.30/06 Mauser Rifle

jimmyj · Aug 6, 2022

Viewing the post "Rifles From Around The World" in the distant past I collected older Military Rifle. IIRC (?) I had two 1898 Mauser Rifles from South American (Brazil ?) that I think were Model 1950 in .30/06 caliber.

Am I remembering correctly ?

Ivan the Butcher · Aug 6, 2022

Sounds about right! There were FN 49's made in 7x57, 30-06, and 8x57 none were made for the civilian market or for hunters.

Ivan

LoboGunLeather · Aug 6, 2022

The Brazilian Model 1909 was chambered in .30-06, made by DWM, basic 1898 pattern military rifle.

Many of the Central and South American nations used Mauser-pattern rifles, both German and Spanish. The dominant caliber was 7X57. Mexico developed a military rifle on the 98 Mauser design, but with features copied from the US M1903 Springfield, also in .30-06 caliber. Perhaps interesting to note, the M1903 Springfield itself was a pretty close copy of the Mauser (controlled feed, claw extractor function, etc) and the US actually lost a patent lawsuit over that, but World War One intervened on settling all claims.

alwslate · Aug 6, 2022

Some South American countries used 98 Mausers that were converted to .30/06 after WW2 because they were given or loaned M1 Garands by the US I think. Argentina was one of those countries as I understand it. I had one Argentine 1950 model in .30/06 that was marked .30 on the receiver. it was in poor condition and I stripped it down and have only the receiver left.

2152hq · Aug 6, 2022

The Belgian Gov't had what are commonly refered to as Model 1950 FN 98 Mausers made for them on contract in '51 and '52 (IIRC).

A rifle to be used till the FN49 got into full production and into the hands of the Belgian soldiers.

The front rings are marked with the yr of mfg.
These were made for the 30-06 cartridge, not a conversion from a 7mm or 8mm.
The top of the front ring will have a notch out to allow the clip loading of US 5shot stripper clip rounds.

The first contracts are marked with Belgian King Louis script 'L'
The second contract with his son's name (can't remember it,, Bordouin or something like that) script 'B' ,the successor to the Throne.

The finish was a black enamal 'paint' for the Army issue. A grey finish for the NAvy issue.
Many ended up in the Belgian Congo wars and suffered wear and climate damage. Some are further marked 'FP' (Force Publique) for their use by the Congo Army and Security Police.
There was another separate contract for the Belgian Congo marked with their Crest on the recv'r and the 'FP' and date of '52.

I think a few other countrys got post war FN 98's made up in 30-06 as well. CostaRica perhaps? My Mauser knowledge is lacking.
Many of the existing pre_War 98 Mausers in service got a re-bbl or just a rechamber to 30-06 after WW2 and a traincar or 2 of surplus 30-06 ammo. How to make friends.
I have a Peruvian FN 98 bbl'd action that was converted by rechambering to 30-06.
Also one of the M1950 Belgian contract FN 98 in '06.
The crest was scrubbed but enough remains to see it was the first contract 'L' crest.
Missing the rear sight and handguard.

If the orig cal bbl's were 7.65Argentine Mauser cal (.313bulletdia). The bore a bit large for a standard 30-06 bullet (.308)
But they shoot well in most instances when simply rechambered to 30-06..

They marked a '30' heavily stamped into the top of the rear recv'r ring on those rifles that were converted from the 7.65 Argt Mauser cal to 30-06.

Scharfschuetzer · Aug 6, 2022

On a couple of my assignments in South America, I saw armories full of old Mausers of all different models just rusting into the floor. So sad.

My favorite cast bullet rifle is this Loewe built Argentinian Mauser in 7.65 caliber. It will often shoot MOA with the Lyman 314299 bullet design when loaded over SR 4759 powder in cases made from Lake City Ought-Six brass. Here's 10 shots at 100 yards.

s&wchad · Aug 6, 2022

jimmyj said:
Viewing the post "Rifles From Around The World" in the distant past I collected older Military Rifle. IIRC (?) I had two 1898 Mauser Rifles from South American (Brazil ?) that I think were Model 1950 in .30/06 caliber.

Am I remembering correctly ?

You could be thinking of the Madsen M47. They were made in the 1950's and chambered in .30-06, but they don't look a thing like a 98 Mauser. They did have some features of the Mauser rifle and only about 6000 were produced under contract for Columbia.

smoothshooter · Aug 6, 2022

LoboGunLeather said:
The Brazilian Model 1909 was chambered in .30-06, made by DWM, basic 1898 pattern military rifle.

Many of the Central and South American nations used Mauser-pattern rifles, both German and Spanish. The dominant caliber was 7X57. Mexico developed a military rifle on the 98 Mauser design, but with features copied from the US M1903 Springfield, also in .30-06 caliber. Perhaps interesting to note, the M1903 Springfield itself was a pretty close copy of the Mauser (controlled feed, claw extractor function, etc) and the US actually lost a patent lawsuit over that, but World War One intervened on settling all claims.

I have read that the US actually paid Mauser royalties for each Springfield rifle produced during most or all of the war.
America was only involved officially toward the tail end of the war, and involved in combat operations for the last 6 months.
In the short time we were there, we had over 300,000 total casualties with over 200,000 deaths from combat operations, accidents, and illness.

LVSteve · Aug 6, 2022

Many South American contract rifles were converted to 30-06 in the 1950s, and some to 7.62 NATO at later dates. Below is the mark on the rear receiver ring of a Colombian VZ24 converted to 30-06.

The aversion of some in the US to guns marked in metric can be judged by these pictures.

Here is how the Chileans marked their guns converted to 7.62 NATO.

Some owner or gunshop wasn't happy with that on another rifle clearly marked as a 1912-61, i.e. converted to 7.62 NATO using rechambered 03A3 two-groove barrels. Nope, they weren't having any furrin' caliber marks in their safe. The receiver ring has clearly been ground down and restamped as .308.

LVSteve · Aug 6, 2022

s&wchad said:
You could be thinking of the Madsen M47. They were made in the 1950's and chambered in .30-06, but they don't look a thing like a 98 Mauser. They did have some features of the Mauser rifle and only about 6000 were produced under contract for Columbia.

Color me very jealous.

JohnRippert · Aug 6, 2022

Jimmy, the Columbian Mauser in .30-06 that I posted about in that thread is one of these.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgIkD8zmK0s"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgIkD8zmK0s[/ame]

LVSteve · Aug 6, 2022

jimmyj said:
Viewing the post "Rifles From Around The World" in the distant past I collected older Military Rifle. IIRC (?) I had two 1898 Mauser Rifles from South American (Brazil ?) that I think were Model 1950 in .30/06 caliber.

Am I remembering correctly ?

According to Military Mauser Rifles of the World (MMROTW):

Many Model 1908/34 short rifles were converted at Itajuba in Brazil to 30-06. They were marked "Mod 08/34 .30" on the receiver. The 1908/34 short rifles were built in Czechoslovakia in 7mm. In Czech parlance they are actually model "12/33", a shortened and lightened version of the famous VZ24.

The other Brazilian short rifles in 30-06 are marked "Mq .30 M954" and were built new in 1954. "Mq" is probably short for mosqueton, a European term for "short rifle".

While these are both 1898 type actions, it is more usual to refer to them by their contract date.

Igiveup · Aug 6, 2022

The original Brazilian Mausers were the Model 1908 in 7x57. Argentina had a Model 1909 in 7.65. Both were finished "in the white" and were beautiful, made by DWM. Some M1909's were converted to 30-06 by an importer in order to sell them easier. Original barrel kept, just rechambered, not extremely accurate.

2152hq · Aug 6, 2022

Here is a Belgian Gov't contract 1950 in 30-06. Not a conversion but made in '06.
The action only obviously,, w/a 12.5x70 Schuler bbl attached. Much more work needed!
Note the orig 'black enamel' finish they used. This action had the Belgian Crest removed when surplused.
Front ring notched for the 30-06 round use with 5rd strippers.

This one a Peruvian FN mfg 98. bbl'd action
Originaly in cal 7.65 Argentine Mauser cal.
Either rebbl'd to 30-06,,or the orig 7.65 Arg Mauser bbl simply rechambered to 30-06. They did both.

Front ring again notched. The rear ring stamped '.30' to note the caliber change.

Note the Peruvian Mauser safety that works opposite of the normal Mauser flag safety.
To the Right is Fire
To the Left is Safe.

lamarw · Aug 7, 2022

A few years back, I acquired a Peruvian military rifle with a receiver similar to the receiver shown by 2152hq. It was rechambered to 30-06 by the Peruvian Govt. and has the Peru Crest. I believe it is known as a Peruvian 1935 Mauser and/or as a Model 35/46.

britbike1 · Aug 7, 2022

Great rifle

Scharfschuetzer said:
On a couple of my assignments in South America, I saw armories full of old Mausers of all different models just rusting into the floor. So sad.

My favorite cast bullet rifle is this Loewe built Argentinian Mauser in 7.65 caliber. It will often shoot MOA with the Lyman 314299 bullet design when loaded over SR 4759 powder in cases made from Lake City Ought-Six brass. Here's 10 shots at 100 yards.

I had 3 at one time. First one was sold at a sears robuck store in the late 50s or early 60s. $18 iIRC. All of them had crest ground and had a hard time finding bayonets for them that were even close in serial number. Beautifully made. Understand they made about a 1000 a day to fill the contract with Argentina.

.30/06 Mauser Rifle

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