where & by whom was this mauser 7-57 made?

[timkoditch]

Pleased to identify this gun and manufacturer with the fancy stock given to me by a veterinarian friend
I plan to mount a thermal scope for our nighttime pig problem and have read all the horror problems with hardened receivers etc. but there's two holes on the side of this receiver that an 832 screw barely grabs when threaded inside so I definitely need your advice
Is it European metric or?
The two narrow blue arrows I scribd on the photo show the two holes that are threaded
Thank you very much this is my first post
tim

 

[clowdis]

My, my, my. The 2 threaded holes serve no purpose that I'm aware of. But even worse is the front ring, the strength of the receiver, has been ground on a taper to match the barrel. Most of the strength of the receiver is gone. I'd call this junk and unsafe to fire.

 

[Dimner]

Not sure id call it junk. But I would get it checked out by a reputable gunsmith.

Personally, I wouldn't use this to mount a thermal scope. If you can afford a thermal scope, buy yourself a Ruger American or something in a much more common caliber that is much easier to find ammunition at your local sporting goods. And you are going to have 10x times easier mounting options with a modern rifle.

7x57 ammo is going to be hard to find locally. Expensive too. And even if you order online, you are very limited in what type of bullets are available. I don't know anything in regards to what is good on hogs. But i have to think 243, 308 and the like will have many more bullet choices in factory ammo. Even 223 with have more choices.

My 2 cents

But your rifle is a beauty, and I love 7x57 to death. It's a keeper.

 

[SBS]

It is a pre-98 model (likely 93 or 95), which are not the strongest already and grinding the receiver down doesn't help it. I'd handload for it and keep the pressures down. Factory 7x57 used to be loaded lightly (compared to modern pressures) because of all the Rem. rolling blocks and the 1893/95 Mausers. Not sure this is still the case today. Might check factory advertised pressures before using factory rounds.

 

[D the D]

The action is a Spanish Model 95 or 1916 made at Oviedo Spain. The oblong gas escape hole on the left side makes that clear and the bolt sleeve is indicative of a Mauser small ring COC action.
Bolt was altered or replaced by whoever did the sporterizing.
The two side holes are most likely for a European type side scope mount.

 

[std7mag]

And we have a winner with
@D the D.
The 2 threaded screw holes were for a scope mount.
It was common practice for the militaries to hang the scope off the left side, to allow reloading with stripper clips. Which was done straight from the top.

 

[Webster]

Pleased to identify this gun and manufacturer with the fancy stock given to me by a veterinarian friend
I plan to mount a thermal scope for our nighttime pig problem and have read all the horror problems with hardened receivers etc. but there's two holes on the side of this receiver that an 832 screw barely grabs when threaded inside so I definitely need your advice
Is it European metric or?
The two narrow blue arrows I scribd on the photo show the two holes that are threaded
Thank you very much this is my first post
tim

A friend of mine had an old Mauser rifle. 7mm of some sort. A was at the range when he walked up to me and showed me that that receiver cracked open when firing. He wasn't hurt. I believe these old Mausers had cast iron receivers (not forged steel). They were probably loaded originally to much lower pressures than we load to today.

Looking at the texture of metal on the receiver action I would guess it's cast. After casting they only machined surfaces that had to be machined?

 

[CCM]

A friend of mine had an old Mauser rifle. 7mm of some sort. A was at the range when he walked up to me and showed me that that receiver cracked open when firing. He wasn't hurt. I believe these old Mausers had cast iron receivers (not forged steel). They were probably loaded originally to much lower pressures than we load to today.

Looking at the texture of metal on the receiver action I would guess it's cast. After casting they only machined surfaces that had to be machined?

The M93's were made from forged low carbon steel, in the 1020-1035 range. They were case hardened.

 

[Jonnyofalltrades]

Sorry, but "only" case hardening is not really indicative of the sort of results that can be achieved by case-hardening.
It is a process that is still widely used, and can give absolutely stellar results. It is not an inferior process.

 

[CCM]

Sorry, but "only" case hardening is not really indicative of the sort of results that can be achieved by case-hardening.
It is a process that is still widely used, and can give absolutely stellar results. It is not an inferior process.

Didn't mean to imply that it's inferior, it was meant in the comparison of through-hardening of high carbon or modern alloys. No need to be combative.

 

[D the D]

Your superior M98s were "only case hardened"

 

[CCM]

Your superior M98s were "only case hardened"

I'm aware.
I edited my reply to take out the "only." Happy now?