Any of you guys use one?

I have a good option on one in 7x57, good condition although I have to buy it sight-unseen.

This one is sporterized..

Experience/opinion will be appreciated.
Thanks

Personally, I'm not big on any pre-1898 action Mauser, but will yield a little for the Swedish made military rifles, particularly those made by Husqvarna. I have no idea how tough it is to buy any firearm in the RSA, so the opinion of an American dealer and shade-tree 'smith probably isn't much help.

That said, an 1893 Mauser is well over 100 years old and I don't think that firearms get better/stronger with age. Also, I'd want to see anything that I'm going to buy, unless the seller is well known and will give you a fair inspection option.

Jeff

My first rifle was a 93 in 7x57. Did not realize at age 13 it had dangerous headspace issues. Did not keep me from killing 6 or 7 deer with privi partisan 175 grainers. Get the headspace checked. 7x57 is great.

quote:

Originally posted by kayaker:
Any of you guys use one?

I have a good option on one in 7x57, good condition although I have to buy it sight-unseen.

This one is sporterized..

Experience/opinion will be appreciated.
Thanks

It all depends on the condition of the rifle.
Most M93s seen in th US are crap with bad bores and pitted bolt faces.

/

quote:

Originally posted by kayaker:
Any of you guys use one?

I have a good option on one in 7x57, good condition although I have to buy it sight-unseen.

This one is sporterized..

Experience/opinion will be appreciated.
Thanks

I barreled one up for a customer last year in 257R and he loves it. Had to put a new trigger in it too.

if the headspace is OK and you stick to factory loads or equivalent pressure handloads, I would have no problem owning it. I have rebarrelled a couple before-both 2 7x57.

Some European factory loads are pretty hot. Any US factory 7x57 loads are lower pressure and will not stress the action

Well, regarding strength, it makes one wonder. I had one years ago that was built on a Spanish Oviedo Arsenal actiom (1893) in 7x57. A really neat lightweight sporter that I'm sad to say, I sold. Very accurate and killed deer very handily. Ammo was handloads that were within factory levels.
Recently, a bunch of those Spanish mausers were imported into the U.S. that had been converted to 7.62 NATO. Supposedly, they were tested by the H.P. White Laboratory and pronounced safe for use with .308 Win. factory ammo. That does make one wonder if the alleged weakness of those 1893 and 1895 Mausers was all that it was cracked up to be.
Now, if that 7x57 is in decent shape, well I sure wouldn't turn it down. Using either factory ammo or proper handloads it'll more than do a job on game.
Come to think about it, the late Finn Aagaard said his father used an old 7x57 to kill two lions that were killing the cattle on the ranch where he worked. The equivilant of a left and right and two dead cats. Just properly places 175 gr. round nose bullets at roughly 2300 FPS.
Sounds good to me.
Paul B.

Didn't Paul Mauser put his own eye out with a 93?

Terry

quote:

Originally posted by TC1:
Didn't Paul Mauser put his own eye out with a 93?

Terry

Something like that but your point highlights the major deficiency in the pre-98 mauser; gas handling. The actions themselves are fairly strong however, metalurgy on them is spotty, especially on the spanish made actions. We saw many of the Kimber converted 96's come through the shop in Susanville and quite a few of the fine Swedish 96 actions exhibited setback. Actions prone to setback that lack sufficent gas handling capacity don't go together and quite frankly frighten me. I'm so scared.... I stick to american factory loads in my 96's since they are loaded to sedate pressures.

A little off the main topic, but what is the difference between the 93 and the 96 Mauser actions?

TIA,

Don

They are essentially the same actions. The primary difference is that the 96 has a bolt guide on the bolt and a couple of small gas vents on the bolt. Little things like firing pins, cocking pieces, etc, are different too.

Nothing wrong with the 93 or 96, but don't load them to 98 velocities, Modern 7x57 ammo from both Rem and WW are fine for these guns..Most reloading books for the 7x57 take them into consideration..they are alleged to be soft and I don't doubt that as many have excess head space. I don't use them at all.

I have one of the Turkish '93s, modernized by the Turks and converted to 8x57 in 1934. Since the conversion it's seen relatively little use and is in good shape. Has a mismatched bolt just 2 digits off, perfectly headspaced, everything else matching (all new European style numbers put on in the rearsenalling in the '30s, of course.) Sold as a nonshooter by Tapco. It's a very good shooter, and I rather like the cock-on-closing action. The only major difference in gas handling between the 93 and the 98 Mauser is that the 93 has no bolt body vent, so a pierced primer can spray gas out around the striker at the rear. The 98 has a larger flange on the bolt shroud behind the left locking lug raceway, but the 93 has a better one than several modern American commercial rifles I own. Wear your glasses, as you should with any gun. The Turkish 93s were all made by Mauser Werke and were of top quality. They've all been through several wartimes and many have seen hard service, but the '30s reworking rejuvenated them. Many that have been seen lately have heavy rust under the wood, though, so buyer beware. The Turks used them till all their bolt actions were retired in the '60s, and many saw heavy use after rearsenalling. They're a small ring design and the locking lugs are a bit smaller than the 98s. Metallurgy in the mid 1890s wasn't as well developed as now, but Mauser's standards were surely as good as any at the time. The rifles were designed for cartridges with working pressures in the 45,000 PSI range by copper crusher methods.