Is there hope for my Bubba'd 1909 Mauser?

[Americus]

Not sure if this is the right place, but it sure is a curio/relic in my eyes, but perhaps not in the traditional meaning.

My grandfather gave my dad this for his 16th birthday. I was going to sell the damn thing until I found this out. So, I have a few questions.

1. Do you think it's safe to fire? It is a commercial conversion with 30-06 stamped on it. has it been re barreled, or simply reamed out? Do I have to worry about over expansion? I've fired it before, but after talking with a friend I have become very skeptical of this rifle. The extraction was not butter smooth, but this is the only bolt action i've used apart from a .22, so I don't really know how much force is normal for it to really work properly.

2. Is it possible to convert to it's original look, if not it's original caliber?
I want to at least put a full-size stock on it.
It looks better in the photos, the stock has a large chip in it which i repaired but still shows though its possible to fix.

 

[Americus]

i found this imagew on the internet and i worry that my rifle has simply a chamber reamed out, so that the bore may be the wrong size after all, and that it may not be safe to fire, or accurate

 

[MilsurpDan]

It would be pretty expensive to restore and would require a new barrel, stock, ect. If the chamber has just been reamed out and the bore diameter wasn't changed then I wouldn't shoot it and it probably wouldn't be able to hit the broad side of a barn. The metal looks buffed or polished also.

What I would do, is get it re-barreled to a common caliber, or even the original (7.65 Argentine) and make a nice sporter out of it. Its already lost any collector value and it would not be worth restoring IMHO

 

[hvymax]

7.65 is only .03mm larger than the 7.62 of the 30-06. This could be well within the margin for error for most rounds. Try it with 30-06 the worst that could happen is blowby which would lead to wild innacuracy but not overpressure. How did it work for your Dad? Could be a perfectly good rifle that just needs a stock.

 

[Machodoc]

I've seen a lot of sporterized Argentines that were converted to 30-06, but I'm not sure what that process entailed. The stocks were butchered, of course, but what was done to the bore? I'm not positive, but they may have just reamed the tops of the lands down a little bit, and probably did some work on the chamber.

In looking through old books and magazines, there are lots of articles (and ads for books) that showed how to take cheap military surplus rifles and convert them into deer rifles for sporting use. That apparently seemed like a good way to get a good deer rifle "on the cheap" at a time when there was more interest in hunting than collecting.

Would it be safe to fire with 30-06? Probably, since that's what it was converted for.

Would it be feasible to change back to an original Argentine Mauser? Nope. Not now, at least. The cost would be much higher than just buying an un-converted original.

 

[Furious George]

Reaming the 7.65 Argentine Mauser chamber was a common way for importers to make these rifles more saleable when there was no original ammo available.

The actual groove diameter of the 7.65 Argentine is in the 0.312" range so while the rifle will certainly be safe to shoot, accuracy with .308" .30-06 bullets will likely be marginal at best.

If you were to reload .30-06 cases with .312" bullets, you would likely find the accuracy to be stunningly good.

Restoring it is an iffy proposition. You could get close with a new stock, handguard and stock metal but the other issues (buffed and blued receiver, reamed chamber) would be hard to overcome.

Don't let it go as junk. It is not your run of the mill chopped up K98 or Yugo mauser. The DWM 1909 Argentine Mauser action is considered the best one there ever was in terms of quality. They are very desireable for building custom mauser sporters.

 

[Americus]

Ok, to cosmetically restore it at least with a new stock, what would I need?

Maybe i'll shoot it this weekend with some HXP to see if it works decently

 

[4MDGunRights]

Frankly, of the two photos that you show, the work done on the rifle seems to be well done, but I'd have a gunsmith evaluate what you have before taking it to the range. I had my 1912 Chilean Mauser 7.62x51 convert looked over by the FFL that transfered it to me, and he head spaced it and thought that it was good to go. I've shot plenty of milsurp M80 ball through it and it works just fine. The barrel on it was replaced with a 1903 A3 two-groove barrel, so a decent gunsmith should be able to evaluate the method that yours was converted and whether it is safe or not to shoot.

 

[AC MkIII]

With the family history and the commercial conversion I would just get it checked out by a gunsmith. If it is good to go keep it and use it.
If you want a military Mauser, there are plenty out there to be had for a reasonable price.

 

[Biggfoot44]

"Bubba'd" is a terminology I reserve for actual low quality hack jobs.

Good quality period correct Sporterizations I consider to be in their own classification.

Given the family history and known provence , I would recomend using and aprecating it for what it is.

 

[hvymax]

"Bubba'd" is a terminology I reserve for actual low quality hack jobs.

Good quality period correct Sporterizations I consider to be in their own classification.

Given the family history and known provence , I would recomend using and aprecating it for what it is.

This. It is a family heirloom. If it shoots worth a crap then it belongs to your children and grandchildren. If it doesn't shoot worth a crap have it rebarreled which is no big deal and then pass it and it's history to your kids.

 

[Americus]

Hello everyone... It's been a while but I have a range report.

I determined that it does in fact have the original barrel (7.65), numbers match on the bolt (bent bolt too), the action and barrel. Not the stock.

So, since it's already been sporterized, I have a few options.

-Handload 7.65-06 and put it in an original profile stock. (I'd have to learn how to load)

- Make it a custom rifle, Replace barrel to a true 30-06, 308, 35 Whelen, etc

If i'm going to make it a custom rifle, i might as well put it in a gorgeous stock and mount a scope on it too.

I said **** it, and shot M2 ball surplus through it and it held 2.65 MOA at 100 even though the bullet is undersized, my vision sucks, and the sights are terrible. I have no idea how long it will keep that up though. It bothers me to have an incorrect bullet size.

I'm a little hesitant about loading 7.65-06 since some idiot may put it in a Garand by accident...

 

[Americus]

i'd love to turn it into something like this

http://www.nwponyexpress.com/firear...s/1909-argentine-mauser-custom-rifle-270-win/