What Would You Do With This?

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coop923

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I dug back into the bowels of the safe and pulled this out for the first time in years. It's a 95 Mauser by FN in 7x57 that my grandpa bought around 1957. Seems like I remember seeing a receipt for $17.95 or so from some post-war liquidator. It came semi-sporterized, just the way it looks in the pictures. I remember loading for it and it didn't shoot too badly; I was thinking it would be fun to play with again.

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I know the 95 Mauser is no foundation to do anything crazy, but I'm not much for trying to make standard calibers into magnums at the reloading bench anyway. I would just have fun with conservative loads. The 7x57 can be a great deer round.

I thought I could get rid of the ladder sight and front sight, mount a low power, scout-style long eye relief scope, either re-stock it or not, and call it a brush and timber deer gun. Another thing it could be is a great first deer gun for my almost-11-year-old.

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The other thing i could do would be to leave everything alone and just get some 175 round nose bullets to see how proficient I could get with the old military sight.



I think the gun has no collector value since it doesn't have the full original stock, so it's a good candidate for messing with it, but maybe it's not worth it to begin with; so what do you think?
 
The Mauser 7x57 is one of the best all round cartridges of all times. It has even taken elephant.

Your idea of a good brush gun sounds good. My own predelictions would be for a medium power high quality scope and mounts.

Great gun and caliber. The Mauser 7 will be able to do almost anything you need a rifle to do.

Good luck.

Fred
 
I'd leave it alone and shoot it as is, but I have other rifles I coulld use as brush guns and I like the way that rifle looks right now. Do what makes you happy with it.
 
If it were mine, I would return it to original condition. This was semi sporterized at one time as well.

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I have one very similar that started as a Model 93 rifle. I got the barrel shortened to 22", removed the military rear sight, and had a Williams receiver sight and ramp front sight installed. Then I cut down, reshaped, and refinished the military stock with Tru Oil. It makes a handy carbine, and it's accurate enough for me. I like the 7mm calibre, and this was both my first experience in "sporterizing" a military rifle, and the first cartridge I ever handloaded with a $9.95 Lee Loader. Knowing what I know now, I wish I'd left it as it was in it's military configuration, but it was cheap experience. The original rifle was $23.50 at Montgomery Ward.
 
Well, you asked...

Coop 923--Call me a frumpy old traditionalist. I'd keep it just the way yr Grandpa used it, and go out and kill a deer with it, preferably on his old stomping ground. No heritage in the reworked rifle, per se, but there is a heritage for you in that it was your grandfather's.

BTW, a quibble, the sling is on backwards--the part that doubles over, and with the keepers, goes on the FRONT swivel, so as to be usable around yr left arm (if shooting righty) as a brace. The simple single-strap-and-hook goes on the BACK swivel, and it only functions as the bottom end of an over-the-shoulder carry strap. Yours is a good sling, and if you go to an Appleseed event they'll teach you how to use it very effectively. HK Guns' pic shows a similar sling installed correctly.

If you "restore" it back to its military configuration, then it'll just be a restored military rifle--pretty much no collector value, and it won't be Gramps' old rifle anymore, either. Interesting as a project, but what have you got when you're finished?

As the rifle is it's a simple rifle, beautiful in its simplicity. (Common as eggs, back in the 1950's-'60's, when there were boatloads of surplus bolt rifles coming here from post WWII, and nobody thought anything of "customizing" them every way from Sunday. Now that the supply is drained, prices are 'way up, parts are scarce and/or pricey, and some--HK Guns for example--are into "putting them back." No harm in that, if that's what floats your boat, except that this one was your Grandfather's.) Bet you can work up a nice accurate hand load for it.
 
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I think it's very hansom as is. I agree that the sight radius is a little short for accurate work. I don't think I'd scope it. You prolly have other scoped rifles? I do think I'd loose the ladder sight (carefully in case someone else could use it?). Then I'd be going with a good peep rear. Leave the stock safety and maybe polish the trigger.

The thing about old military rifles is they are built for mud and junk. They are not built with lots of small critical parts, but fairly open and easy to "hose out" if they take a dunking, etc. SO, I'd keep that as an advantage. I'd clean the stock down to bare wood and treat it liberally with penetrating epoxy to lock out moisture. Do a good action and chamber area bed with AccraGlass (blackened), maybe pillar sleeves for the action screws and a nice True Oil over coat for looks.

Then I'd see how she shoots with all sorts of ammo? Prvi Partizan to start, up to Norma. Once I had the right diet, I'd be loading the used cases with something that equaled that. Then I'd put the whole rig away until the right hunt or condition warranted it coming out for use. It was Grand-pa's. It can't get any better than that. Tune it up and keep it in the family. It's not supposed to be any body elses and it should just look and act as if it got a few upgrades along the way from his day :)
 
That is a very cool rifle. I would leave it as is and shoot the heck out of it...
 
Yes, if it has a lot of sentimental value as it is, by all means leave it alone.

When I look at a sporterized Military rifle I see an abomination that is literally begging me to make it whole again. (Kind of like my wife trying to put a sweater on my Black Lab.) -Not happening.......

But that is just me and not for everyone.
 
Good looking rifle.

See if your serial # has an A, B or C prefix or if it is marked OVS above and below the serial number. These were "Boer" contract rifles that might have never made it to South Africa.

It's already seen some sporterizing so you aren't going to hurt its value, just a neat old rifle. Enjoy it and tell us how it shoots!
 
If it was from my granddad I would not do anything to it. If you want one to do stuff too go buy a rifle and do it up.
 
The more I think about it, the more I think I'll leave it as is. I haven't shot it in almost 20 years, but now I'm kind of excited to work up some loads and re-familiarize myself with it. Thanks for the opinions and input. Smokey Joe, thanks for pointing out the sling error. It would be fun to hunt with it sometime next year. Happy holidays everyone!
 
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coop923: I think that it looks just fine as is. simplicity is elegance. plus a 7MM is perfect for a youngster to use for deer, especially with hand loads. Looks to have some pretty nice old wood on it also. you want to do something--hand rub the wood to an English eggshell style finish, Grandpa would of loved it.
 
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