1891 Argentine Mausers

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Tyockell18

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Hey guys,

Well, I got it in my head that I want an 1891 Argentine Mauser one of these days.

What would a good condition one with the early upper wood handguard run me roughly?

Who here owns an 1891, what good can you tell me about them?

Thanks.
 
Here's mine...

Mismatched bolt and magazine. Crest intact, Fairly decent condition overall. Supposedly it has spent some time in Peru. The stock and receiver are replacements. I live in a different country than you so the price I paid won't help.







Fed some handloads...



...best I could get out of it at 100m...



But these things have extremely long throats, so my groups should decrease when I feed it longer, heavier bullets seated out a bit further.
 
The 1891 Argentine Mausers just get no respect. They are the Rodney Dangerfield of South American Mausers.

Over the last few years they have become more appreciated but not by much.

They are extremely well made and quite strong. As mentioned they are long throated as well. The big thing with them is that they don't look like Mauser 93-98 model rifles. Many people don't like the single stack magazine sticking out of the bottom of the rifle, which in its day was quite innovative and because of the mechanical assisted spring lever is a very positive feeding platform.

I have a couple of them. I'm lucky that they all have matching numbers and unlucky because they have had their crests removed, albeit tastefully. Some of them were gouged off the receiver face by inexperienced or uncaring laborers. There are many reasons given for defacing the crests. One is because Argentina was supporting some neighboring nations by giving them materials to fight internal issues. The crests on the rifles proved to be an embarrassment for them in the League of Nations. That didn't stop them though and all they did was remove the crests on all of the materials that bore them. This became the norm for all materials sold out of service as surplus.

The cartridge, often called the 7.65 Argentine is actually the 7.65x53 Belgian Mauser.
They shoot .310-312 diameter bullets.
They seem to prefer long bullets in the 175 gr weight range.

Any listed 303 British load is safe in them. If you are looking for more velocity, there are listings in most books for the very substantial and uninformed/underestimated cartridge. It is safely capable of a couple of hundred fps with any give bullet weight.

Many South American nations used the same cartridge. That is one reason it garnered a bad reputation. The surplus ammo that came out of those nations left a lot to be desired. The same can be said for other lots like the Turk left lovers. This is a North American prejudice by the way. The rest of the world recognizes this cartridge as a kissing cousin to the 308 Winchester.

Both of my rifles shoot best with stout loads. The Peruvian 98s in the same chambering are the same. My groups are tighter than those shown, according to my records but I haven't shot the rifles for over 10 years.
 
"But these things have extremely long throats, so my groups should decrease when I feed it longer, heavier bullets seated out a bit further."

Yes they should, I have one with a excellent bore and it shoots nice smaller groups at 100 if I do my part with the long Hornady 174gr RN .312 bullets seated just shy of the lands. These bullets more closely match the original bullets that these rifles were designed for.

Nice rifles and cartridge, it is a .308 win class cartridge that uses .310 to .312 bullets.
 
Would you believe that the M1891s are still in use by the Argentine military? I spent some time in Argentina this winter and saw the military vigil party mounting the guard with them at the Malvinas War memorial in central Buenos Aires. For a South American Mauser aficionado the National Arms Museum proximate to the Malvinas War memorial is not to be missed. It houses an extensive collection of small arms, incl about the most comprehensive displays of the various South American Mausers that I`ve seen.
 
I'm in the same camp with you --- I even like the Argentine sporters that you see around once-in-a-while. There are some unique features of the rifle that appeal to be, including the single stack magazine. I believe the top handguard is also wired in place in a unique way.

I've passed on a couple of them over the years, but maybe the next one I see will find its way into my safe (if you don't get to it first!)
 
stickhunter said:
I'm in the same camp with you --- I even like the Argentine sporters that you see around once-in-a-while. There are some unique features of the rifle that appeal to be, including the single stack magazine. I believe the top handguard is also wired in place in a unique way.

I've passed on a couple of them over the years, but maybe the next one I see will find its way into my safe (if you don't get to it first!)
Click to expand...

Only problem is that there is not that many nice ones around and they seldom come up for sale!
 
A friend used to work for Lever arms back in the Alan Lever days. Even after he quit there he still used to buy guns from Lever and resell to his friends. A friend has a nice clean Brazilian 7x57 from that source. I remember at least one sported 1891 he had and sold. Unfortunately, the guy he sold it to, another buddy of mine, committed suicide with it.
 
I do not wish to find a sportered one, fully original if possible, with the upper hand guard. Iraqveteran8888 channel on youtube made me want one to be honest.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend MD.


[youtube]-nQxFF0RDlM[/youtube]
 
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Tyockell18 said:
Nice, Wish Calgary had a cabela's.

We just have that useless overblown piece of #### bass pro

Thanks for all the comments by the way guys.
Click to expand...

OT but Cabela's is no big whoop! Called looking for Hornady .358 Win ammo and was given a code to place an order online by one of their employees. Code turned out to be for .348 Win! Bit of a difference.

You want a real gun store like P&D.
 
I have a Peruvian carbine and an Argentine long gun. Here's some pictures of both. The Peruvian has the crest, but my long gun has no crest and no grind marks at all. I have a nice clean bayonet with scabbard that fits both. They are my favorite rifles. I even took the carbine on a bear hunt, but didn't shoot one.

1891PeruvianCarbine087-1.jpg
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1891PeruvianCarbine136.jpg
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johnes50 said:
I have a Peruvian carbine and an Argentine long gun. Here's some pictures of both. The Peruvian has the crest, but my long gun has no crest and no grind marks at all. I have a nice clean bayonet with scabbard that fits both. They are my favorite rifles. I even took the carbine on a bear hunt, but didn't shoot one.

1891PeruvianCarbine087-1.jpg
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1891PeruvianCarbine003-1.jpg
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1891PeruvianCarbine136.jpg
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1891ArgentineMauser021.jpg
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1891ArgentineMauser035.jpg
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1891ArgentineMauser038.jpg
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1891ArgentineMauser031.jpg
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Click to expand...

Nice 91's you have there!
 
Thanks guys. I got lucky buying with these two. The long gun sat in a gunshop for months. I had looked at it so many times the owner said "just buy it now and I'll take $50 off." So I did.

When I came in next week he said, "you might as well buy the Carbine too." What carbine? "The one sitting over there." It was half the price of the long gun, so I bought it too. I didn't really know anything about 1891 Argentine rifles, but I thought the machining was extraordinary. I now know more about them and feel lucky to have bought them.

Last year, a few years after I bought the rifles, I was talking to a friend and he said he had a bayonet for the 1891 Argentine. So I bought that too.

I had been looking all over for a bayonet for the guns. I saw one up Island for a really high price, but I didn't want to pay that much. It turns out that the Argentines and the bayonet were my friends all along and the bayonet was the same one I saw up Island, which he had taken back from the store. I got the bayonet at a reasonable price.

Funny world. It looks like they were destined to be my guns all along.
 
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