Spanish Mauser Rebuild (bandwith heavy)

[Rob62]

Spanish Mauser Rebuild

As if I don’t have enough gun projects in the works already, I picked up the below Spanish Mauser in 7x57mm cheap. It has no crests or manufacturers markings other than a serial number. The only numbers that match are the barrel and receiver. I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do with it. Originally I thought about cleaning it up and using it as is.

Then I got the idea to make it into a Mannlicher type carbine. So everything comes apart. The barrel gets whacked down to 17” and a short part of the stocks fore end also gets cut off even with the muzzle. FWIW - the bore looks in excellent condition. I was very surprised by this as I was expecting it to be dark and pitted.

Now I don’t have iron sights so will have to figure out what I am going to do for optics. Should I go with a forward scope mount, ala Scout Rifle, or have the receiver DT’d for a more conventional over receiver scope base.

The stock will be somewhat problematic. I plan on using a wooden ¼” dowel to fill some of the space in the stock where the original cleaning rod went. Brownell’s Acraglass bedding compound will be used to fill up any voids and also as a filler for where all the metal was in the front of the stock. I know that this will probably not look good but it should serve me for what I am trying to do. Which BTW is create a very budget friendly shooter that is going to be different from the stuff normally found out there.

I have no idea when I will work on this rifle again but as I do I will post more pics and update the thread.

Thoughts and opinions on this project welcome.

Regards,
Rob


Pictures of the rifle as in original condition.









Cutting the barrel down to approximately 17”



Barrel cut through



RE-crowning the muzzle



The crown finished. I used cold blue to re blue it after this photo was taken.



Removing the rear sight barrel sleeve. I used a propane torch to heat the metal just enough to loosen the solder. Then a hammer and drift punch to knock the sleeve off.



The muzzle end now that the stock and barrel has been cut down.

 

[35 Whelen]

Personally, I would go with the forward mounted "Scout" type scope if for no other reason than you won't have to mess with altering the bolt handle. I did something similar to what you're doing on an FR-8. I used the original stock and filled the voids with tinted AcraGlas gel. Sights really aren't hard to mount either. Anyhow, here's some pics that sort of show what I did and a little of how I did it.







It was a super fun and very rewarding project for me. The rifle is now the handiest rifle I've ever owned and gets far, far more use than any of the other dozen or so centerfire rifles I own. It is my go-to deer rifle and my teenage daughter has killed four of her five deer with it.

Good luck.
35W

 

[Rob62]

Great pics with explanations 35W. I will use the forward mounted scope idea. What is the scope base # you used ? Looks like a generic Weaver maybe but there are so many with different bottom contours, I'm trying to find one that will fit my barrel the best.

The Acragrass hole filler on your stock looks a lot better than I had envisioned it looking. Maybe mine will look as good.

Also ist been a long time since I shot a 7x57 Mauser. What's the recoil like in your shortened and lightened rifle.

Do you have any pictures of the bottom front of the wood (fore end) and also the front end tip of your stock? Is the scope a true pistol scope or an EER ?

Thanks and Regards,
Rob

 

[35 Whelen]

Rob I'll try to get some more pictures and answers for you this evening.
35W

 

[highorder]

Tagged as interested! I have a similar project in the works...

 

[mike6161]

I would go with a forward scope mount.

 

[Rob62]

Still had some time to kill today so thought why the heck not and do what I can with stuff on hand.

Fore end area that needs to be filled in



Wooden dowel inserted into cleaning rod chanel to take up space and possibly help re-enforce the fore end. I roughed up the stock's wood so that the Acraglass would have something to hold on to.



Acraglass Gel tinted brown and used as filler. I had this stuff sitting around for a year plus so thought I might as well give it a try and see if its still good. A little crystallization but it mixed OK, and seemed like its going to work out alright.



Picture of the butt end of the stock shown as a reference to what I am starting with here.

 

[dirtyjim]

nice start but there are a few things i would do different. these are just my opinins, its your rifle build it however you see fit.
scopes do not flow well with the lines on a mannlicher & a scout scope setup flat out kills it.
get a chunk of ebony or very dark rosewood to carve the fore end out of instead of just hacking it off & filling in the space left over from the barrel band retainer with epoxy. cut flutes into the top sides of the comb, it will give the stock more of a sporting appearance.
to remove that sling hanger on the back just pull the nail that is behind the butplate.

here are a couple pics of my spanish 1916 project. i have a whopping $41 tied up in it, that includes the gun & parts.
it already had a two leaf rear sight, afermarked front sight, hinged triggerguard & a crudely cut down military stock when i got it.
i bought if for the triggerguard but the bore looked good so i decided it could be salvaged. i added a curved metal buttplate from my junk bin, cut side panels into the rear action area of the stock & trimmed the fore end down to a mild schable. i'm still getting the oil out of the stock, as soon as thats done it will get a nice hand rubbed oil finsh. most of the metal has ben cleaned up & sanded to 150 grit, i have a few pits to remove then sand to 350 grit, bead blast & rust blue. the addition of a talley style bolt handle brought the price of the gun up from $36 to $41. the trigger was cut in half & the bottom half of the front trigger from a double barrel shotgun was welded to the top half of the original trigger to give it a single set trigger look.

 

[35 Whelen]

O.K. Rob, got a few pictures for you.

What is the scope base # you used ?

Got it here: Brownells Scout Scope mount. Standard Weaver rings will fit the base and Brownells has a few contours. No doubt one of them will fit your rifle.
Here's a close up for you. It was made by Ashley Outdoors, but they're defunct and I believe Brownells has taken them over.

Is the scope a true pistol scope or an EER ?

At first, I mounted a cheap 2X handgun scope, but then found a good buy on a Used Burris Scout scope in 2.75X. Love it and it's enough magnification for shooting deer out to 300 yds. or so. I've shot targets at a measured 350 yds. with it with no problem.


Also, in case you're interested, here's a picture of the receiver sight. It's an all steel Redfield I found on eBay. Super good quality sight:

The Acragrass hole filler on your stock looks a lot better than I had envisioned it looking. Maybe mine will look as good.

After the AcraGlas sets up good, sand it down smooth with the wood using a wood block with the paper. Start with 220 grit or so, and as you get closer to the wood, switch to finer grain until you're sanding wood and AcraGlas at the same time. Also, it's a good idea to heat the stock over an open flame to get all the cosmoline/grease/oil out of it before you re-finish it. Just don't scorch it.

Do you have any pictures of the bottom front of the wood (fore end) and also the front end tip of your stock?

Ask and ye shall receive....

Also ist been a long time since I shot a 7x57 Mauser. What's the recoil like in your shortened and lightened rifle.

My rifle, with scope, sling, and 5 rounds of ammunition weighs exactly 8.0 lbs. So, recoil isn't too intolerable. Back when I first converted it and began shooting it, I still thought I had to run all my handloads as fast as possible. My original load ran a 165 gr. Core-Lokt 2765 fps. It kicked pretty good and while it wasn't a dangerous load, it was hard on brass and I'm sure eventually, it would've been hard on the rifle. Nowadays I shoot a 150 gr. Remington Core-Lokt loaded to a little over 2700 fps. Easier on me, brass, and the rifle, and it kills just as well as the hotter, heavier load. I know because I've killed quite a few deer with it (all one shot)and haven't lost one yet.
I have owned and shot 7x57's for quite a few years and found their recoil to be similar to the 308's; perhaps a bit lighter. It's just physics; the heavier the bullet and powder charge, and the lighter the rifle, the more the recoil. I don't know what you plan on doing with the rifle, but a 140 gr. bullet @ 2600-2700 fps should be easy on the shoulder and ample for any deer on the planet out to 250-300 yds.
Also, FYI, most 7x57's, especially the military examples, have very long throats and the were used with the ammunition loading the long 175 gr. bullets.

Lemme know if you have more questions. I'll be gone hunting for the next week, so it'll be a bit before I can get back to you.

35W