A couple of Mauser Sporters

[bulletslap]

So far I have fired only Remington 8mm rounds in the 8x57, that ammo is downloaded to not much more than a 30-30 it seems and has a special sort of stepped bullet so as to be safe in older I bore 8x57. I bought some dies and new 8x57 brass a few weeks ago in preparation for reloading for it.

I am think about using cast bullets for it also, with my older eyes and the rear notch sight it is not practical for me to use it much past 100 yards.

With the better Lyman aperture sights on the 9x57 I should be able to stretch out to 200 or so.

 

[2152hq]

JP Sauers ( and some other other makers from that region) pre-WW1 guns meant for export were usually marked 'Prussia' in the bbl address or on the frame.
Not a sure sign, but one thing that you often see.
Prussian State was dissolved at the end of WW1.

Sauer bought the 98 actions from Mauser in that time period, so if you take the bbl'd action out of the wood,,the original Mauser Oberndorf ser# will be on the bottom of the action right behind the recoil lug.
A matching full ser# should be on the rear wall of the magazine box as well (if it's the orig mag box to the action of course).
Mismatched magazine box here doesn't necessarily mean someone later on switched things around, Sauer may have changed out the magazine box assembly in a caliber change or other necessary alteration for the orig build, But it's usually a good bet that it has been done later on and most collectors see it that way.

The bolt and small parts will usually still carry the last 2 digits of that Mauser ser# on them. All matched up as a complete action when sold to Sauer.

JP Sauer added their own ser# to the rifle when they built the sporter on the Mauser made action.

The JP Sauer applied ser# is usually on the right side of the front ring.

The bright high polish blue is what is usually seen on most Sauer sporters that have orig finish left on the action.

 

[bulletslap]

Thank you!

That gives me a good guide to follow to date the rifle.

Btw, there is a very similar Sauer 9x57 rifle for sale currently on the Simson Ltd. Website, it doesn't have the Lyman 35, though.

 

[Gene L]

So far I have fired only Remington 8mm rounds in the 8x57, that ammo is downloaded to not much more than a 30-30 it seems and has a special sort of stepped bullet so as to be safe in older I bore 8x57. I bought some does and new 8x57 brass a few weeks ago in preparation for reloading for it.

I am think about using cast bullets for it also, with my older eyes and the rear notch sight it is not practical for me to use it much past 100 yards.

With the better Lyman aperture sights on the 9x57 I should be able to stretch out to 200 or so.

I agree, factory 8mm in the US is not very high pressure because of US lawyers. European 8mm is hotter. Being anal-retentive as I am, I got the I bullets. At first, I tried using a IS sizing die, but it wouldn't neck the case mouth down enough to hold the I bullets so I looked for and found a I R die on Ebay. Don't need the R, but don't really need it and it works fine.

My rifle has good blue on it, but it's not brilliant blue, like on Weatherbys or Colt Pythons. Looks like rust blue. The forearm is really thin and it split slightly when I fired it. Repaired and now it's fine. I have no way of knowing but believe it hadn't been fired much before I got it. If it had been, the forearm would have split before it did. How it got from pre-WW1 Germany to GA is a mystery.

The stock on mine isn't dark and I wish it were. It does have an interesting thing about it: the last 4 of the SN is on the right side of the stock, very dim and I can't see it unless in bright sunlight. This means the stock is original to the rifle.

bracebeamer on this board is a Mauser man. Hope he reads this.

I don't hunt and I'm probably older than you (75) so I only reload lightly.

 

[bulletslap]

Gene where did you find the I .318 bullets ?

Thanks.

 

[Gene L]

Buffalo Arms. The only place in the US I could find.

 

[bulletslap]

Thank you !

 

[2152hq]

Here's some pics of the Single Set Trigger out of a Mauser Sporter.
This one from an Army Mod C Model.






This one is the trigger Un-Set:


This is the trigger 'Set' :



They should be able to be used to fire the rifle in either the Set or Un-Set mode.

I think this particular assembly was put in the rifle after it was built due to the 'pinned' assembly inside the trigger guard. DST's straight from Mauser so I'm told were not pinned in separate assemblys . But instead fitted right to the trigger guard itself so a blank guard was what they would have started with.
I'm assuming the same for a factory SST. (Bad to assume!)

There's a few other things about the rifle that this SST is off of that make it look like a build done outside the Oberdorf Works.
But I have a feeling
the SST focused on here is what you should see if you take the stock off.

Re: .318d bullets for the I-bore 8mm's.
If you don't want to go with cast lead, you can get away with using jacketed 32 Win Spcl bullets. They are 170gr Jacketed flatnose and are
.321d.
The jackets are very thin on the 32spcl bullets and the dia about splits the difference. Keep the loads within reason and they shoot very well and with no pressure problems.
The dia won't over expand the necks upon seating so there's no issue there as far as tight neck/chamber.
The heavy weight bullet shoots well in them as the older 8x57I was topped with the heavier bullet anyway.

If you want a 'gallery load',,the cast bullet sold for the 8mm Nambu pistol works great. They are usually 102gr or 105gr RN. and again .320d.
I shoot them with a light load of Bullseye or RedDot. Great accuracy out at 50m. They feed well in the Mauser and might make a neat small game rifle of it so you can get it back in the field if you are a small game hunter.
I use the same bullet in 32Remington Auto rifle. A manual op situation though.

 

[bulletslap]

Your post above is invaluable, a heartfelt thank you.

The photos of the your single set trigger is worth the yearly donation I made to the site and then some. And your bullet recommendations are just gravy on top.

You are one of members that makes this Forum great.

 

[Art Doc]

Mine's not as deluxe but I like it a lot. BRNO made between the wars and sporterized by some Bavarian gun smith. Probably shipped home by an Army officer during WW II.

 

[Gene L]

Art, your rifle looks like mine. Same European walnut stock, looks like the same sight. Yours has a longer barrel. Fine rifle you have there!

 

[duane_wade]

This is one of the rifles I won't get rid of, my dad bought this 1896 7x57 back in late 60s from military surplus and cut the stock down and put a relieved bolt on it so it would take a scope. I've had it for about 25 years and still enjoy shooting it even though the barrel is pitted pretty bad as dad used to shoot a lot of surplus ammo through it. It will still put them in the bread basket of a whitetail at 150 yards so I've not thought about getting rebarreled yet.

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