canoeguy
US Veteran
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!
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!
