough to catch when the safety ir released. I HOPE they grond the trigger rather than the striker as that is an easy fix. The quickest way to tell a 93 from a 95 is to see if the bolt head is flat on the bottom 93, or round-95. The 93/95 as they were advertised in 1911 is structurally as strong as a 98 IF made of the same steel. I don't consider the spanish manufacture as stron. The hitch is the action isn't as safe because there are no gas relief ports and if a case should rupture you will get a face full of hot gas. If the gun is in spec now shooting factory ammo in it won't hurt it in limited quantities but I would want reloads in the same pressure range as the original 7MM myself.

[WILCO]

Did I mention the gun was free to me......

What's the story here? Congrats by the way.

[gnoahhh]

Those Oviedo M1916 Mausers are about the softest of the lot. IMO, if it were re-barreled to .308, the barrel would become a tomato stake. Promising to keep loads at a low pressure is all well and good, and puts things in the realm of 'ok'. It's what would happen if another trigger-happy fellow down the line somewhere decides to go ahead and load some full throttle or a bit heavier ammo for it. As mentioned before headspace would then increase rapidly until stuff is ruined. There are lots better rifles to invest time monkeying with than the 1916 Oviedo's.

Always look a gift old Mauser in the mouth.

[UBER7MM]

Depending on how much time, money and effort you want to put into the old gal, I'd rebarrel back to 7x57. Then load it to minimum level loads. Also, I'd go with a new trigger. With that kind of money you could probably get a NEW low end deer rifle at Walmart.

Just my 2/100th worth

[Nobade]

Depending on how much time, money and effort you want to put into the old gal, I'd rebarrel back to 7x57. Then load it to minimum level loads. Also, I'd go with a new trigger. With that kind of money you could probably get a NEW low end deer rifle at Walmart.
Just my 2/100th worth

Take a look - it's already been sporterized. 308 makes a better cast boolit cartridge, so why not leave it as is and just load boolits at normal boolit levels? 150's at 1800 fps won't stress it (as long as you don't try doing that with Red Dot) and it will be a very useful rifle for plinking or deer hunting if that is desired. Just don't go shooting commercial (or military) 308 ammo in it.

[Dutchman]

The trigger isn't the problem.

You need to replace: sear, cocking piece & safety lever. Those are the primary pieces that control the release of the firing pin. The trigger only trips the sear. Springfield Sporters should have those 3 parts. You would order them for a 1893 Spanish Mauser.

http://ssporters.com/

http://ssporters.com/parts/93-mauser.html

10 COCKING PIECE 6.00
35 SEAR 3.00
38 SAFETY 4.00

Dutch