Information on a Spanish M1895 Carbine
So today, based on the tip of a loyal customer and friend of mine pointed me to one of the pawn shops in town that had, as he put it, a Spanish mauser with a manlicher stock. He said he thought it had been chopped since the barrel didn't go beyond the end of the stock and so on. So, out of boredom I went by after work today to check on this bubba rifle that I had kind of dismissed. Turns out, it was all intact EXCEPT for a few things that I'll get to in a minute. I was still unsure after seeing it so I went home, took out my copy of Ball and looked it up. Sure enough it exists but I can find precious little information on it.
Now.
The good news is that it was cheap. Less than $200 and it is still in 7mm. Stock isn't sanded, crest, what remains of it, is decent. Bore is a little dark but will definitely clean up to be very nice.
And the bad.
It has been bubba'd. Drilled and tapped but I have a plan for that. It is missing the sling metal; the side plate/bar in the butt and the saddle bar and ring. Both were filled in with wood putty (already chipped that out!) but nothing else was done to it. Well, actually, bubba decided after removing the sling bar, that he actually needed a sling so he screwed in a sling stud over (thankfully) the putty. So, the biggest issue is the drill and tap bits. I can sort out the wood parts provided I can find the components, something that has so far been fruitless. What I have decided is that I will try something I have been pondering. Using a screw of the same thread, I will screw it in, lock it in place with some Rockset thread-locker and then file it down to match the contour of the receiver, cold blue it to match and hey presto, it is filled. It will still be visible that it was done, but at least there won't be a hole. On the ring, the guy managed to miss most of the markings with his vile drilling efforts so that isn't too bad, but in the rear, he managed to remove a small chunk of the stripper-clip guide ridge. So that will be a bit more tricky but I think the same process with careful sculpting from a dremel will sort that out as well.
So what I need to know in the mean time is what this rifle is beyond just a cavalry carbine and any important things to look for. Pictures are coming soon but in the meantime, feed me information! Thanks guys!
