Tale of four 1891 Arg. Mausers

[leadman]

I recently replaced 2 barrels on 2 of my 1891 Arg. Mausers. One was a Naval Parade rifle with an extremely corroded bore and worn nickel plating on the "furniture". The second was an $85 Bubba rifle with a decent bore that had been cut around 19 inches with the stock cut to make a faux carbine out of it.
I had the furniture replated for the naval rifle and bought a NOS original 1891 Mauser barrel for it. The stock was originally a nice piece of wood with different grain structure than normal. It was terribly oil soaked and had several cracks and split wood. I probably spent 4 or 5 days degreasing, sanding, gluing and bedding, staining, filling, and spraying it with gloss urethane. Did not come out as well as I had hoped but it is what it is.
The Bubba rifle had a stock that is really in good condition. Another member here will probably end up with it for his gun.
I traded a Numrich small ring barrel with feed kit in 7.62X39 to a member on Mauser central for another full length stock and bought from another member there another NOS 1891 Mauser barrel. The stock was better than my other one but still took a few days to get it refinished. Found shotgun pellets embedded in the stock just above the magazine near the trigger. Would like to know the story behind this! I dug a couple out but left 5 or 6 in the stock. It came with reproduction long handguard so I want to find a short handguard which is correct for this A series gun.
I used Oxpho-blue to reblue the metal for both guns.
I ordered a chamber reamer from 4D as both barrels were about .010" to .015" short in the chamber. I took all 4 guns to the garage and checked all the chambers to see if it would be possible to make them close enough to interchange ammo. I did accomplish this with one flaw in my plan. Three of the guns have bores at or close to .313", the last NOS barrel is .311". Also the PRG headspace gauges are way too long. I used my reformed, new surplus, and new commercial ammo to confirm this.

I know someone will ask for pictures and I did take some but the light was failing so will retake then tomorrow.

I bought the book on Argentine Mauser by Colin Webster and have found the reason why we have found 1891 Arg. Mausers with .311" and .313" bores and 2 different case lengths. I'll make another post on this after I take down some notes from the book.

[Scharfschuetze]

Hope those new barrels shoot well. I've been fortunate enough to acquire 1891 Mausers with good to pristine barrels and they are among my most accurate cast boolit rifles. Unfortunately, one has a .311 barrel (the most accurate) and one has the .313 barrel.


I bought the book on Argentine Mauser by Colin Webster and have found the reason why we have found 1891 Arg. Mausers with .311" and .313" bores and 2 different case lengths. I'll make another post on this after I take down some notes from the book.

I'm looking forward to that.

5 and 10 shot groups at 50 yards with the Lymand 314299 boolit over 4759 powder. They shoot proportionately as well at long range too and the sights on the rifles allow for some pretty long distance shooting.

[Reg]

Where are you finding those NOS barrels? Have been looking like crazy for one.
Length is not important just so it has a really nice bore.

[Earlwb]

When I was a teenager, my deer rifle was a 7.65 Argentine Mauser. I used it for quite a few years during deer season too. I found them to be pretty good. The more modern cartridges didn't really work any better either.

[dualsport]

I have 4 currently. From bubba to issue. One with a 4X scope and original metal is an honest to goodness sub-moa rifle with it's favorite jacketed load. Still working on the boolits but I was sure impressed how well it shoots so far. Hundred + year old varmint gun!

[leadman]

The first NOS barrel I bought was from SARCO about 20 years ago. The others I bought from individuals. When Argentina ordered rifles from Mauser part of the package was 3 replacement barrels for each rifle.
My first 1891 was traded for in about 1982. I shot it just about weekly and finally accuracy went south so I bought the Sarco barrel and had a gunsmith in flagstaff install it. It will still shoot the 150gr Hornady SP into less than 1 1/2" at 200 yards with a certain load. Unfortunately this load used surplus 4895 that I am out of it. A close friend of mine has some but so far I have not been able to get any from him. I have in stock now H4895, IMR4895, and IMR 4064 so it is time for load development.
Sure wish I could get my hands on some of the Hornady SST bullets in .311". I may have to buy some of the Hornady ammo with these in it to try them.
The naval rifle I had formed some brass to use before the chamber was lengthened and loaded them with boolits. I was firing at 50 yards and the largest group from the 4 different powder charges was just over .5", smallest was .35". Hope it did not change now that the chamber is longer.
These NOS barrels have chambers that are about .010" to .015" short and I wonder if some of the confusion on die sets and case lengths isn't because these have been installed and not head spaced??

[leadman]

I have been having issues posting the pictures so will try something a little different. If all goes well these pictures will be of the 1891 Naval parade Rifle.
I do still have some work to do with the stock finish, it is really thirsty and keeps sucking in the finish so will sand it with 1000 grit later and give it a couple of coats of urethane. This originally had a gloss varnish on the stock. This stock was in very bad condition with huge areas of oil soaked wood and splits and breaks in it. 164109164110164111164112164113
Don't know why the magazine looks like it does in the photo, it is newly nickel plated so maybe some light reflection thing.

[leadman]

164634164635164636This should be the photos of the Bubba rifle that I installed the NOS barrel on recently and obtained the stock both from Mauser Central members. The dark spots above the mag on the right side of the stock were holes from birdshot. would like to know that story.
Tried to load pictures again.

[leadman]

164639164640These 2 guns are the one Bubba I am working on now for a truck gun. I used a Weaver 92a scope base meant for a contender to mount the scope with. The receiver is also drilled and tapped and the bolt handle bent by me, but I decided I like the scout scope set up better. I can still use stripper clips this way also. Barrel on this one is ok and it shoots decent. I do intent to cut the stock and mount a recoil pad also.
Don't know if it is visible but I used the rear sling base to mount a quick release stud in by cutting off the hump for the sling off and drilling it thru. I put a nut on the backside and drilled the stock to allow it to be mounted as it was originally. I used to trim down the hump on the sides with a hacksaw and file but this way is much easier and faster.
The gun with the aftermarket stock from Richard's was my first 1891 from about 1982. This is the one I had a 'smith in Flagstaff install the barrel and reblue it. It is turning plum now so may do something later with it. The rebarrel and restocking are about 20 years old now but it still looks ok, and shoots great.164637164638

[Frank46]

The 1891 Argentine mauser was my first big bore high power rifle. Local gun shop sold me some 1946 Argentine surplus ammo. This was back about 1964. Shot a lot of rounds through that old rifle. I have two that are shooters but do have a few bubba's that I bought over the years for spare parts. Frank

[leadman]

I guess I am going to give up on the pictures. I posted in the last 3 entries from me and now there is only one with pictures.

[Scharfschuetze]

Are you doing this to try and get a photo?

1. "Go Advanced"
2. "Manage Attachments"
3. "Add Files"
4. "Choose File" (direct to your computer's photos and selecting the photo)
5. "Upload"

[Reg]

The first NOS barrel I bought was from SARCO about 20 years ago. The others I bought from individuals. When Argentina ordered rifles from Mauser part of the package was 3 replacement barrels for each rifle.
My first 1891 was traded for in about 1982. I shot it just about weekly and finally accuracy went south so I bought the Sarco barrel and had a gunsmith in flagstaff install it. It will still shoot the 150gr Hornady SP into less than 1 1/2" at 200 yards with a certain load. Unfortunately this load used surplus 4895 that I am out of it. A close friend of mine has some but so far I have not been able to get any from him. I have in stock now H4895, IMR4895, and IMR 4064 so it is time for load development.
Sure wish I could get my hands on some of the Hornady SST bullets in .311". I may have to buy some of the Hornady ammo with these in it to try them.
The naval rifle I had formed some brass to use before the chamber was lengthened and loaded them with boolits. I was firing at 50 yards and the largest group from the 4 different powder charges was just over .5", smallest was .35". Hope it did not change now that the chamber is longer.
These NOS barrels have chambers that are about .010" to .015" short and I wonder if some of the confusion on die sets and case lengths isn't because these have been installed and not head spaced??


I too got one of the NOS barrels from SARCO also about 20 years ago. Wish I had gotten a few extra.
My first 91 was purchased about 1962, still have it and with a barrel replacement from SARCO it will hold 1" at 100 yards all day long with the Sierra 150 grain and also the 180 grain Sierra but the recoil is noticeably heavier with the 180. Have taken everything from rabbits to deer with it.
Have another idea for another project with one but have to find a good usable barrel first.

[leadman]

That is how I was loading the pictures. Might be something with my computer as I tried to load them to my old Photobucket account and couldn't.

AJI guns in Apache Junction Az. has/had an 1891 that someone cut the stock, added a pistol grip and a receiver sight to. The barrel is clean and very shiny with good rifling. They are/were asking $179 for it but could probably be talked down some. 480-984-8616, ask for Jeff. If someone is interested I can check it out again. I am only a customer but have gotten 3 good deals from them. This is the kind of gun shop that has guns on the floor for you to handle and drool on. LOL

[shredder]

Wow that first set of photos sure makes that rifle look good considering what you had to work with. I really like the plating. Shiny stuff and rednecks...... and to top it all off the cutest little scout scope setup! I would love to shoot that one!

[Scharfschuetze]

Wow that first set of photos sure makes that rifle look good considering what you had to work with. I really like the plating. Shiny stuff and rednecks...... and to top it all off the cutest little scout scope setup! I would love to shoot that one!

I was stationed in South America twice and the armies down there still parade with Mausers and white leather load bearing gear. Usually a band is involved too and it is quite a sight. I guess you'd have enjoyed it too.

I also saw armories with thousands of various Mausers all rusting into the floors. That was kind of sad.

[leadman]

The gun in the picture has a scout mount made by The Dutchman. He is not making them now so I bought the S&K version and it is a little more compact and works very well.
I bought a Sun Optics for a 96 Swede and it mounts to the sight leaf which makes it higher than the other 2. Haven't shot it yet so jury is still out on it.164632164633
These are a couple of pictures of the Naval rifle before working on it, if they actually post.

I did go back and repost the pictures in the top of the thread and it seems they worked.

[Dutchman]

My $100 91 Argentine Mauser. Bought 2 from the same fellow at Indianapolis gunshow along with new RCBS dies and a couple hundred rds. Argentine military ammo. $200 total. Saw that fiddleback stock and made a beeline to that guy and was handing him the $$$ before my two friends with me knew what was what. Shoots much better than the 1909 Argentine. I use Norma and Graf brass. Mine is C-prefix made in 1892. Has no magazine lock and has the shorter handguard. Lots of variations with the 91.

http://media.fotki.com/1_p,dstssgkbqbskdxwfqbfsgtwfb,vi/rgkswtgtrxrdtbrwsdbxwsqbfqdgg/2/28344/157842/ArgentineMauser1891-vi.jpg


Thought that looked like one of my LER mounts. Left the rail long so the NcStar 2-7x32 scope had enough rearward adjustment at 7x. Its only 8.7" eye relief. I like that one you made that's lower!!

http://media.fotki.com/1_p,skstrrbbsrfwtqrxwfqbfsgtwfb,vi/bkkwskfbxtrkbgkbgs/2/28344/6806565/DSCF1411yy-vi.jpg

[Mytmousemalibu]

I'm going to have to take some pics of my Bubba rescue 1891 Argy. Except for an inleting boo-boo someone made, it's actually not bad, nice old school sporter job by someone a long time ago. The cut of wood the stock is from is beautiful too. I really want to find an untouched Argy though. Last summer, local Cabelas had a VERY nice example of an 1891 cav carbine for $200! Some fella bought it about 30min before I got there, damn that still makes me upset, that guy got one hell of a nice rifle for a very good price!

[Scharfschuetze]

My first 1891 was also $100 back in about 1992 or 93. My next one about 15 years later had a tariff of $220 so they are going up in price. At one time, they were about the best bang for the buck of all the military surplus as they were never as popular as the later Mausers. Had I known how accurate they are, I would have bought one much sooner in life. At one time in the mid 60s, I used to see them stacked up in barrels muzzle up, your choice for a $20 dollar bill.

Here are some adds that I well remember as a youth as well as my two current 1891s.

[leadman]

Dutchman, the bubba rifle has the 92a Weaver base screwed right to the barrel. Does make for a good sight picture thru the scope. The Restored bubba rifle with the NOS barrel and replacement stock is an A prefix. I need to buy the brass tipped cleaning rod and short handguard for it still.
No magazine lock or wings on the bolt shroud.
The Naval rifle has a touch of fiddle back on the left rear of the stock. I did not want to stain it dark but there was so much damage it was the only way to hide it. In some spots of the bedding I cut up to 3/8" of an inch of oil soaked soft wood out and then epoxy bedded it. If I every find a light colored stock in decent shape I will probably buy it for this rifle.
I guess I will not be having any more plating done on rifles. the shop I used was raided by the EPA for not disposing of their HazMat properly.