Spanish Mauser 7X57 reloads

[Merc]

Yep. I bought a Spanish M1916 in 1956. The only ammo you could get was those old Remingtons or the equivalent Winchester-Western. They would hold about a 3" group with the issue iron sights, which was all I had.

Vern,

I compared the 174 gr round nose bullets to the 139 gr soft point bullets that I've been shooting and thought the shape of round nose bullets would overcome some of the .435 jump gap, engage the rifling a bit sooner and possibly shoot straighter.

Too bad I ignored this clue. I probably have a dozen boxes of reloaded 7 mm Mauser with the 139 gr soft point bullets.

Do you still own the Spanish Mauser?

The old box of 20 Remington round noses (with 4 left unfired) is marked $4.75 so it must also be from the 1950s.

Merc

[Vern Humphrey]

That old Mauser went down the gun-trading trail long ago.

And you don't know what $4.75 was in those days. You could get a M1903A3 for $30 in those days, and I wanted one so bad I could taste it -- but $30 was far more than I could come up with.

Today I have two M1903A3s -- a Smith-Corona and a Remington. The first cost me $185, and the other was given to me.

[Merc]

I got the 1916 Spanish Mauser as a "gift" from a friend who made an unfortunate attempt to sportrerize it 20 plus years ago. I got what initially looked like a really nice barrel and action but he cut off the fore stock and lost just about everything else. I found another complete 1916 Spanish Mauser at an antique shop last summer that had a shot-out barrel but everything else was in excellent shape. Both were made in 1931 so all the parts fit perfectly.

I've since learned a few gunsmith testing techniques from the guys here that has allowed me to further assess the rifle's condition and found that it's throat is probably worn beyond being accurately fired unless a reload combination can be found that compensates for the wear. That's the fun of reloading.

Merc

[Merc]

I went to the Ohio Civil War Gun Show on Saturday and spoke to a gun dealer who had several Mausers for sale. He seemed to know a lot about them so I asked him if he knew anything about the ammo type that the Spanish Mauser uses and he said that the chamber was definitely made to fire a 7X57 174 gr round nose cartridge. I also arrived at this conclusion but it was good to hear the same from a knowledgeable source.

[Vern Humphrey]

Of course they were made to fire standard 7X57 Mauser ammo! The first Mausers the Spanish bought were true Mausers, and the 7X57 was the standard cartridge designed for those rifles.

Now, the Mausers converted to 7.62 CETME are NOT up to standard 7.62 NATO pressures, and shouldn't be used with standard .308 Ammo.

[Merc]

I measured the jump gap in the barrel of my worn Spanish Mauser barrel (the one with the shot-out rifling) and it measured .435" which is identical to the jump gap in the barrel of my other unworn Spanish Mauser with the crisp rifling.

Now I'm wondering if the .435" jump gap is an original unworn measurement and was intentionally cut longer to accommodate the larger round nose bullet.

Anyone out there with a M1916 Spanish Mauser who would be willing to measure the rifle's jump gap for comparison?

Learning by bits and pieces and reverse engineering.

Merc

[Vern Humphrey]

Now I'm wondering if the .435" jump gap is an original unworn measurement and was intentionally cut longer to accommodate the larger round nose bullet.

You're exactly right. Nineteenth century smokeless powder rifles were intended to be loaded with loooooong, round nose bullets and are throated accordingly. You will often get best accuracy with these rifles by seating the bullets way out there.

[Merc]

You're exactly right. Nineteenth century smokeless powder rifles were intended to be loaded with loooooong, round nose bullets and are throated accordingly. You will often get best accuracy with these rifles by seating the bullets way out there.

I was really close to making my old Spaniard a wall hanger. It's an attractive "short" rifle that will be fun to shoot once it's chambered with the correct ammo.

Merc

[RED]

This thread reminds me of my 6.5 Carcano. Those little guns are widely maligned and misunderstood. The WWII rifles were chambered for 160 gr. round nose FMJ's and they were .2657" in diameter. Just about everybody, including the FBI, used .264 dia spire points and Hornady recommended and sold .268 gr. round nose bullets. Incidentally those old round nose bullets have steel cores and still look pretty pristine even dug out of the berm.

With some help from a gunsmith friend, I took a Carcano M-38 and mounted a 3/4" Weaver scope on a side mount. You have to mount the scope turned 90 degrees to keep the adjustment knob from interfering with the enbloc clip... Thus windage becomes elevation and vice versa. I have some .2657/160 gr. round nose projectiles pulled from WWII surplus ammo and it will shoot them into under 1" at 50 yards. Surprisingly, it will also shoot PPU 139 gr, factory rounds into 1.5."

The old bore looks pretty bad, but has strong lands and dark grooves. The one accuracy enhancement that helped was to recrown the muzzle.

[Merc]

I haven't seen very many Carcano rifles. A few here and there at gun shows. Trivia - it was L. H. Oswalds weapon of choice. Sounds like it's a sweet shooter in spite of the barrel condition. Finding and shooting the original ammo can make all the difference in accuracy.

Merc