96 Mauser

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FredC
Posts: 1991
Joined: Fri May 31, 2013 4:38 pm
Location: Dewees Texas

96 Mauser

Post by FredC »

Had this in my shop the other day for a couple of hours. A new gunsmith brought it over to fix the scope mount holes. The current owner had inherited it from his brother in law, and could not make it shoot well. Zero always moved from shot to shot. The new gunsmith does not have machine tools yet and could not leave it here since I am not licensed. So he stayed and watched as I set it up on the mill and found the middle of the receiver and lined up on the holes. The scope mount holes were not in a straight line, each one pointed in a different direction. I had to bore them in a straight line, then drill and tap them 10-32 to make them clean up. Drilled and counter bored the blank mount to match. Fit was perfect. Apparently some gunsmiths do not like 10-32 threads, seemed like the best solution to me, drilling more holes and making the receiver look like Swiss cheese seems so wrong.
Anyway the gunsmith mounted the scope and was easily able to bore sight it. Took this photo and emailed it to me.
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butlersrangers
Posts: 9827
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:35 pm
Location: Below the Bridge, Michigan

Re: 96 Mauser

Post by butlersrangers »

Typically, Model 1896 Swedish Mausers, in 6.5 X55mm, are very accurate shooters.

If there is a culprit with a rifle grouping, my first suspect would be 'bedding issues' with the sporter stock.

Next suspect would be choice of ammo.

It sounds like you did a first class job of correcting any scope-mount issues.

FredC
Posts: 1991
Joined: Fri May 31, 2013 4:38 pm
Location: Dewees Texas

Re: 96 Mauser

Post by FredC »

This one is 7mm made in 1913 I think. One of the scope mounts pointed left and the other right when it had the original 2 piece mounts. The scope would have been under serious twist with each shot moving it. The new one piece mount was was made for this gun and fit very well. After we got the mount drilled we installed and tightened the front screws, the rear made perfect contact. Reversed it and tightened the rear screw with the front screws out, again perfect contact. The smith said the bedding was well done. If the barrel is as good as it looks it should be a shooter now. I have 2 of those old Weaver 4 X scopes. The second one had a broken lens when we got it and we sent it to El Paso to have it rebuilt. Old ex-Weaver employee was doing the work then. This scope on the Mauser wears the same adjusters, so it was rebuilt some time back. I tried to contact the fellow again but he has died and I think no one is doing repairs on them any more. Hope to hear a good report on the Mauser. Sure is nice looking.

Further info. The first thing I did was screw 4 6-48 taps into the scope mount holes, besides not being in line they pointed different directions. If whoever put them in used a hand drill he did as well as could be expected. If he used a drill press not so much. If he used a milling machine there is no excuse for that kind of work. Original owner is dead so we will never know. Stock fitting showed excellent work in some places and OK work in others. The smith said it had epoxy bedding in there also, did not take the time to look at that though.
Last edited by FredC on Wed Sep 01, 2021 1:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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butlersrangers
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Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:35 pm
Location: Below the Bridge, Michigan

Re: 96 Mauser

Post by butlersrangers »

When I saw "96 Mauser", I assumed it was a Swedish model 1896 Mauser and in 6.5X55mm.

It looks like the barrel is a shortened 'stepped' military barrel. Hmmm .... 7X57 mm!

Is it possibly a 'sportered' model 1893 Spanish or model 1895 Chilean Mauser?

I once owned a (full-length) military Boer Mauser in 7X57mm. It was made by Ludwig Loewe and ironically was marked "Model 1896".
(In reality, this rifle was identical, in parts and sights, to the 1893 Spanish Mauser).
It was manufactured, probably in 1896, for one of the Boer Republics. The metal was 'frosted brown' on the outside, but, the rifle was complete with all matching numbers,
nice wood, and a mint bore. It shot well, too. It must have passed through England, because it had British Nitro Proofs, added.
I wish, I still had it!
It was sold in a 'stupid moment', with me thinking I would get a nicer one someday. I didn't have a clue how rare it was!

FredC
Posts: 1991
Joined: Fri May 31, 2013 4:38 pm
Location: Dewees Texas

Re: 96 Mauser

Post by FredC »

The smith told me the name of the maker on this but I forgot. Seems like he said it was a military Mauser made by well known company. Metals should be much improved over what was available in 1896. I was paying more attention to screwing in taps to see what was going on and did not listen as well as I wish I had now. I have not had any Mausers but it seems to me the 96 is a lot sleeker looking than the 98s I have seen. Strong enough for 7mm commercial ammo and looks good, what is not to like.

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butlersrangers
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Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:35 pm
Location: Below the Bridge, Michigan

Re: 96 Mauser

Post by butlersrangers »

Husqvarna has made some beautiful commercial sporting rifles (post-WW2) using the slimmer early Mauser-action profile and improved metallurgy.

IMHO - The 'Grand Daddy' of all this was the 1893 Spanish Model (Mauser).

Zac952
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Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2021 1:37 am

Re: 96 Mauser

Post by Zac952 »

In my opinion the small ring mausers make one fine sporting rifle as they are much lighter and have a shorter action than the large ring 98, now the small rings cannot be rechambered to the magnum cartridges due to the reduced length and weaker reciever, but in my opinion magnums are seldom needed. I had a sporterized 1891 Argentine that had a immaculate barrel that I purchased for $50, it was a fine shooter but it was a poor sporterizing job, so I sold it to a friend who offered $200, sporters are not really appealing to me and I don't recommend sporterizing any rifles in the present, but those small rings when the work is done well, or redone well as done here by Fred make one heck of a hunting rifle!

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