While visiting a relative this summer I was given a rifle that he had sitting in the back of his safe. The rifle was an 1891 Argentinian Mauser that had been rebarreled in .308 in the late 1970's. The barrel can double as an F350 rear axle in a pinch. The stock has been bedded and is a left handed thumb hole stock on a right hand action. The rifle had been tapped for Palma iron sights and a Redfield scope base. I remember seeing this rifle as a young teenager and thinking it was the neatest rifle and it was the first precision rifle I ever held. Fast forward 25yrs and now as an avid long range shooter and police sniper I have an even deeper appreciation for this rifle.
My Uncle never got around to putting sights on the rifle or even firing it. When it came out of the safe the cosmolene had started to dry up and bound up the trigger group. A couple of hours worth of a complete field stripping and cleaning got the rifle up and running. It would have been faster but I didn't have any Mauser experience prior to this so YOUTUBE and the internet were my friends.
I found a scope base and rings for the rifle and scoped it. I took the rifle to the range and decided to see how it would shoot. To my delight I was able to put 4 shots in .33" with a flier opening the group to .74" for a 5-shot group. This was with Winchester Match 168bthp. The most surprising thing was the trigger is a crisp but HEAVY 8.5lbs. I may see what I can do about lightening the trigger or replacing it with a Timeny.
I think that once I do a little load development with this rifle I'll be taking the scope off and making it iron sights only.
Anybody else have an old shooter?
My Uncle never got around to putting sights on the rifle or even firing it. When it came out of the safe the cosmolene had started to dry up and bound up the trigger group. A couple of hours worth of a complete field stripping and cleaning got the rifle up and running. It would have been faster but I didn't have any Mauser experience prior to this so YOUTUBE and the internet were my friends.
I found a scope base and rings for the rifle and scoped it. I took the rifle to the range and decided to see how it would shoot. To my delight I was able to put 4 shots in .33" with a flier opening the group to .74" for a 5-shot group. This was with Winchester Match 168bthp. The most surprising thing was the trigger is a crisp but HEAVY 8.5lbs. I may see what I can do about lightening the trigger or replacing it with a Timeny.
I think that once I do a little load development with this rifle I'll be taking the scope off and making it iron sights only.
Anybody else have an old shooter?
