Lugs back too far?

You can't simply rechamber a 7x57 to 7.62 NATO.

Take a look here to see how it was done and decide if you want to shoot the rifle.

http://www.rebooty.com/~dutchman/1895Chile.html

Jim

It is possible to repair the setback, but it is honestly not worth it. You can likely part out the action (sell the bolt, bottom metal, ejector box, etc.) and recoup the money that you have in the rifle. Your barrel removal technique makes selling the barrel a moot point!

Clemson

A 95 Mauser isn't considered strong enough by most authorities for a 7.62 NATO anyway.

You got a 51,000 action with no safety lug and poor gas handling, and a 62,000 cartridge.

rcmodel

The indication is that those conversions were done so that the old guns could be kept in an emergency reserve and still take the same ammunition as the current weapons if they ever were needed. Since the 7.62 NATO pressure is relatively low (48-50k psi), and few if any shots would ever be fired, that probably made good sense. A rebel or rioter who sees a soldier with a rifle is not likely to examine the date or workmanship of the weapon before remembering an urgent appointment elsewhere.

The same idea was behind the Indian No. 2 and 2A, which were made for issue to the police and paramilitary forces so they could use the same ammunition as the Indian Army, which was armed with an Ishapore-made FAL.

But the importers didn't really care; they proclaimed the guns as being for .308 Winchester and put them on the market. Of course, they didn't say how many rounds the guns would fire before having problems, but what the heck, money is money.

Jim

Make a little .45 ACP carbine out of it!

Yea! That's the ticket!

rcmodel

FWIW...You can probably turn it into a decent plinker that can be surprisingly accurate...if you cast your own rifle bullets. I did it with an Argentine Mauser that had been rebarrelled in 7.62 and the headspace was...a little frightening.

You'll need to use once-fired Nato-spec brass. Thicker in the web and throughout than commercial cases. Cast your bullets fairly soft, and use about 8-9 grains of Unique with a tuft of kapok or dacron to keep the powder near the primer. Accuracy is better. Don't pack it tight. Just enough to keep it in place.

Set your sizing die to just barely kiss the case shoulder to forestall stretch.

After recrowning and bedding the action, my little turnbolt is surprisingly accurate with good bullets, and the pressures are low enough that the brass barely needs resizing. I toss it after the third firing, just to be safe...but I've never had a problem. The chronograph swears that the velocties are in the 1200 fps neighborhood with a 180-grain bullet, which makes it powerful enough for Coyotes called in close...or to knock a steel plate winding at a hundred yards.

Of course, you may not experience the same success with your rifle as I did with mine...so all caveats are in order.

"was considering rebarreling a '95 Chilean Mauser I bought relatively cheap, but the lug wear/setback looks nasty. This was an arsenal rechamber from 7x57
to 7.62. "

They were selling those guns in the late 60s. They were rebored and rechambered from 7mm to .308/7.62mm. Owned several of them myself and still own two. The receivers and bolts vary in hardness from gun to gun.

The bolts in the guns that I kept did not set back: This was not the case with another one that I sold as a wall hanger.