tim@tcs
Well-Known Member
I had a great time when a club member asked me to have a go with his repro 50.90 bpcr! It shot fantastically well and I was sorely tempted to get oneYep - so why do we enjoy shooting these old girls soooo much?
Reloading for old Mauser 8mm
- Thread starter Antonyweeks
- Start date
Foxyboy43
Well-Known Member
Go for it - I love shooting my 2 mosins and the mauser - best bit of a range day - by far!
The correct designation for this model is m/1904-39. Portugal decided to adopt the German KAR98k in the late 1930s which it called the m/937 and the 198gn sS version of the 7.92X57mm cartridge. German manufacturers supplied a number of rifles, then WW2 approached and Berlin stopped exports.
The 6.5mm M1904 Mauser-Vegueiro was adapted to take the 7.92 cartridge. This couldn't be a rechamber as earlier posts suggest as 0.323" dia bullets don't fit 0.258" bores very well and chamber pressures might just have been on the high side!!
Most sources say the existing 29-inch barrels were set back, rebored and rerifled and cut down to produce the 600mm barrel short-rifle length. This was done by in-house armourer resources. A lot of work, but Portugal like most smaller countries wouldn't have had access to barrelmaking equipment, and this was c.1940 so the rest of the world had higher weapons manufacturing priorities, not to mention Portugal being mates with Nazi Germany. But who knows? The rearsight bed was reprofiled for the heavy 8mm bullet and revised MV. Most sources also say that as the m/1904-39 was a second string rifle to the German made 937s, they saw very little use hence the as new condition of the surplus eamples when eventually put on the market in the 1980s or 90s.
I had one many years back. Lovely rifle - shot very well indeed. A major spur to buying was cheap milspec PPU ammo at IIRC £8/100, and no need for handloading. That lasted one range session - IT KICKED! I didn't use lead bullets rather 130gn Hornady Spire Points and something like Viht N135 with light loads. It shot well enough, and was a real pleasure to shoot with this combination.
The 6.5mm M1904 Mauser-Vegueiro was adapted to take the 7.92 cartridge. This couldn't be a rechamber as earlier posts suggest as 0.323" dia bullets don't fit 0.258" bores very well and chamber pressures might just have been on the high side!!
Most sources say the existing 29-inch barrels were set back, rebored and rerifled and cut down to produce the 600mm barrel short-rifle length. This was done by in-house armourer resources. A lot of work, but Portugal like most smaller countries wouldn't have had access to barrelmaking equipment, and this was c.1940 so the rest of the world had higher weapons manufacturing priorities, not to mention Portugal being mates with Nazi Germany. But who knows? The rearsight bed was reprofiled for the heavy 8mm bullet and revised MV. Most sources also say that as the m/1904-39 was a second string rifle to the German made 937s, they saw very little use hence the as new condition of the surplus eamples when eventually put on the market in the 1980s or 90s.
I had one many years back. Lovely rifle - shot very well indeed. A major spur to buying was cheap milspec PPU ammo at IIRC £8/100, and no need for handloading. That lasted one range session - IT KICKED! I didn't use lead bullets rather 130gn Hornady Spire Points and something like Viht N135 with light loads. It shot well enough, and was a real pleasure to shoot with this combination.
HonestJohn
Well-Known Member
Easy if you use a proper Mauser d’iSight drifter screw device
Antonyweeks
Well-Known Member
it is superb fun and I have to admit that I prefer it as (as far as my shooting abilities are concerned) as there is so much practice to do!Go for it - I love shooting my 2 mosins and the mauser - best bit of a range day - by far!
Foxyboy43
Well-Known Member
tim@tcs
Well-Known Member
I may still have left ones for a p14 and SMLE, the Mauser is similar to the P14 but not a good fit sadly
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