Argentine 1891 Calvary Carbine

Melnic · Oct 25, 2020

Picked up an 1891 Argentine calvary carbine.
We have 2 friends who are from Argentina an I was just talking to the Wife as we were walking the York show and I was saying I’ve been looking for the right one but wanted a Carbine that had a good bore and this one fit the bill. Got a fair price on it I thought.
Has a repaired crack on the lower stock which I think is not uncommon with these. No import mark
BTW, Wife spent more $ at the show than I did.

Oh, got cartridges for it too. $35/box of 50 on stripper clips. Hoping they are not corrosive. I'll have to look up the stamp on the base. Interarms Alexandria Va is on the box. Wife was the one that spotted them.

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Melnic · Oct 25, 2020

research has it dated to 1899

noddaz · Oct 25, 2020

Very nice! I hope it shoots well.

Inigoes · Oct 25, 2020

The ammo will be corrosive.

j8064 · Oct 25, 2020

Nice pickup Melnic. Bet you could load some plinking rounds to feed it...
:thumbsup:

Melnic · Oct 25, 2020

Inigoes said:
The ammo will be corrosive.

Thx, good news is I checked and its boxer primed

j8064 said:
Nice pickup Melnic. Bet you could load some plinking rounds to feed it...

Thx, Looks like I have everything I would need for bullets, same ones I use for my Mosin sniper reloads. After I finish the first box, I'll decide if I want to buy the die set.

I"m wondering if this will be a shoulder bruiser.

John from MD · Oct 25, 2020

Nice find. It is easy to make 7.65 Argentine brass from 30-06. Additionally, a Lyman 311299 bullet gives excellent accuracy from Argentine rifles. 16.0 of 2400 will be a good load for it.

Rambler · Oct 25, 2020

Very nice! I always liked the look of these. Speaking of looks, is that socks with sandals???

Augie · Oct 25, 2020

Nice find, I like the Argentine Mauser's, have the carbine and the long rifle, don't be surprised if the surplus ammo has a lot of duds, it was notoriously bad.
I reload for it, Graffs has brass and I found 3031 powder worked well, got great groups at 50 yards from the carbine.

https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/12652

Melnic · Oct 25, 2020

Rambler said:
Very nice! I always liked the look of these. Speaking of looks, is that socks with sandals???

You caught me

I don't like to go barefoot. Hurts my arches. Loft is cold. I don't have the heat on.

Melnic · Oct 25, 2020

Augie said:
Nice find, I like the Argentine Mauser's, have the carbine and the long rifle, don't be surprised if the surplus ammo has a lot of duds, it was notoriously bad.
I reload for it, Graffs has brass and I found 3031 powder worked well, got great groups at 50 yards from the carbine.

https://www.grafs.com/catalog/product/productId/12652

I have not tried to decap the Interarms yet but looks re-loadable.
If I end up needing to reload for it, I"m hoping to use other powders I use alot
IMR4895, H335, Varget, H110 or IMR4227.
Good chance I'll take a long time to even empty out the 100 rounds I got. 30-06 guns get most of my Milsurp range time.

Melnic · Oct 25, 2020

I looked at the pulled components of the inter arms cartridge
Bullet is 185gr fmj and powder is a square flake. Looks exactly like the powder I pulled from 8mm Iranian mauser

Is this interarms ammo just surplus they imported long ago?

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Doco Overboard · Oct 25, 2020

Melnic said:
I looked at the pulled components of the inter arms cartridge
Bullet is 185gr fmj and powder is a square flake. Looks exactly like the powder I pulled from 8mm Iranian mauser

Is this interarms ammo just surplus they imported long ago?

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Could be mildly corrosive,and looks just like the flake powder from 8mm surplus. Put a pile on a piece of polished steel and light it.
Look at it later on to see what effect it has on the steel surface.
If its humid, all the better. You should be able to tell the difference between rust that has accumulated because of humidity, and the corrosion directly on the polished area.
I wouldn't not shoot ammo that is corrosive unless it had erratic ignition, just clean with water and then dry the bore afterwards.
Lightly oil and your done.

John from MD · Oct 25, 2020

Interarms went out of business years ago so those cartridges are pretty old. Most likely, they were made with surplus powder and primers. The biggest issue with South American ammo is that they weren't stored well and had moisture damage. This usually resulted in dead primers. Try some and if they are erratic, pull them and use the components assuming the cases don't have corrosion inside.

Melnic · Oct 26, 2020

I'll treat it as corrosive. I looked at the Head Stamp and it looks like 1947 Made in Argentina. I think I'll see if I can start reloading before digging into the 2nd box.
I ran 24 rounds through it today, Last night I tested the pulled case with Primer only to verify the firing pin and bolt closed on the empty case.
First couple at the dirt berm to verify sights were close. Then 3 at 50 yards (grouping was pretty good but to the right).
Using some Kentucky windage I then shot a clip off the bench at the steel and then the last 10 offhand.
Everyone went bang with no delay/hang fires
Being a light gun, it was a joy to shoot offhand as long as you know your shoulder will feel the recoil.
Trigger is 2 stage with a nice trigger pull. I'd say I'm very pleased with the trigger as is. Plus the sights were not a foot high like so many milsurps @ 50 or 100 yards.
Here is a video of one clip. These 5 all hit steel as well as the next 5 off camera. (can you tell I'm a happy camper?)

I did not look close enough and you can see I grabbed a clip with corrosion on it. I noticed it once I picked up the cases off the ground. Below is a group shot of the spent cases with some more that are corroded.
I'll have to pick through this stuff and clean the cases up for next time.

Augie · Oct 26, 2020

Nice, mine has a very good bore and I found it to be surprisingly accurate for such a short carbine.

HappyCamper · Oct 26, 2020

I picked up one with a G.N. crest not too long back. Really good looking. Have not tried to shoot it yet.

Melnic · Oct 26, 2020

John from MD said:
Nice find. It is easy to make 7.65 Argentine brass from 30-06. Additionally, a Lyman 311299 bullet gives excellent accuracy from Argentine rifles. 16.0 of 2400 will be a good load for it.

GRRR, I had mistakenly thought the surplus ammo was boxer primed, nope, Berdan primed, it had a dimple in the center that made me think it was boxer but now with a light, I can see the 2 Berdan holes.

Gonna start a thread in the reloading section so will be looking for the input good buddy.

John from MD · Oct 27, 2020

Melnic said:
GRRR, I had mistakenly thought the surplus ammo was boxer primed, nope, Berdan primed, it had a dimple in the center that made me think it was boxer but now with a light, I can see the 2 Berdan holes.

Gonna start a thread in the reloading section so will be looking for the input good buddy.

10-4 good buddy. :lol:

Augie · Oct 27, 2020

You can also buy the Prvi ammo, good stuff, not ungodly expensive and you will have good reloadable brass.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1001867413?pid=277664

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