German Mauser?

[reformed]

A friend at work brought in what he thought was a
German Mauser 8mm, the only numbers or markings we
could find on it was P7392. Was wondering if anyone might
know exactly what he has. It looks smaller than the 98.

[RJay]

Sorry, with out pictures or more information, no. If it is a K98, it will be marked Mod 98, it will have a manufacturer code ( such as bcd ) and a two digit number on top of the receiver, the two digit number is the date. That is just a few of the markings of the 8MM K98. German military Mausers were made from before 1900's and a number of countries have either imported Mauser's for use or made their own Mauser system rifles on site. If you give all the markings including the symbols someone could make a stab at it. There are even a few rifles that have been called Mausers by the uninformed but are not { such as the Russian Mauser,the Mosin Nagant , now that's a kick in the head}.

[reformed]

Originally Posted by reformed

A friend at work brought in what he thought was a
German Mauser 8mm, the only numbers or markings we
could find on it was P7392. Was wondering if anyone might
know exactly what he has. It looks smaller than the 98.

Thanks RJ,I will see if he can get me some pictures.

[Rocket J Squirl]

You might check the CZ-24 page, without pics I cant tell. does it have double sling mounts, or one thru the stock?

[Hammerslagger]

If the poster wants an answer that is likely to be accurate based on reference research, he needs to post multiple pictures including ones that show all stamped markings in clear detail. Little details often make big differences.

[reformed]

Here are some pictures have more if needed.The rifle measures 41 and a quarter inches. Pete

[reformed]

It has double sling mounts. Pete

[Hammerslagger]

Thanks for the pictures. There should be more marks on it (or its parts) than just serial # P7392.

This area is not one of my stronger ones. I sure some more knowledgeable members will post in later.
Meanwhile I suggest that you post a picture of any stamp mark you can find. Take the bolt out and look all over it for marks including tiny symbols. Same goes for anywhere on the rifle that you can find an intentional man made mark..

It looks Spanish in some ways. Do you know the bore size and/or chamber caliber?

[Charlie the sniper]

Possibly a Model 93 carbine, spanish ???
found this .....

[Snakedriver]

It's an "unmarked" 1916 Spanish Mauser with a bad varnish job on the wood. It's probably in 7mm Mauser or .308 if it was converted. Look on the bottom side of the barrel opposite the front sight to see if there is an import stamp with the caliber marked.

I bought one of these out of the Montgomery Wards catalog in 1967 for under $20. It's a great shooter.

Here's a picture of mine:

[reformed]

Wow, thanks for all of your help. It looks identical to the last reply by snakedriver, and yes it is badly refinished and a little rusted nothing a little tlc won't cure. Pete

[Snakedriver]

http://www.geocities.com/fritz125541/Spanmauhome

Here's a website that will give you a lot of additional information on your Mauser rifle. Enjoy!

Click on the link above:

[Hammerslagger]

Snakedriver appears to have "hit the nail squarely on the head" with his ID and remarks.

The Spanish Govt. adopted the Mauser design in cal 7 X 57 mm around 1891. It performed so well for them in the Sp.- Am. War that the US Army "got a rude wake up call" and adopted the basic Mauser design in 1903 and paid the Mauser Company patent royalties for several years.

The Spanish Govt. apparently made several (7) design changes and other modifications over the the years until they started selling them as obsolete surplus after replacing them with a with a more modern auto-loading design starting in the mid to late1950's. The Spanish even altered some of the Mausers with a fake autoloading gas system for use as training rifles.

The Spanish rebarreled and modified a large number of their Mausers to other than original calibers.
One popular conversion was from 7 X 57 mm to 7.62 X 51 NATO (aka .308 Win.). The military pressure design of the latter is about 20% more than the 7 X 57.

[Hammerslagger]

{I hit the wrong key and posted (@ 10:50 am) before intending to do so.}

I am not aware of any significant problems involving such conversions; but several well known expert firearms sources (including the NRA) have questioned the wisdom of this conversion as a matter of potential safety; especially should one encounter a defective cartridge case.

In any case the actual caliber and safety of this rifle (or any former military rifle) should be determined by a COMPETENT gun-smith before attempting to fire it. Within the last two years, I encountered a damaged former military rifle that had its original caliber changed. The owner was unaware of such and fired it with what he thought was the correct ammo, without wearing safety glasses. The rifle and he suffered significant damages. HE LOST HIS RIGHT EYE!

Better safe, than sorry.

[reformed]

Thank you all once again for all of your insight. Thank you snakedriver for the website. Pete