LRCampos - yes, you're right, it was defintely the Model 1908. Oh dear, you make me feel quite nostalgic for this type of rifle. If a good long version turned up here tomorrow, I'd be strongly tempted! As well as the long barrel format and the '98 action, the other thing that attracts me is that this rifle kept the big ugly, straight-out-the-side bolt handle and grasping knob like the very early infantry (long) rifle models. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and while I initially thought it looked very clumsy, I got so used to seeing the bolt handle of my Boer 1895 out of the corner of my right eye that I came to think all Mausers should look like that! I had a really nice interwar era 8mm Persian Mauser long rifle made by BRNO (or was it FN? Memory suffers with age) for a year or two, very similar to the 1908, but I never liked the 8X57mm cartridge nearly as much as the 7mm - too much recoil and never as accurate - so I didn't keep it long despite it being beautifully made and finished and in mint (actually probably never used) condition.
PS is the later, shorter 7mm Brazilian military cartridge (7X49mm aka 7mm Liviano) used much in the country by civilians for target shooting and hunting? As I understand it, this cartridge is a shortened 7X57mm, not an early 7mm-08 based on the .308W?
PS is the later, shorter 7mm Brazilian military cartridge (7X49mm aka 7mm Liviano) used much in the country by civilians for target shooting and hunting? As I understand it, this cartridge is a shortened 7X57mm, not an early 7mm-08 based on the .308W?