Got into a trade deal with a friend of mine, we were getting close to a trade but he needed to come up with a little more value for me, he mentioned he had a Spanish FR8 .308 Mauser carbine he could let go. Done deal! I have always liked the looks of the FR8, but never owned one.

For folks that aren't familiar with the FR8, when the Spanish adopted the Cetme/G3 rifle, they decided to modify the many Mauser rifles in their armories to be similar in caliber and sights as the Cetme, so they rebarreled them to 7.62 caliber, put on sights similar to the Cetme, added a flash suppressor and fake gas tube, which is really a cleaning kit tube. The rifle weighs eight pounds, has a large post front sight, and a unique rear sight with a broad "V" notch rear, and 3 aperture sights for 200, 300 and 400 meters.

I understand when the rifles were modified, if it was a 7MM Mauser, it became an "FR7", if it was 8MM caliber, it became an "FR8". So, FR8's are large ring Mausers. Mine was made in 1958.

Here's a pic of mine:



The rifle is short and handy with an 18 1/2" barrel, can be re-loaded by stripper clips for rapid reloads. The V notch rear "Battle" sight is well regulated, shoots to point of aim from zero to 100 yards. Moving the rear sight to the 200 yard peep gave a 3" 100 yard group shot from the prone position, centered but about 8" high, so it is a 200 yard sight. I spent a very pleasant hour slaying an 8" swinging steel target at 100 yards, shooting it from all the filed positions, prone, kneeling, sitting and standing. I feel very confident with this rifle at 100 yards.

I guess the closest thing that resembles it would be the Ruger Scout rifle, but it is way expensive compared to the FR8. I think most can be had for $350 or less.

I'll be trying out some cast lead handloads for it, hopefully it will like cast lead.

This rifle is fun to shoot, looks mean, should make a nice utility/truck gun. I like it!

First I've seen of one...it is now on my Must Have list!

__________________
Even older, even crankier....

The Spanish couldn't manufacturer the CETME in 308 CETME fast enough so then converted the FR 8 to 308 CETME for training purposes while waiting for the CETME' s to arrive.

As far as CETME' s go being a military collector for decades I hated the charging handle. I had both the CETME and French MAS 49/56 converted to 308. There were good and bad in both rifles the CETME with there roller lockup and the French rifle with gas problems with the more powerful 308 surround. I was lucky I had two great operating rifles.

The FR-8 is a fun piece. Just be aware if you are a reloader that many of them run with the headspace nearer 7.62 NATO limits as opposed to .308 numbers.

Some folk hate the rear sight because their preferred bolt handling method gets them skinned knuckles.

Most of the issues with converted MAS 49/56s were caused either by the conversion if done by Century and/or the slow powders in .308 commercial ammo. I don't want to hijack the thread but there are more details.

As for CETMEs, the importer/builder did not always cover themselves in glory when setting up the bolt mechanism. That's the cleaned up version.

I've had two of them and managed to hang on to one. They are neat carbines.

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

A very interesting read, thanks. Nice looking rifle too. One is on GB, right now. 22 bids have run it up to $382.

I bet that 8mm carbine with a steel butt plate will be a real shoulder thumper.

The FR-8 is in 7.62 NATO. It was converted FROM an earlier 8mm Mauser rifle with a 24 inch barrel.

I thought I read that 308 CETME was a different round from 308 NATO and that you should not fire 308 in these carbines. However, that was years ago.

I have been thinking about a Ruger Scout for awhile...but this would fit the bill. Now you've made me cry because I want one of these!

__________________
The Last Standing Knight

Good to see another FR8 fan, I really like mine its a great shooter and its wonky enough looking to please my "I like weird stuff" in me. If you do not already know this you can adjust elevation with the front sight, there is a tool for it but you can do it without but its a pain. Now the front sight is also used for windage adjustment as well as it is a eccentric design and as you turn the sight it rotates left and right as well. this can be a bit of a pain trying to get your elevation AND windage where you want them. If you desire an bayonet for it the CETME bayonet fits and they are rather inexpensive. There is a school of thought out there that commercial .308 ammo generates more pressure than is good for the FR8, run a search for info. Anyhoo, enjoy your new FR8!

__________________
Stay safe people!

7.62 CETME was a lower powered variant of 7.62 NATO but whether it was ever issued to the Spanish armed forces is a mystery to me. For sure at some point in the 50s the Spanish military signed on with 7.62 NATO.

There was some question about shooting 7.62 NATO/.308 Winchester from two types of converted Mauser, the FR-7 and the modified 1916 short rifle. These were both derived from the Mauser 93 action which does not handle gas as well as the Mauser 98 design nor does it have a third lug on the bolt like the 98. The importer of the 1916 rifles had them proof tested to well over commercial .308 Winchester levels with no ill effects.

The FR-8 was built on any number of Mauser 98 receiver variants on hand in Spain at the time. There were new build M1943 and M1944 rifles and various Mauser 98 variants left over from the Spanish Civil War.

Welcome to the FR-8 club! Mine is the perfect "Truck gun" & shoots well enough for my old eyes. The rear sight is kind of funky, but seems to be fairly stout to take rough handling. I got mine a year or so before I picked up a CETME as well. One thing about the FR-8 is the beefy stock. I am a big guy at 6'4" & I appreciate a little more meat in the wrist of the stock. Make a pretty good club if it ever came to that. The action isn't as smooth as some would like & the bolt flops around quite a bit at the rear of its travel, but it locks up tight & headspaces ok.

Another point in it's favor is that
a battle pack of ammo lasts longer than in a Fal.
Chipmunk6

Canoeguy If you want it I have a bayonet for that rifle you can have . All I ask is p/m me your info on where to send it and you got it no charge.

Thanks, Sureshot, PM sent...

Good to see there are other FR-8 Mauser fans out there. I have really grown to love Mausers in the past few years, gathering up a few Yugoslavian M24's and M48's, and really wanted a Mauser carbine. They are few and far between, and very expensive when found, such as the Persian Mauser carbine, Swedish Mauser carbines, etc. So, to find a 7.62 caliber Mauser carbine for only a few Shekels worth of trade was great.

I used to have the hots to get an FR-8 and then my C&R expired and 7.62 got so hard to find.
I kind of satisfied that itch by getting a No. 5 Mk 1 Enfield "Jungle Carbine."

[QUOTE=canoeguy;137774548]Thanks, Sureshot, PM sent...

, ...and really wanted a Mauser carbine. They are few and far between, and very expensive when found,...

If you think that's expensive, try looking for the carbine version of the Mauser C 96 pistol, $$$$$.

I got mine about 25 years ago when they were $100, more or less. It is surprisingly accurate. The recoil gets your attention.

__________________
6/23/2022