another old rifle

this one is a '93 Mauser. it was made in the Oveido arsenal in Spain in 1923 according to the stamp on the receiver; it's in the venerable 7x57 caliber; one of the most popular centerfire rifle cartridges ever designed.

it was given to me by my brother after he returned from living in Wyoming for a while where he had worked part time in a gunsmith/shop as well being a full time police officer. he had others he wished to "play with" at the time.

that was circa 1980.

i have a very near and dear friend who is an extremely competent machinist as well as a competent and knowledgeable, gunsmith and after leaving the barreled action lay around my garage and workshoppe for many years, i decided to ask him if he would finish it for me; he said he would. he said he'd do the work if I'd supply the parts...fine with me. he also had a similar '93 action he was working on, too. i purchased him his choice of stocks for his action and some tooling in exchange for his knowledge and labor.

i was in no rush to have the rifle completed, after all, i had other centerfire rifles i could use if necessary. he worked on it at his leisure. when he would start something and need a part or tool to work on it, he called me and I'd get it for him. (it required very little in the way of tooling as he is very well equipped, though)

in the end, it took many years before i was able to chamber and fire a round from it.

what i now have is: a '93 Mauser, 7x57 in a custom varminter, thumbhole stock, with a Timiney trigger, with a heavy firing pin spring, turned down bolt with a Bushnell 3-9x32 scope and a speed-lock two position safety.

it has the standard military barrel that's been cut to 26" and I'm hoping to replace it some day with a good commercial barrel in the same caliber. but the bore is in excellent condition so I'm in no hurry at this time. i might also consider the .257 Roberts if a rebarrel is to be done...it's the only barrel/chambering recommended for this older action by knowledgeable gunsmiths and reloaders. the action is not as strong as it's younger brother, the legendary '98 Large ring Mauser.

the only thing i do NOT like about this rifle is the lock time when i pull the trigger. it's something i cannot (reasonably) change. but what can i expect from a military rifle that was designed in 1893? it was, after all, designed as an infantry weapon for a standing army, not for a sportsman's rifle. it was designed with the simplicity, ruggedness, combat accuracy, (which is normally MOA by most armies. the British army required their battle rifles to be able to shoot 1 MOA@100 yards) ease and cost of maintenance needed by an army in order to keep them in the fight and to be operated by, sometimes, very poorly trained, conscripted, soldiers.

the first place American soldiers faced this rifle was in Cuba at San Juan hill. they found how deadly and accurate it is. it's what prompted the U.S. Military to adopt the 30-06 Springfield rifle; the, then, standard issue 45-70, single shot, trap-door Springfield and the .30 caliber Krag-Jorgensen bolt action rifles. both are fine rifles for their day, but could not compete with the one thousand yard killer...the '93 Mauser. the casualties the Americans suffered that day was proof of that.

my '93 is very accurate to fifty yards with factory ammo...i haven't tried it more than that yet...hopefully soon. i still have a few things left to do to it, but it's mine and I'm keeping it...

i find it very interesting that the battle rifles of military powers, past and present, are still in service in the hands of sportsmen the world over. some still in military service, too. the Mauser, Enfield, Springfield, Moisin-Nagants and even the Japanese Arisaka appear to have lives and legacies of their own that will probably outlive me by far and i happen to own a part of that history.