Question about a Chilean Mauser

A buddy of mine invited me to come over to his hunting property. His neck of the woods allows bottleneck cartridges mine doesnt. That being said I was going to different gunshops looking for nice and below $500 rifles. One gun shop I stopped into had a bunch of old milsurps but in calibers that werent readily available like 7.35 Carcano, 8x56r Mannlicher and 8mm Krag to name a few. One of the rifles that caught my attention was a 1895 Chilean Mauser. Its an 1895 Chilean Mauser "Modelo Chileano Mauser" Loewe Berlin made in 1912. It is in great condition and the gunsmith let me lool down the bore with a camera and showed me a video of him firing 20 rounds through it. It is from his personal collection that he is selling. It was converted from 7x57mm Mauser to .308 and has 7.62 stamped on the rifle. It has a shiny finish and the wood isnt destroyed it just looks like a rifle that is over 100 years old. I figured it would be great to pick up since its in a common readily available caliber and the rifle comes with 40 rounds of Remington .308 Winchester. The only thing the rifle is missing is the cleaning rod, there is also no sling or bayonet in the sale (Not like I need a bayonet). I also like that the front sight is easy to see through the rear notch as my eye sight isnt the greatest. All that being said the rifle is advertised on the rack for $350 with 40 rounds of Remington .308 soft point hunting ammo. Is this a good buy ? Or is this a rifle that will grenade in my face one day ? My father told me of a kid a few years older than him who converted a Mosin to .45-70 and killed himself by it blowing the bolt back into his skull. So I dont want to buy a bomb. Figured the rifle was light and short and would make a great deer rifle. Any feedback would be great. I also dont have any pictures but the rifle has what I have been told is a parade finish so it was made to have a satin metal look instead of a blued metal look.

The 1895 Chilean Mauser is a good rifle, although it is a small ring receiver and an 1898 large ring is stronger. Nevertheless the Chilean Mauser already has a long history in the U.S. since they were initially imported, and accidents are rare. You say that the rifle is short and light, whereas the majority of them were full length infantry rifles and neither short or light. So the one you're looking at is either a rather rare carbine version, or has been cut down as a sporter, in which case there wouldn't be a cleaning rod. If by a satin finish you mean silver color, the rifle has definitely been refinished as the original finish was blue. Many small ring Mausers have been converted to .308 Win. Cal. and have performed satisfactorily, but were it me I think I'd pass on this one. $350 will go a long ways toward purchasing one of the less expensive brand new sporting rifles.

DG

I agree that you can find a New Sporte rifle for that price.
But as far as it's cost.
$350 isn't bad if it came with all the original parts like the bayonet , even if it was converted to .308.
That rifle isn't that much different than the Spanish 1916 that I have in 7.62x51.
But I must admit.
The Chilean German made Mauser is a little stronger.

Dont get me wrong it is a regular military length rifle its just lighter than my Westernfield Texas Ranger 12ga with 36" barrel

I love old military Mausers, but Bass Pro has new Savage rifles for $350.
hc18flyer

Thanks for the replies the same gun shop owner has a .30-40 Krag rifle converted to .45-70 Gov that I got interested in to hunt with on my farm where it is straight wall only. He has a lot of conversion type rifles. Two guys walked out with old bolt actions in .45-70, one was an Enfield SMLE looking rifle and one was a "Siamese Mauser" at least that is what it said on the tag.

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Originally Posted by hc18flyer

I love old military Mausers, but Bass Pro has new Savage rifles for $350.
hc18flyer

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I like the old stuff though, I like wooden stocks and ladder sights. Personally if I buy a Savage its gonna be a 99 Lever Action.

You may want to read this before considering the 1895 Chilean Mauser converted to 308. http://dutchman.rebooty.com/1895Chile.html

The later 1912 Chilean (Made on 98 actions by Steyr) that were rebarrelled to .308 are a much better rifle if you can find one.

However, either of these rifles in the original 7x57 mauser would make a dandy deer gun (again if you can find one).

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Originally Posted by EastoftheBay

One of the rifles that caught my attention was a 1895 Chilean Mauser. Its an 1895 Chilean Mauser "Modelo Chileano Mauser" Loewe Berlin made in 1912.

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It was converted from 7x57mm Mauser to .308 and has 7.62 stamped on the rifle.

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There's some confusion here. Guns marked "Ludwig Loewe" were not manufactured after 1896. And there were no Model 1895 Chilean Mausers made up into 1912. I think the last year the M1895 was produced was 1902 and they are marked DWM.

After 1896 the Model 1895 Chilean Mausers were made by Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken -- DWM. Same company but different name.

What I'm suspecting is this is a Steyr Model 1912 Mauser made in Austria and originally 7x57 and many were rebarreled to 7.62x51 Nato. Many were rebarreled with USGI two groove barrels from old stocks of Model 1903A3 Remington barrels.

The Model 1912 Chilean Mauser receivers were finished in-the-white. There's a short rifle version at 24" and the long rifle version at 29" barrel length.

Dutch

I guess I thought the Steyr 1912 was a Large Ring???
Pretty easy to spot Large VS Small Ring Mauser...

If you're into old rifles and handload, go for it. If it's going to be your only centerfire rifle, maybe something more modern would be a good start.

If you did get it, I would handload only and keep it under max .308Win pressures. Not to get into all the talk about small ring versus large, German quality, metallurgy, etc... just in deference to the fact that it's 100 years old, and now chambered for a cartridge higher pressure than the original.

EastoftheBay,

Study the link grizzleebear listed, look for the insert with your camera.
The first one I saw I could see the insert by looking at the chamber face of the barrel.
If it’s in fact a 1912, I would grab it.
This isn’t a small ring issue, I’d shoot 308 all day with a properly barreled German 1895.