I think this is too much, but apparently the collectors don’t. The market value of these rifles varies, but I have recently seen examples in original condition, i.e., not sporterized, at 90 to 95% finish and with matching numbers going for $300 to $450. The original 7.65×53 cartridge has about the same performance as the 300 Savage. These are very well made rifles and if in good condition, will withstand the normal pressures of modern ammo. 270’s and such….it would be oh so nice to put mine up with a gun that was firing rounds when the land I live on was still Indian Terroritory.Īctually, the 1891 Argentine Mauser cocks on closing, unless the bolt has been modified. It’ll be a tough decision between using this and the new SOCOM II I recently purchased, but when everyone else is putting up their photos on the braggin boards of their bucks with their shiny new 7mm Mags. I think this fall I may actually use this gun for whitetail rifle season. Considering this gun is 115 years old thereabouts, that is utterly amazing to me. My best group was right at about 2.5″ at 100 yards, using some old surplus I picked up at a local gun show. It kicks like your typical 8mm Mauser, but I was simply amazed at the accuracy of a gun this old with nothing but iron sights. I took this baby to the range a few weeks after I got it (I had to scrounge up some 7.65 Argentine loads) and had a blast, literally.
I can see why many a gun enthusiast took the actions from these very well made weapons and “sporterized” them by putting custom stocks, barrels, triggers, etc to turn them into more modern rigs.Īll the serial numbers match (barrel, action, & stock) which means that it is most likely a factory original….did I mention from 1891? Amazing really that a gun created back then could still look and function as well as it does.
After having racked the bolt back and forth a few times on a gun like this you would probably agree, as I do. It’s a fine weapon and has what many agree as the smoothest and most well functioning action ever created.
It’s not like I actually needed a old bolt action gun like this for any useful purpose (hunting persay), but now that I have it I have found that I wouldn’t actually mind hunting with it at all. Modified Belgian model 1889/36 short rifles also were made without barrel jackets.I picked this gun up from a co-worker who was trying to dispose of some older things that he never really used. Belgian carbines had tubular barrel jackets, while Argentinean carbines had no jackets and full-length stocks that covered entire barrel up to the muzzle. There were several patterns of carbines, based on the same basic design but made with shorter barrels and barrel jackets. Bayonet mount is provided near the muzzle. Argentinean and Turkish Mausers of this type had no barrel jacket, and featured wooden handguards. Like some other contemporary rifles, Belgian Mauser is equipped with tubular barrel jacket. Magazine catch is located inside the trigger guard. Magazine assembly is separated from trigger guard, and can be easily removed from rifle for maintenance or replacement. Magazine can be loaded through the opening at the top of receiver, using single rounds or 5-round stripper clips. Box magazine holds five rounds of ammunition in single stack, and has feed lips made of spring steel. Its bolt has dual locking lugs at the front, with claw extractor inletted into bolt head and blade-type fixed ejector set into the receiver. Mauser model 1889 rifle is a manually operated rotary bolt action rifle. During 1930s, at least some of Belgian M1889 Mausers were converted into Model 1889/36 short rifles, which were destined for Civil Guard use. Argentinean pattern rifles also were adopted by several other South American countries, like Colombia, Ecuador or Peru. Turkish rifles were made by Mauser as a continuation of earlier contracts, and Argentinean rifles were initially made by Ludwig Loewe and later by DWM. Turkish and Argentinean Mausers of this pattern were produced in Germany. During WW1, Belgian Mauser M1889 rifles were produced for Belgian government in exile by Hopkins & Allen in USA and in Birmingham (UK) by a factory manned mostly by exile Belgian workforce from FN.
Belgian-issue rifles were manufactured in Belgium by private factory Fabrique Nationale (FN in short, which was founded especially to manufacture these rifles) and by State arms factories ( Manufacture D’Armes De L Etat or MAE in short). It was rejected by German authorities but was adopted by Belgium in 1889, Turkey in 1890 and Argentine in 1891. The Mauser model 1889 rifle, also known as Belgian Mauser, was the first rifle from the famous German arms-making factory Mauser Werke to fire small-bore, smokeless powder ammunition. Mauser model 98 (Germany) / 1889 Belgian Mauser, 1891 Argentine Mauser, 1890 Turkish Mauser