Milsurp After Hours

This was in the newspaper today, so went an bought it. Talked to man on phone, gave me the address and told me the apt number. When I got there, it was an assisted living care home for elderly.....
But went in anyway and sure enough, he had the rifle in his unit/apt. Bought it and was a little nervous about walking out through the lobby with a rifle, but made a quick getaway.....
Anyway, it is a "Mauser Modelo Argentino 1891" Deutche Waffen-Und Munitionsfabriken - Berlin. It is the 18" barrel Calvary Carbine (not the Engineer Carbine with bayonet lugs) and according to what I could find online, the serial number, C 7003, says it was made in 1900 and all the numbers match. It has a few problems with the stock, the worst is that is has been shortened. The length should be 37", but it is only 36" and that includes the rubber butt pad. Also someone has filled the sling mount holes on the side of the stock and just behind the trigger with what looks like wood putty. Great bore and overall condition reminds me of and arsenal refinish, even reminds me of the shellac on my M/N rifles. Now all I have to do is find some ammo. It appears to be the original 7.65x53, but am not sure, there is no caliber stamped on the barrel at all. A 7.62 bullet won't fit into the end of the barrel, so maybe it hasn't been bored out. There are no import markings at all. This info I got from just a couple of hours on the internet, so am looking for anything I got right or wrong. Have already found out the ammo is available.......but spendy...
There is small round decal on both sides of receiver, looks like a red thunderbird on a white diamond and feels like you could scrape it off with a knife????

Now that's different. I don't have one of those. Might be a little hard finding ammo at a cheap price. Looks like what I'm seeing is somewhere around $17 for twenty rounds. But... you could take up reloading. Let us know how you find shooting it when the time comes for a trip to the range.

I wonder if that assisted living place knew that old guy had that gun?

There is no cheap ammo for this............. Oh well.
The man told me he didn't bother to tell them he had guns when he moved in, he had another
rifle for sale, but when he said it was $3000, I don't even ask what it was.
Except for the 2 1/4" that bubba cut off of the rear of the stock, it seems to be pretty much original.
Maybe they were trying to make it into a kids or woman's rifle???
Not sure what to do about the short stock, it is numbered to the rifle.
Just need some ammo and off to the woods.......

Better also be sure they didn't change the caliber while they were doing the alterations.

Called a LGS and she said to come over and she would make me a deal on some surplus
she had in a open box. She had 75 rounds in the original boxes, some had to be cleaned a
little but all in nice shape. Wanted $30 and I couldn't pay her fast enough, $.40 a round.
And it fits just fine and cycles great. No idea how old it is, so I hope it doesn't blow up in
my face and kill me......
Hope it doesn't rain tomorrow...........

Looks like it is marked 1980. ... Or is that 1880?

I got some Turk 8mm that is older than me that hasn't killed me yet.... just some neck ruptures and a few click no bangs. 1980 is practically new.

Interesting find Vern, shame about the butt but I'm assuming that was reflected in the price.
Looking forward to the shooting report next.
Joe

Ordered a box of new stuff in case the surplus doesn't work well.
Now I just have to wait for it to stop raining......


I didn't pay a lot for the rifle, $160, so I won't get hurt too bad no matter what..........
That's only 3 dinners out with a lady friend...........

Did some research on the ammo and not good news. It was made in 1980, but may not be a
good idea to shoot in my, or any, rifle. Seems it was poorly made and corrodes inside, those
using it seem to have problems.
There is a thread on Gunboards, the Ammo Bunker forum, called "Surplus Argy 7.62x54 Ammo Warning"
that explains it better. Yes, it should say 7.65, not 7.62, it's a typo.
So for the time being, I'm going to stick to the new stuff when it arrives, and will wait to see
what I do with the surplus. I am very fond of my fingers........

Sounds like a reloading jobby to me. You have got the cases you just need a suitable powder and some bullets.