Sporterized Mauser

Well?

Any competent gunsmith who re-barreled one would stamp, or at least scratch the new caliber on the barrel with an electro engraver.

Otherwise, if the barrel still has steps in it, one could guess it's still the original military barrel, in the original military caliber for the action.

But if it isn't marked?

There is no sure 100% way to know without doing a Cerrosafe chamber cast and measuring it.

rc

If there's no marking, it's probably still the original chambering. Only way to be sure is a chamber casting.

Hell, just make sure it has a serial number! I bought a beautiful "guild gun" a couple years ago off Gunbroker and the serial number had been removed. Apparently everybody had just been using the number off the bolt. It had to be destroyed.

CraigC said:

If there's no marking, it's probably still the original chambering. Only way to be sure is a chamber casting.

Hell, just make sure it has a serial number! I bought a beautiful "guild gun" a couple years ago off Gunbroker and the serial number had been removed. Apparently everybody had just been using the number off the bolt. It had to be destroyed.

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Please tell me that you took all the non-receiver parts off of it and only the receiver was destroyed.

OP: Even if it's marked, a chamber cast is a good idea. I've seen a couple that were marked 8x57 or some variation thereof but had been reamed out to 8mm-06. I've also seen one or two that were marked on the receiver but had a very different barrel installed than was there when it was stamped. One was marked "7mm" on the receiver (assuming 7mm mauser being a Brazilian 1908 receiver), but had a 22 caliber barrel on it. My guess was a 22-250 barrel.

Matt

No but I considered myself lucky to get all my money back from the dealer who sold it, so I didn't consider those parts mine. I try not to think about what was lost. It had a steel Redfield receiver sight, double set triggers and a European style stock with the little beaded cheekpiece setup for iron sights, as opposed to the Monte Carlo monstrosities you see on many of them. It left a hole in my heart.

Every halfway competent store or dealer will record the caliber when they acquire it. I know there's cases where the original owner has passed on and it's not known by the person selling it, but every seller I've ever encountered has known what they have.

If it is in military trim, depending on what country gun it is, that can narrow it down. German, Yugo, Turkish, etc large ring 98 are usually 8mm Mauser. Small ring in military trim could be 6.5x55 if it is Swedish, or 7mm Mauser from Mexico or some other country. You should always perform a chamber cast if you are unsure.

Sporter style it gets harder but usually, like rcmodel noted, it would be stamped, perhaps even under the forearm in front of the magazine box. If it was a bubba-sporterized gun, it might not be stamped.

...every seller I've ever encountered has known what they have.

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I've seen lots of cases where sellers haven't had a clue. The gun might be clearly marked and they can still get it wrong.

WardenWolf said:

Every halfway competent store or dealer will record the caliber when they acquire it.

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Don't be so sure that a shop selling a gun is always halfway competent.

I bought a SMLE No1 Mk 3 from a pawn shop once that on the 4473 they recorded as a model "Mosin Nagant" in caliber "7.62 SKS". I tried to inform them that they were recording it incorrectly but they just kinda ignored it as if I didn't know what I was talking about.

Ha Ha!

I have a SIG P232-SL .380 that was recorded and sold new as a '.32 ACP Auto' by the FFL.

A few years ago I was browsing the Cabalas Gun Library and spotted a pre-war S&W 38/40 Outdoorsman.
It was being sold as a K-38 Masterpiece!!

Competent is a very rare thing to find anymore.

rc

mgmorden said:

Don't be so sure that a shop selling a gun is always halfway competent.

I bought a SMLE No1 Mk 3 from a pawn shop once that on the 4473 they recorded as a model "Mosin Nagant" in caliber "7.62 SKS". I tried to inform them that they were recording it incorrectly but they just kinda ignored it as if I didn't know what I was talking about.

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Thats for sure. On the plus side a Gander MT had a 119.00 "Mosin" M38 in the rack. I bought it immediately. Turns out it was a all matching Swedish Oberndorf Mauser M38!

On the negative side I was at a large gunshop and a guy was buying a sporterised Ovido M95 7x57 Mauser. Laying next to it were 3 boxes of ammo. 7MM Remigton Mag ammo! I pointed out the mistake and got a rude reply from the clerk. I got the maneger to straighten it out. Never saw that clerk again. At least the 7mm mag wouldn't fit. Do your own research.

A few years ago I was browsing the Cabalas Gun Library and spotted a pre-war S&W 38/40 Outdoorsman. It was being sold as a K-38 Masterpiece!!

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Ha! I once found a really nice .38/44 in the rare 6½" length that was listed as a M&P at $289. I happily traded a Redhawk for it and then traded it for something worth a lot more than $289!

I can remember my Dad (a man educated well beyond his common sense) in about 1975 taking what i now know was Arisaka Type 38 Sporter 6.5x50 into the local hardware store and trying to chamber random cartridges into it.

Luckily he was not able to find cartridge would fit.....

That is a problem with fully sporterized Mausers at pawn shops. The original owner knows what barrel he ordered the gunsmith to install, but one or more steps removed in possession, that memory is not available. Worse is when the barrel is rechambered for a different cartridge but not remarked.

I have always been told to have a competent gunsmith do a chamber cast. I would suggest once the chambering is ID'd have the barrel engraved.

At my local Cabella's they label them "unknown caliber" if it isn't stamped on the barrel