"Spanish" 1916 Mauser

[GatorFarmer]

So I found another ratty old gun, except it was not too ratty. I think it is a nominally Spanish 1916 short rifle. I say nominally Spanish as it is an 85xx serial number DWM made in Berlin. These lacked the Spanish crest, and some 30,000 were bought by Spain as 93 Mauser long rifles. At some point, post Civil War?, some of these were shortened and modified to 1916 standard, given the oval gas cut out and left side thumb cut on receiver.

The one I have may or may not be sporterized. There are no wings on the front sight any more and the stock has been shortened with the cleaning rod hole filled in. Everything else is standard. I say may have been sporterized as I am see images online of a bunch of other 1916s that look exactly the same so I do not know if some Spanish police or paramilitary had their rifles set up like this.

The butt plate is rusty, the rest is not. Caliber is original 7x57 and not a 7.62 conversion and I see no import marks on it.

I am guessing it is safe to shoot because 1. it is German made so questionable Spanish heat treatment is not an issue and 2. it is in original 7mm and not a conversion.

Cost, with leather sling, was $150 OTD.

How did I do? Can I/should I make a scout rifle out of it?_

 

[DWalt]

I can't tell you exactly what you have but I have a Spanish 1916 Carbine in 7x57. The front receiver ring has no crest or markings. I have understood that when Generalissimo Francisco Franco took power after the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, he ordered all receiver ring markings to be removed. Not a crude job by whoever did it, and it looks well machined and polished, not ground off with a grinding wheel. Anyway, I have no idea whether mine started life as a Mauser or something else.

 

[LVSteve]

Does your rifle look like the one at the bottom of this page?

Carbines1916

That whole website is interesting. Spanmauhome

I have yet to see hard evidence of soft steel in Spanish rifles.

If there is a criticism of that weapon, it's that as a Model 93 derivative it doesn't handle gas all that well in standard form. Without pictures I cannot tell if you have a modified rifle with a gas escape port as seen on the 7.62 conversions.

 

[DWalt]

Mine looks like the bottom picture in the first link, and I guess it is more a short rifle than a carbine.. It shoots a pretty good group, but I have never fired it at anything beyond 50 yards. I don't know how the SNs run but mine is S46xx. And yes, it is an S, not a 5.

"These rifles lack any markings to indicate where and when they were made. The existing markings were presumably ground off, and the rifles were given new serial numbers."

That description fits mine, nothing is stamped on the front receiver ring. It appears to have been made that way, no indication that anything was ever stamped there.

 

[JohnRippert]

My favorite of the Spanish Mausers is the FR-8 in .308 but a 1916 in 7mm would be a good one as well. Good snag.

 

[GatorFarmer]

Does your rifle look like the one at the bottom of this page?

Carbines1916

That whole website is interesting. Spanmauhome

I have yet to see hard evidence of soft steel in Spanish rifles.

If there is a criticism of that weapon, it's that as a Model 93 derivative it doesn't handle gas all that well in standard form. Without pictures I cannot tell if you have a modified rifle with a gas escape port as seen on the 7.62 conversions.

Mine looks like the one featured at the top here Odds_and_Ends

Interesting page, thanks for the link.

My rifle has the 1916 thumb cut and the enlarged oval gas port.

 

[BigBill]

newccindex covers many military guns.

The rifle at the bottom of the page on odds and ends reminds me of my argentine Mauser with the rework done by YE OLD GUN SHOP IN LA,CA. When the long 29" barreled argentine rifles didn't sell they cut them down to carbines and made swept back bolts these were in 7.65 argentine.

I picked up a FN barreled receiver in 308 with stock that looked like a few bubbas had it. I changed it to 7,62x39 a first deer rifle for the grandson. I'm leaving my grandson all set up.

I have small ring 7mm mausers in carbines and long barrels in Chilean and Spanish mausers. The 93 Chileans were made by Loewe and DWM. The 1908 Brazilian 7mm Mauser is a large ring.

SAMCO Global Arms had a outside test done by a vendor. The gun blew up at 90,000lbs chamber pressure. It's well with in the 308win specs. I would keep it on the low side to be safe.