Chilean Mauser: 8mm or 7mm?

[XLesky]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking at buying a Chilean Mauser from a gunshop in my area. The owner thought it was 8mm (hasn't checked), but I thought they only came in 7mm??

Can anyone answer this one for me? This will be my first ex-mil Mauser if I bought it, and I've only ever heard of Chilean Mausers being 7x57.

This one is unmodified and in pretty darn good condition so no conversion is likely and there are no non-canon markings on it so I don't think it was requisitioned by another army..

Information

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[thommygun]

Hi XLesky !

Can you be a bit more specific on the model? Since the Chilean Army had various Mauser models in use it would be helpful. But from what I know 7x57 - and 7.65 Argentinian as well - were very common calibres in all South American Armies. I have recently seen a Peruvian Mauser which was converted from 7.65 to .308 . This was officially done back in the 50's by the Chilean government.

[Aragorn243]

1895 Chilean Mausers are 7mm unless converted later.

[XLesky]

Thanks Aragorn, I was sure they never adopted 8mm.

Thommygun, unfortunatley I'm only starting out in collecting Mausers so can't offer much info sorry. From what I've seen on here it looks like a 95 action (I've got a converted FN 98 and it certainly doesn't have the same action as that).

If one is 7.65, where is it marked? I've read on here that 7.62 NATO conversions have the calibre stamped on the rear of the reciever...

[Patrick Chadwick]

The Chilean Mausers were always in caliber 7x57. If it is a long rifle that looks similar to a Gew98, but without a pistol grip. then it is most probably an 1895 model. This model does NOT have the same "state of the art" as the later Gew98 and its variants (like the Brazilena M1909, also in 7x57, or the Argentine M1908 in 7.65x537) and is a small-ring action, very similar to the M93 Spanish version. So if you are looking for a safe shooter, do not buy any M95 that has been rechambered.

However, if it is a long rifle with a vestigial pistol grip, it might be a Steyr (OEWG) 1912 model. These are large-ring Mausers that are basically 98s in the 7mm chambering. A good rifle if you can get one.

Regrettably, Mauser actions have often been "rebored" by Bubba and his collegues, without the new chambering being properly marked. I was once at the range when the guy next to me started complaining loudly about the (supposedy) .308 rifle he was shooting completely missing the target "and the cases are hard to chamber and really screwed up after firing". I took one look at a fired case and retired to a safe distance, while advising him to stop at once. He was shooting .308 ammo in a rifle chambered for 30-06. No marking on the receiver.

Moral: even if the seller swears by his family honor that the rifle is whatever he claims - check it out before shooting - it's your health at stake, not his!

Patrick

[Aragorn243]

I picked one up a few months ago for $120. I considered it a steal. The condition of the metal is good, no major pitting, some minor pitting under the stock, very good bore. The stock left something to be desired as it was black with grime. I cleaned it up some and got the reddish cast back to it and was able to bring out the markings where you couldn't see them before. Got a bayonet and repro sling for it off ebay and it's looking pretty good.

Ammo is a bit of a problem. Hard to find and when you do it's on the expensive side. Bass Pro Shops, where I will probably never shop again was selling it for $27 a box. I had a gift card and bought two boxes with paying a bit extra. At the rate I shoot things, two boxes will last me a while and give me enough for reloading.

If the guy will let you take the stock off, might be a good idea so you don't get any surprises. This is where they tend to rust the most. Some pitting on these old rifles is to be expected but you don't want any serious holes.

[Calif-Steve]

Someone might correct me, but I do not believe any 8mm Mausers were used in Latin America. They really liked the 7mm and Argentina tried to buy 7mm Mausers but the Germans were too busy with the Turkish contract. They had piles of 7.65mm barrel on hand and they talked the Argentine Army into accepting the 7.65mm barrels. Add this: I have heard the Argentine contract was not made in the rifle arsenal. It was too occupied witht the huge Turkish contract. So, not to lose the work, the Germans (DWM) had their commerical plant manufacture the Argentine rifles. They are works of art and well worth the money.

[jmoore]

Someone might correct me, but I do not believe any 8mm Mausers were used in Latin America. They really liked the 7mm and Argentina tried to buy 7mm Mausers but the Germans were too busy with the Turkish contract. They had piles of 7.65mm barrel on hand and they talked the Argentine Army to accepting the 7.65mm barrels.

Ecuador used 7.92x57 ammo, as I have a bunch; what the rifle was, I don't know!

[Dutchman]

Ecuador used 7.92x57 ammo, as I have a bunch; what the rifle was, I don't know!

Nanner nanner I have one

It was neither manufactured for, nor crested for Ecuador.

This one came in with the thousands of Commission rifles from Ecuador. It has a brand new Czech .318" groove barrel installed. Cost $100 from Southern Ohio Gun Distributors.





As for Latin American use of 8x57mm. Yes. Nicaragua was one. You heard of Ollie North? Colonel Ollie North, President Regan's man about town? You heard the term, "Contra"? You hear the term, "Contra Scandal"? It was about the United States sending GUNS to the anti-commie civilians in Nicaragua, the "contras".

What rifles ended up in Nicaragua?

K98k Mausers from Israel in, first 8x57, then 7.62x51 Nato as the ammo logistics were easier to deal with.

Among these rifles in Nicaragua a bunch of very distinctly marked K98k floated to the surface. They had a two letter inspector stamp on the left side wall that wasn't German or Israeli. It was S.S. and G.B.( Carl Bjorkenstam). Stem Stenmo was a Swedish military inspector from 1942-1946. One of the rifle series he inspected and marked was the Swedish m/39 K98 rifle and the K98k m/40 8x63mm rifle for machinegun squads. When Sweden surplused them off in the 1950s they were purchased by Israel, who rebarreled them to 8x57. So the actual and true lineage of those particular rifles was proven with those two letters stamped into the rifle. When these same rifles were imported as curio-relic firearms and sold off by Century Arms and others they were pretty beat up and neglected. But where they'd been and who had them explained a great deal. They were certainly better than no rifle which is why Ronnie sent them. For more fun historical facts you might research how Ronnie and Ollie bypassed Congress to fund weapons and ammo to the Contras.



I tell you a little story from when I worked in Lost Angeles at a large public utility. This Hispanic dude drives in one day to make a delivery. Back in those days I had long blond hair, blue eyes, red Beard. Six feet tall 200 lbs. Once in a while I was called "Popeye" because of my beefy forearms.

So this guy he delivers a large shipment of liquid soap for the steam cleaner (for diesel engines and such). He looks at me for the longest time and has this glazed over look on his face. Now, being native to L.A. and being who I am I get along very well with all manner of "whoever", no matter where they're from. So I say howdy doo (in Spanish) and since I've had a couple/few Mex female friends and spent a year with a Peruvian Inca woman (Maria, who's senior year at San Marcos University for her Bachelor of Science degree included... ) I can fake a Spanish accent pretty good as long as the sentences aren't too long. You shake your head and wave your hands around saying "si si" a lot and things generally go ok.

So this guy is from Nicaragua. He says he remembers ME from his village. That I was teaching his village how to shoot guns and how to clean and such. Mausers. 8x57 Mausers. As soon as I started talking guns and Mausers he was smiling like we were long lost brothers who hadn't seen each other in 50 years. I suddenly had a best friend and no amount of denial would convince him that I wasn't a CIA civilian ex-military "contractor". I ask him, "did you kill many communistas?". He says yes, many. I say back to him, "muy bueno, amigo". Every time he made deliveries he'd sit down and we'd talk like we knew each other our whole lives.

True story from long ago.


Dutch

[Calif-Steve]

"Ecuador: I have never seen one which was manufactured and crested for this country. They did use Mausers, but they were second hand, and/or purchased without markings." Could well be the one and only. I would have expected one country to have purchased some MG42's after WWII ended, but that may not have happened. You are right about the ammunition, as well, so they must have had something eat that ammo.