.308 safety in the Spanish FR8 Mauser.

[Ignition Override]

I bought the rifle three days ago, and the motivation for this topic is to use Boxer-primed ammo, as it is much easier to find (in 2011) than NATO 7.62.

Most Internet chat seems to confuse the small ring FR7 with the large ring FR8.

Other issues often address the perception of softer Spanish steel.
Were 8mm Spanish Mauser actions built in the 40s made with much weaker steel than Krupp (etc) steel used in German or Czech 8mm Mausers? These rifles' actions must be much more rugged than the infamous Spanish 7mm actions.

If the chambers from both Spain and Germany/Czechoslovakia were about the same strength, then why wouldn't the FR8's large ring 8mm strength be safe enough for modern .308?
A few guys claim that modern .308 pressures are within design limits, but most of us don't know where to find authoritative material on the Internet.

 

[jcwit]

I read your thread under the reloading section and poped over here. I seriously doubt you would have a problem, Spanish Steel is excellent, remember the swords were made in Toledo Spain. I believe Spain got the bad rap from the cheap revolvers made in the 40's and 50's which were bacially a cottage industry.

If those Spanish rifles were soft/bad there would be written about them and so far I've seen nothing. Also remember the Mauser design is one of the strongest designs ever.

 

[Vaarok]

The FR-8 is perfectly safe. I have seen some matching M43 short rifles that did have excessive headspace, but god knows what happened to them before being surplussed.

 

[NCsmitty]

The FR-8 is a solid M98 design fully capable of handling most modern caliber chamberings that will fit the action.

The FR-7 is a marginal small ring action, that has all short comings of the small rings in respect to gas handling, and is best when left chambered in it's original 7mm Mauser.



NCsmitty

 

[desidog]

The FR-8 is strong enough for .308win.

I had an FR-7 that was not; and have an FR-8 now.

The small-ring Spanish Mausers that were re-arsenalled from 7mm Mauser to 7.62CETME are potentially dangerous, since the 7.62CETME has the same external dimensions as .308win, but had only about 60% of the pressure.

The small ring actions were also pre-98: The 1898 model Mauser action incorporated a third locking lug on the bolt, as well as better gas-handling. With the '96 small ring actions, you'd probably get a face-full of hot gas well before the metal fails and frags.

Of course, a main difference between the .308win, the 7.62NATO, and the 7.62CETME is the proper amount of headspace, so checking the specific gun's chamber is more important than blanket statements about ammo types.

The large-ring, '98 action can handle the higher pressure easily, (it's not dissimilar to 8mm Mauser)....although I've found with my FR-8 that 7.62NATO is a bit more forgiving on the shoulder than .308win, and just as accurate.

 

[Cypress]

The FR8 should be fine with .308. Most any large ring should be for that matter. I've got a spanish small ring sporter rebarrelled in 7x57mm and even with several hundred warmish handloads hasn't showed a bit of setback since I built it. I'm sure there are some "soft" spanish mausers out there but I think it gets blown way out of proportion on the interweb.

 

[Slamfire]

If it is a large ring 98 action and it was built around WWII then the risk is less than those pre 1900 small ring Mausers.

The 98 action is such a safer design, so even if you develop lug set back due to poor materials, the action will protect you if a case head lets go. Small ring Mauser have very few shooter protection features.

As for the quality of Spanish steel, who knows. It costs money to conduct metallurgical analyses, the number of people who care is small, where is the profit in that? Their are enough reports of Spanish small ring Mauser failures that Spanish rifles don't have a good reputation. However most of those small ring Mausers are pre 1900 or early 20th century. The closer you get to WWII metallurgy is a mature science and process controls are good, at least in first rate countries.
http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-530130.html

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-554060.html