I picked this action up at the gun show today and would be interested in knowing more about it. The bolt handle has been bent and recut for a scope and the safety a Buehler safety installed.
It is marked 1896 Oviedo Fibrica De Armas. I was hoping some one could enlighten me as to its practical use. I was thinking of making it into a 7 X 57 or perhaps a 6.5 X 55 or even a 243.
Would it have to be heat treated or could it be used as is. Since I only have $30 in it I do have some room to work on it.

It was made in Spain and was likely chambered in 7x57. It looks like either a M95 or M96.

You could probably get away with a 7x57, 6.5x55, or 7.65x53, but do not build anything high pressure like a .243 Win. These old actions just won't handle gas like an M98 will.

quote:

Since I only have $30 in it I do have some room to work on it.

Merely one man's opinion here so don't take this personally; that's $30 too much.

Take it to the next gun show and trade it for a '98 or other decent action and build something worth your time and money.

duikerman I would not take it personal, thats why I ask. I have a couple of 98 actions just got this one cause it was cheep and if nothing else I can use it for practice on the milling machine.

It should be fine to use. God only knows how many '96's are out there in the field every year and this one would be very good for the 7x57. You can make a nice, trim rifle on the action. Personally, I like M98's, but I have built 96's for customers before. The way I look at it, it takes the same money and time to build on either 98 or 96, so I sitck to the 98's I like. And they are "better" in some ways, but it is mostly academic.

Almost everyone likes the Swedish Mausers, and they are pre-98's. Pre-98's are not as strong or as good at handling gas, but they work very well. The 96 handles gas from a ruptured case about as well as a Winchester pre-64 M70. The unsuitability of the 96 is one of those things was written about in some magazine articles and gun books, and now it just gets regurgitated every time the subject comes up. There was even a posting here a few weeks ago where a guy told a store manager that a M96 in .270 on the guy's rack would be a handgrendae on of these days. It is exactly the same as saying Damascus barrel are dangerous-not true.

But i do know my stance is not a popular one. Luckily we live in a free country though.

That makes two of us Marc. The gas handling thing is a matter of degrees of good, not good versus bad. The Swedish commercial models are particularly attractive to me and they came factory ready in 270 and even 220 Swift. If you look at the lugs, the total shear area on a '96 is about equal to the total shear area of the 98 lugs and the third lug combined.

But at the end of the day, whether military '96 or military '98, there's nothing wrong about them that $1500 won't fix, LOL.

How did we get to talking about a swedish 96 when the action in question is probably a spanish 93 or 95 ? Tex 21 is giving you great advice as to how strong these actions are- at best leave in the orign cal. or cartridges that have the same pressure level. I have seen several of these actions that have lugs set back due to being soft and some that were very hard. By the way some 98 s are not strong enough for modern stuff. Be safe!!!!!! bill439
Yesterday I was at the public range and a fellow shooter was testing some rifles he had custom built. One of the rifles in his kit was a 1891 mauser that had been rebarreled to 22-250. I suggested to him that he might ought to reconsider this conversion, his reply was that the "Gunsmith" had graduated from a gunsmith school and had been working for 20 years doing such work. My reply was that being a graduate of a school did not make his rifle any safer. I asked if he was loading the ammo for this and his reply was he was using factory ammo. Why people do stuff like this is beyond me. I then told him he should maybe get another opinon like the NRA as to what they thought. Anyway waisted my time, I left the range and will contact the "Gunsmith" first hand.

do it in 35 rem and never look back!
jeffe

If I'm not mistaken that rear scope base hole on the front ring is drilled right in the middle of the recoil lug web. It should have been further forward. Look in from the front of receiver to make sure it hasn't been drilled on the face of the lug seat.

OK, let's keep this simple. Remove the bolt from the rifle. Look at the bolt face. If the bottom of the bolt if FLAT, it is an 1893 mauser. If it is ROUND, then it is an 1895 mauser. I'll bet you dollars to doughnuts it's an 1893.
With that said, contrary to popular opinion, they do make into neat lightweight sporters. When Spain went over to the 7.62 NATO they converted a whole bunch of these rifles to the NATO round. Actually, they were converted to the 7.62 CETME cartridges which was exactly like the NATO round but lowered to a lot less pressure. When they discovered that the CETNE assault rifle could hold up under full power NATO ammo they went to that. They then flooded the market with those converted 1893 Mausers. The H.P. White laboratory tested a bunch of these older rifles and pronounced them safe for factory .308 Win. ammo.
Personally, if I were to get another on, I would do the same thing as before, make a nice light 7x57 mauser out of it and stick to either factory ammo or handlods no hotter than factory.
The one I had was also an Oviedo Arsenal made in 1916 and it was a sweet little rifle. My oldest daughter took her first deer with that gun and to this day, I'm sorry I ever sold it. I did stick to handloads that were of the proper pressure level for an 1893 Mauser.
Paul B.

Paul B it is a round bolt better get out the dollars cause your buying
z1r it is drilled in the center of the upper lug web.
Thanks to all that replyed not I will need to print out this tread and figure out what to do next. Seeing that I will do the work myself it will be interesting to see how it works out.
jeffeosso The 35 Remington sounds interesting never have given that caliber much thought.