7X57 Spanish Mauser "Deal?"

[joshb]

I was in one of my favorite old gun stores yesterday and I pawed a gun that seemed interesting. The tag said:Spanish Mauser, 7mm. The barreled action was sitting in a new unfinished walnut stock. The fitting was pretty good and so was the metal. Very minor blemishes. The barrel was full of cosmoline so I can't tell it's condition. They wanted $225. I've been looking for a 7x57 for a while, to play with. Any one have any insight or thoughts. I've been very lucky with my Swedish Mauser purchases. Thanks, Josh.

 

[Jose_Luis_G]

From Spain.
Just be careful with this rifles. We went through a civil war (1936-1939) and for that time the 7x57 was one of the rifles in use.
Most rifles you can find have had a heavy use and the barrels might be worthless.
If you have chance to read the marking at the top of the action you can see the manufacturing year and more interesting info.
It also depends on what lenght of barrel it has. The eldest ones have a very short barrel and the action is '93. Next are the longest barrels also with '93 action and last are the intermediate lenght, mostly '93 but you can find '98 actions as well for those.
Mexican '98 action are also in 7x57 and have shown to be excellent quality.
Anyway, if you are thinking of replacing the barrel with a new one, I can tell you that the quality and liability of the actions is just perfect.
My two cents.

 

[joshb]

Thank you for the advice, Jose. You answered my concerns. I'll try to find a Mexican. I have an empty spot in my rack for a 7x57. I had a nice Argentine Mauser many years ago but sold it. I'm regretting that now and have the urge to find a replacement.

 

[butchlambert]

Thank you for the advice, Jose. You answered my concerns. I'll try to find a Mexican. I have an empty spot in my rack for a 7x57. I had a nice Argentine Mauser many years ago but sold it. I'm regretting that now and have the urge to find a replacement.

Mexican receivers are getting hard to find and make sure it is complete. Extractors are very hard to find.

 

[normmatzen]

I have two 7X57 Mausers. One I built from a $125 "sporterized" Spanish mauser. Before messing with it I did a lot of research on the usability of the Spanish M93. The conclusion is that lawyers and really conservative folks decided the M93 was too weak to use. Not so. You may not want to build a 7mm REM MAG on a M93 action, but 7X57 loaded to usable loads is not a safety issue. I re-barreled mine with a re-chambered Rem 7mm barrel and added a nice Richards stock and now my grandson has a rifle to be proud of. Only unfortunate thing, it out-shoots my 7X57 on a VZ24 action with German surplus barrel!!

 

[Ggmac]

From years of collecting and working on Mausers , I would pass on anything other than a good quality 98 . I just isn't worth the time or money working on a Spanish 93 . I have a box of 93 Spanish receivers that have the lugs set back .
Sarco has a special , 93 receiver for $15
Butch is correct , if getting a Mexican , make sure it's complete .
There is a work around for a Mexican receiver , ( missing extractor) but that involves using a short action 98 bolt (1922 Brazil ) in the Mexican .
You would need to cut a relief in the barrel , like the rem 700, because the bolt nose extends further than the Mexican .
Yes I've done it for many years ,and it works .

 

[shortgrass]

I have two 7X57 Mausers. One I built from a $125 "sporterized" Spanish mauser. Before messing with it I did a lot of research on the usability of the Spanish M93. The conclusion is that lawyers and really conservative folks decided the M93 was too weak to use. Not so. You may not want to build a 7mm REM MAG on a M93 action, but 7X57 loaded to usable loads is not a safety issue. I re-barreled mine with a re-chambered Rem 7mm barrel and added a nice Richards stock and now my grandson has a rifle to be proud of. Only unfortunate thing, it out-shoots my 7X57 on a VZ24 action with German surplus barrel!!

Most surplus barrels that fit Mausers or come on a Mauser rifle are nothing more than scrap. Too many rounds fired that were primed by mercuric primers, too many years of neglect. If viewed on the inside with a bore scope, they look like one big, long rust pit. It's a rarity to find one in better than fair condition. The '93 doesn't have the strength of design the '98 has, and the '98 doesn't have the strength in materials that modern actions do. I've seen plenty of '98s with set back lug abutments. Some from being "hot rodded", some are "Bubbas'" fault because he drilled and tapped for scope mounts in the wrong place , some that were barreled-up for cartridges they shouldn't have been and some that suffer from poor case hardening to begin with. I've seen many, many more that didn't have any problems. But, once the locking lugs on the bolt are through the case hardened abutments there is nothing that can be done to fix the situation. That said, I have at least a dozen custom hunting rifles built using Mauser '98 receivers. I had every one of those re-case hardened before I barreled them. We used to be able to by surplus Mausers with some pretty good barrels on them and all the metal in VG condition. Those days are no more..... When and if you find one you will pay a premium for it.

 

[shortgrass]

I was in one of my favorite old gun stores yesterday and I pawed a gun that seemed interesting. The tag said:Spanish Mauser, 7mm. The barreled action was sitting in a new unfinished walnut stock. The fitting was pretty good and so was the metal. Very minor blemishes. The barrel was full of cosmoline so I can't tell it's condition. They wanted $225. I've been looking for a 7x57 for a while, to play with. Any one have any insight or thoughts. I've been very lucky with my Swedish Mauser purchases. Thanks, Josh.

There's a world of difference between a Swedish Mauser and a Spanish mauser. The Swede being the better of the two by a large margine. I'd always been told the Spanish made were 'soft'. I don't know that as fact as I've only used CZs, Oberndofs', DWMs' and Styer made. I'd like to find a Mex, too,, but I'll not pay a premium just to have one. Too many other good choices out there, IMO.

 

[swd]

I've seen a lot of Swede's that were very soft but reheat treat one and they are definitely the nicest of the small rings. I still wouldn't chamber one for anything more than medium pressure like a SAAMI 6.5x55 or 7x57. The Mexicans have a C ring and I've been told after heat treat they hold up fine to modern non magnum pressures. But you would have to research that yourself;-)