Spanish Mauser Conversion

A long time ago I bought a Spanish Mauser M-93 from an auction. I like 7x57 as a hunting round as they are known to have taken every game animal here or in Africa. But they really shine in the Pacific Northwest on the western side of the Cascade Mountains where a long shot is 250 feet. I have dropped deer and bears within muzzle reach. Anyway, here is what I did to the lowly M93. It is shown in the original stock with a linseed oil finish.

I bought one from Montgomery Wards , refinished the military stock and hunted with it for years .
I wanted a Gunsmith to rebarrel it to 358 Winchester but he refused and told me there was no better hunting round than the 7 X 57 Mauser , load it with long 175 grain soft points . I glad he didn't rechamber it and he was right about the 7 X 57 Mauser round ... I never had to shoot a wild hog (some big ones) or any deer twice ... those long 175 gr. bullets were like magic ... dropped them right there .
Still got it but I restocked in a nice Herter's American black walnut Mannlicher stock ... kept the old military stock just in case .
For some reason the stock fits like a glove and I can shoot it well so it's been a favorite and the 7X57 Mauser round works like a charm !
Gary

The old small ring Mausers are just simple and 7x57 is just an early version of 7MM- 08, a great caliber. I have a 93 that I had a new 7X57 barrel put on and restocked it (sporter style). Also put a Williams peep sight on it. Wonderful close range deer hunting rifle!

It doesn't show in these photos but that is what I did even though the good folks at Williams told me I couldn't do it. It sports a wonderfull Williams peep site on the back bridge and a Williams long ramp front site. Llance

Llance said:

even though the good folks at Williams told me I couldn't do it.

Click to expand...

I think the whole country has forgotten how to imagine how do do things. If it isn't specifically on some list, then it can't be done! It is amazing how many thing can be "Fitted" to a project, but nobody seems to think that way. If it isn't "Lego snap together easy" it's too hard!

Good job!

7x57 is one of my favorite rounds. I have a 1976 Ruger No.1 and a pre WWI Complain in it. My favorite loading is the Norma 154 gr semi spitzer, which is a copy of the 275 Rigby loading. (Good for droping Tigers!)

Ivan

I have a Spanish M1915 short rifle in 7mm, basically identical to the M93 except it has a short barrel, I think around 20"-21". In pretty good original condition and with a shiny bore, I paid $15 for it about 10 years ago, just because it had the body of a fired case stuck in the chamber. I got it out without much trouble. Even with the crude military sights on it, I can keep all hits within a few inches at 25 yards and that's good enough for me. I've considered sporterizing it a few times, but decided to keep it in its original military configuration. The last thing I need now is another hunting rifle. I once sporterized a near-perfect Swede M94 carbine in 6.5x55mm (it also used an action virtually identical to the M93), and later really regretted it - those Swede carbines are hen's teeth these days, and will bring a pretty hefty price if in original condition.

My M1915 has no markings on the front receiver ring, it is completely smooth. When Generalissimo Francisco Franco won the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, he ordered that all Spanish military rifles having the royal Spanish crest stamped on their receiver rings must have it machined off. That alone should add some historical value. Most of the M1915s imported into the US ended their careers in the hands of the Spanish Guardia Civil, one of Spain's paramilitary national police forces, which is tasked with performing police duties mainly in non-urban areas of Spain and also on highways.

I agree about the merits of the 7x57mm. It is fully capable of being used with deadly effect on nearly every game species on earth, provided the hunter is a good shot and is using the correct bullet best suited for the game being hunted. With heavier bullets, it provides outstanding penetration on large game. Jack O'Connor felt that the 7mm was the ideal chambering for a hunting rifle to be used by women, and wrote about that several times. But not nearly as many times as he wrote about the merits of the .270 Winchester, which was his favorite. I can't dispute that opinion either. My most treasured rifle is a 99% condition Winchester Model 70 in .270, made during the first year of production. Its only defect is that a previous owner added two threaded holes in the rear receiver ring for mounting a scope. Early M70s did not have threaded scope mounting holes in the rear receiver ring. But it is what it is.

Nice looking rifle. Could you share how you put the receiver sight on either here or in PM? Thanks.

Wife has a Rem. Mtn Rifle in 7x57. Took a 265 lb wild pig @ 250 yards, running. One shot!

I'd round the fore end cap some; otherwise nice rifle for the PNW.

Dwalt "those Swede carbines are hen's teeth these days, and will bring a pretty hefty price if in original condition."

Not to mention they are finer than frogs hair split 4 ways.



mtgianni "Nice looking rifle. Could you share how you put the receiver sight on either here or in PM? Thanks."

The receiver sight was first located TDC (Top Dead Center) and I then located it on the bridge with some JB Weld. Just enough to hold it in place while I drilled and tapped the holes for screws. Once the holes were drilled I removed the sight cleaned off the JBW and tapped the holes. Then it was a simple process to screw the sight in place. Note the sight did need to be filed to fit the contour of the right rear of the bridge because the bridge has an angle on it which is used by the bolt to start the camming action to withdraw the expired case from the chamber. These sights are made of aluminum and so an aluminum black fluid from Beachwood Casey was used to hide the bare metal.

I don't have a mill or some of the other fancy tooling as is found in a machine shop so the front sight was located using a beam of light which highlighted the barrel from the back sight to the front of the barrel. It was then soldered in place after being clamped with a special sight clamp I made for the project. This clamp (you can now buy one much like it at Harbour Freight) looks like a C-clamp but is of a very light steel material. I had to check many times to ensure the front sight was centered over the bore of the bbl.

I am sorry, my peep sight was not a Williams as I first reported. It is a Lyman 57 SME, It mounted perfectly on the right side of the rear of the action after being drilled and taped.

My very first CF rifle was a Spanish Mauser M93.
I bought it in the early 60's in a gunshop for something like $15.

They were as-new packed in a crate. Brand new looking things made by Ludwig Loewe/Berlin.
7mm Mauser caliber. Brand new bores, bluing, wood. Even came w/a bayonet and scabbard.
Pick out the one you wanted and buy it. As long as the oldster that was with you said it was OK to sell it to you, they took your $$ and it was yours.
7mm Remington FMJ ammo in a 20rd pasteboard box w/a red label on it was 50cents/box IIRC. Got 2 boxes of that too.

The 29inch bbl'd infantry rifle was eventually cut down to a carbine length, my basement gunsmithing career well on it's way much to the horror of some.
Other projects followed involving the nice rifle including bolt alteration and scope mounting. Restocking, rebluing,,that rifle allowed itself to teach me a lot.
I finally sold it many years later to someone that was looking for some parts to restore an old M93 Spanish Mauser back to it's original condition.
Around it goes.

Llance nice project Mauser I've built a few too. My deer rifle is a put together from a 93 action I found in a antique store, the barrel was from a small ring 8mm Turkish Mauser. My brother built a 338-06 on that one and gave me the barrel. Stock is a used commercial can't remember the brand. I used a similar method as you to mount a one piece scope mount on it. I have no problem getting 1" groups @100 yards plenty good enough for middle Tennessee woods. I also have a 71/84 sporter made up from parts. I have a project Swedish Mauser that already has been messed with will be working on it soon. Anything is possible, as long as failure is not a option.

This was not my first project rifle, that was a Siamese 8x52mm. I got it in an antique store in Virginia back in "81" or "82" for the princely sum of $45.00. No ammo for it back then but I found out that 7.62x54 Russian would fit the bolt face so it was a simple matter to using a Forester trim lathe, to trim back to 52mm. I then loaded up some Russian cartridges with powder and a wax plug and fire formed the case. I made a sizing die then loaded up some ammo using 46gr of 4064, using .323 bullets, and zowee they were a spot on loading. I still have it somewhere in the dungeon.