Mauser in 308/7.62x51 what do you recommend?

[Chuck3436]

Israeli's are a dream for the money you pay.

Some look a little beat up, but the barrels are usually minty fresh and they shoot like a dream.

That being said, the only other gun you may be interested in is a spanish FR-8, but they aren not as smooth as a k98k despite being built on the same action. Neat carbine but rare though.

 

[millwright]

Lack of smoothness of the FR8 maybe the new parkerizing that seems to be on the ones I've handled or the straight bolt handle.Just doesn't feel the same to me.I like the shortness of my FR8
and the peep rear sight plus the coolness of the flashider is hard to beat.

 

[ALFREDS]

I say go for the FR8

I own an Israeli Mauser and once owned an FR8. I like my Israeli Mauser but I think my FR8 was better because of its vastly superior sites, among other things.

I used the FR8 as a polar bear defense rifle when I lived in the Canadian North. It was the cat's meow, if you ask me. Mine was as smooth as any other military Mauser. The sites were just great, identical to that used on the HK91. I carried it with me when I was out on the land, in case of bear attack. Fortunately, I never had to use it for its intended purpose. I foolishly sold it when I moved south.

Another choice is the FR7. I own one presently but have never shot it. It is exceptionally cool with an enormous bayonet that came with the rifle. The finish and wood is way, way better than my old FR8.

I am told the FR7 action is weak and can fail using full power 308 loads. One way around this is to reload with reduced powder charges to increase the safety margin. If you reload, I say the FR7 is a very good deal. The wood on mine is great and with the bayonet mounted, it must surely be the most ferocious home defence weapon imaginable.

 

[caramel]

Cant go wrong with the Chilean 1912 resized in 308, bought one for 400.00 last summer, it is a Steyr and it is the same as a Mauser if you surf around there is still some for sale... Very good condition and pretty accurate... JP.

 

[Beadwindow]

I've got an Israeli Mauser that I'm really happy with.

It has a really dark, well used stock but the metal is in great shape and the bore just marvelous. I took it out shooting for the first time in ages last summer (fired 10 rounds into a target for the milsurp postal match but never got down to sending it in) and was really impressed. Despite the open sites and a somewhat wobbly front handguard, three of the shots were touching at 100yards, with the rest on the paper.

I've also got an FR8 which was sadly turned into a single shot (it belonged to someone in Germany who would have needed a hunting license to own a repeater) but would certainly recommend one to anybody who finds one in good condition. I would probably advise keeping to Mauser 98 actions, as some of the Mauser 93-95 actions probably aren't ideal for full .308 Win commercial loads. One Mauser 93 that I had years ago had some interesting looking marks on the bolt face that seemed to suggest wear upon it from firing, and what appeared to be bad headspacing (rings around the spent cartridge bases). While I cannot say anything truly conclusive (I never got the headspacing checked) that rifle didn't give me a good impression of the pre 98 actions rechambered to 7.62 NATO.

That said, I did get another Spanish 93 Mauser in a trade chambered for 7.62 NATO, but will probably only shoot milsurp or my own reloads through her rather than any commercial .308, so my reommendations on pre-98s are conditional upon whether you reload.