1891 Argentine Mauser

[j_h_nimrod]

I have the opportunity to get a slightly (cut barrel, bent bolt handle) sporterized 1891 Argentine Mauser in good shape. What could I do with this as far as modifications go? The original 7.65 Argentine round would be nice but if the barrel is shot what are my other caliber options. I know I am pretty much limited by the box magazine and would not want to get into a major modification. These are petty little actions but do not seem to lend themselves to much versatility in customizations.

Any ideas?

[brav01]

7.65

The 7.65 mauser/7.65 ARG. is a great round. If the barrel is good and shoots good use it; It's cartridge design makes it a very accurate combination. The ammo is available from several manufacturers and loading components are readily available. This rifle is designed for a 44,000 cup or so as such is just a little behind the 308 in power. It does have a good reputation as a hunting rifle with very moderate recoil. It doesn't have very much potential to be rebarrelled to a modern high pressure cartridge.

1891 rifles aren't really sought out as rifles to convert to custom firearms. They do make good rifles to throw behind the seat of the pick-up as an emergency gun. That way even if it is stolen you didn't loose your expensive scope sighted Cooper or something.

[bandhmo]

As brav01 said these are nice rifles. Many say they have nicer wood then most Mauser's They where part of the evolution in what would become the Mauser 98. They lack many of the features of the 98 like the large extractor and most of its great gas handling features like the holes in the bolt and flanged bolt shroud. Because of this they are not very popular for conversion to other calibers. I would suspect that the case hardening is very thin like many early 98's so the locking lugs may have set back, so check the head space before firing. A case head separation is never good but with out the gas handleing features of the 98 it would be very bad.

Heat treat processes of this era still needed work and relied largely on color judgment of temperature and therefore were not be very consistent. This is the same issue that effected some early springfields, also some early 98's. So the action maybe over soft or brittle. I would not want to convert one to anything with much pressure like the 308 win, and would consider a magnum completely out of the question.

That said if the head space is in spec. it will make a nice little rifle in the original caliber.

[j_h_nimrod]

I am up in the air on weather or not to get this rifle, I like its looks but it is not original and has limited value as a rebarrel or custom job. It is a pretty, well built gun though.

There is the fact that I don't have either one of these rifles or another gun in this round so I will see.