Chilean??

[bmh95]

I was at a gun shop in the Chicago area yesterday to do some browsing. They always have a small C&R selection (although I don't believe they sell to 03 FFL holders). They had a beautiful Chilean M95 Mauser in .308. It was a short rifle, turn down bolt, and a beautifl stock that was almost black in color. They wanted $149 for it. Does anyone know where to find such a rifle? Is that a good price? I had to run from the store, and no one was available to ask about the C&R question. (took an urgent phone call, and had to go) It was GAT Guns in Dundee, IL.

[REDSTAR]

That sounds like a good deal to me. I dont much know the pricing on these but a 308 Mauser for $150 sounds pretty good.

[bmh95]

I did a search on the board, and now after reading some things it makes me nervous. It is a 'short' rifle, which means it may be a 7mm conversion using a silver soldered insert . . . or something like that. This may not be a good idea? or is this internet myth / skepticism.

Anyone have experience with them?


Any thoughts?

[bmh95]

No Chilean experts out there?

[Schuetzenman]

You know that's kind of wierd. I looked through my Olson book on Mausers and I find ZERO references to Chillean Mausers. Every other South American country seems to be shown, but none from Chillie.:confused:

[RetVet]

A longer wait and I'd be tempted to pay that for just the stock alone.:rolleyes: Sounds like a very reasonable price to me. Empire Arms had some listed recently and they were all going for about twice that, though they were in the original 7mm caliber.

[bmh95]

Originally posted by Schuetzenman
You know that's kind of wierd. I looked through my Olson book on Mausers and I find ZERO references to Chillean Mausers. Every other South American country seems to be shown, but none from Chillie.:confused:

The tag said it was an M95 Chilean in 8mm. They had 3 of the short ones, and one long one. I had never heard of that either, but there was some discussion on the board a while back that I found. It was a typical discussion where some said it was fine, and other expressed concern about the conversion.

[bmh95]

Originally posted by RetVet
A longer wait and I'd be tempted to pay that for just the stock alone.:rolleyes: Sounds like a very reasonable price to me. Empire Arms had some listed recently and they were all going for about twice that, though they were in the original 7mm caliber.

I may have to go talk to them if it sounds like that good of a deal.

[smittylite]

Originally posted by bmh95
The tag said it was an M95 Chilean in 8mm. They had 3 of the short ones, and one long one. I had never heard of that either, but there was some discussion on the board a while back that I found. It was a typical discussion where some said it was fine, and other expressed concern about the conversion.

I'd be REAL careful regarding the 8mm. From what I have read, if they were converted from the original 7mm they'd be in .308.

[bmh95]

Originally posted by smittylite
I'd be REAL careful regarding the 8mm. From what I have read, if they were converted from the original 7mm they'd be in .308.


CRAP!! I miss typed. I meant .308, you are correct.:eek:

[stan741]

In the 1960's the country of Chile rechambered a lot of 7MM Model 1895 Mausers to 7.62X51 in order to be in compliance with NATO and get cheap ammo.These were both short rifles and the standard long rifles.This was accomplished by reboring the barrel to 7.62 and reaming out the chamber area where a 7.62X51 insert was silver soldered in place.
There has been a lot of controversy concerning the relative pressures of 7.62X51NATO and .308 Win.
I had a long rifle rechambered to 7.62X51NATO and shot a lot of rounds thru it with no problem.It was a good shooter.I did shoot a .308WIN round in it one time and experienced hard bolt opening indicating excessive pressure.Never did that again.
There is some concern that over a period of time the silver solder could be gradually eaten away by firing thereby loosening the insert.I have never heard of such a case.
This action has a so called "third lug" in the form of a cut at the point where the straight bolt closes at the rear of the action as a safety feature which feature was originally built into the action.
If the rifle you are looking at seems to be in good condition,headspaces well and has decent rifling you will probably have a fun rifle in which to shoot 7.62X51NATO rounds..308 WIN rounds are kinda chancy and cost a lot more anyway .
It is a cock on closing action and very reminescent of a Swede Mauser action.The action on mine was very smooth and I never had any malfunctions with it.I sold it on a whim and regret doing so as it was just a pleasing rifle to handle,look at and shoot.
Some of these little South American beauties do "speak" to you.
Now you know the details the decision is yours.

[bmh95]

Interesting info. Thank you. Where were you able to find all of that info?

[stan741]

I did a lot of research when I had that gun.There is a website showing a cutaway of one of these inserts but I don't remember what it was.

Stan