91 Argentine Carbine

[Uncle Grinch]

I picked up a "sporterized" '91 Argentine Mauser in decent shape with a few bubba modifications. After a thorough cleaning it appears the bore is pitted pretty good at the chamber end. I already have another in excellent condition and a '09 carbine, so I don't really need another 7.65 Arg caliber.

While browsing the internet, I came across a 7.62x39 barrel for the '91. Was wondering if this round would feed properly since it uses a "clip" of sorts as opposed to the SR/LR Mausers. This would make a nice little carbine. My other option would be 35 Rem, but barrels are hard to find without a lot of shop work.

Anyone with experience in these calibers?

[Reg]

300 Savage with a Springfield barrel used to be a common and popular conversion years ago. 35 Remington works very well and feeds correctly.
Not too sure about your 7.63x39, it may show tipping in the magazine then again it might not. You might make up a couple of "dummy" shells and see what happens. Also you might look at the pressure generated by the 7.62x39. It it runs over 45,000 pounds, forget it. The 91 action was never designed to operate safely over that figure.

[leadman]

I can see if one of my 91s will feed a X39. My other concern would be extraction as the extractor on the 91 does not have alot of reach and the head of the X39 is smaller in diameter. I had to change the extractor on the 93 so it would grab and hold the cartridge.
As far as pressure it should handle the X39 fine unless you shoot the crappy steel case stuff. I converted a 93 to X39 and it had problems feeding and I also had a steel case cartridge lock up the bolt. The velocity was over 2,600 fps, about 300 fps faster than the other shots out of the same package.
Ackley stated a properly chambered 91 would handle a 308 Win.. Not sure I would try that but Numrich was selling 308 barrels for the 93/95 Mausers.

[Uncle Grinch]

I really like the idea of a 35 Rem. Although it probably will require a 35 caliber blank and then threading and chambering.

[bob208]

.25 Remington would make a nice varmint rifle.

[Reg]

.25 Remington would make a nice varmint rifle.

There again as leadman pointed out you are dealing with a smaller head dia and the extractor might well become a issue. Am sure a smaller extractor can be made but one has to keep in mind that it is also a spring--- thats how it works and it's also quite a complex form I.E. bunch of bux to make.
It was Ackleys opinion that the 91 could handle a 308. The reality is that action was designed for 42,000-45,000 lbs ,not 52,000 to 55,000 lbs. Numrich offerings barrels in 308 for the 93-95 Mausers is a business decision I would not make.

I don't mean to cut down the 91 action. I consider it very well made and smooth in operation and very nice sporters can be made from it. My only thought is don't put a full blown 454 in a V-6 chassis. Keep it in the V-6 performance range and enjoy a great ride !!!

[Multigunner]

Put a 7.62X39 barrel on it, play around with it for awhile. If you can find a way to get it to feed properly leave that barrel on it.
If you grow tired of that chambering have the barrel re-chambered to .300 Savage.

[Buckshot]

..............I have a SR Mauser (M94 Brazilian) barreled to the 7.62x39. I never had to touch the extractor as it yanks'em out without an issue. BUT, that doesn't mean that the extractor of the M91 will as it is an entirely different design then the later Mauser type. But then again, not ALL claw type Mauser extractors would function without some tweaking. If it doesn't that would be an issue, but not an insurmountable problem.

http://www.fototime.com/B3EC137A8ADD615/standard.jpg

I found a magazine filler to be a plus. That may be a problem on the M91 as the lifter isn't a simple spring, but a grasshopper leg hinged deal. The one other alteration I made was to weld on an finger extension to the ejector. The issue one would kick the case loose from the extractor, but it did this under the rear bridge. The empty would (more often then not) hit the right side of the bridge and end up laying atop the next round in the magazine. The added finger extension kicked it out in FRONT of the bridge, so the problem disappeared.

If I had a M91 that needed a new barrel, my very first choice would be to re-barrel it to 7x57 Mauser. We all have our personal favorites but I honestly believe that the 7mm Mauser would be tied with whatever came up against it in the voting, as the worlds finest rifle cartridge. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the 7.65x53 either, other then the scarcity of .312" barrels. However the 7x57 (and I'll have to add the 6.5x55) is very possibly one of the best ballistically balanced cartridges ever concocted. Besides that, the 7mm Mauser is an exceedingly FINE cast boolit cartridge too!

.............Buckshot

[Uncle Grinch]

Thanks Buckshot,

I talked to Craig yesterday at E. R. Shaw and they will rebarrel my 91 Arg to 35 Rem. I made up a test cartridge to test feeding, extraction and ejection with the 35 Rem cartridge and it worked smoothly. I think this may be the route I'll take as I already have brass, dies and a mold. In addition, I have two other 7.65 Arg rifles.

[Buckshot]

.............Mike, I have one of those also.

http://www.fototime.com/89E2F2C1A9E4DC7/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/AEC40C4BAA66E93/standard.jpg

Built on another M94 Brazilian SR Mauser.

http://www.fototime.com/DA9985F72A3A411/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/8A4CCD7559D0176/standard.jpg

At one time Century Arms was selling these stripped 1894 Brazilian receivers (Lowe and FN made) cheap. They were something like $4.95 each or 10 for $25. Something like that anyway. A buddy and I bought a bunch of'em 8-) I did one in 7.62x39 (.308" bbl) and this 35 Rem. Then I figured one in 257 Bob and 7x57 would be next. Probably never happen. Both the ones I did were real shooters. The bbl for he 7.62x39 came from Numrich and the 35 Cal bbl came from the Montana Rifleman.

..............Buckshot

[Uncle Grinch]

Nice little rifle Buckshot. Hope to have mine operational by Christmas.