 thehannaman wrote: |
| I can't imagine that the 30-06 would fit
since the cartiridge is so much longer. And if it did, it would
have to suck trying to get the brass out since I imaging that it would
burst. Definately not good for the breach. |
|
It doesn't. In fact, there are slight indentations in that '06 casing
just from the light pressure I applied, and the bolt didn't come
anywhere near home.
Sure you could mill it down, that's how reloaders make cartridges for
rifles that have ammo types that aren't easy to come by, like the Steyr
1895, but machine shops
aren't readily available in the field, and who wants to pull the slugs
and dump the powder on a handful of cartridges, then reload them all
after all that machine work anyway,
when they could just pick up a weapon that was designed for that
cartridge and get back to fighting?
Surplus ammo is still readily available for most of the popular
vintage, surplus rifles, and much of it is actually in good working
order, though it's nearly all corrosive. There are plenty of sources
for original 8mm ammo. I don't have any, and don't care enough to want
to get any, as the new ones work just fine and aren't corrosive, but it's
out there if you really want it.
I don't want to get into a, eh-hem, "exacto knife" measuring
contest about it, but barrels are machined to specific dimensions and
there's really not that much "slop" to allow for minor differences in
casing shape and design. A new casing isn't going to differ that much
from an old one, since it has to physically fit in the chamber. The
period 8mm cases I've seen are the same as the new casings. You can't
get a wider rim to work without modifying the bolt. It's machined for
specific dimensions, as is the extractor.
A smaller bullet will work, but if it's too small, the least
you'll have to worry about is that it'll be grossly inaccurate, and
will likely damage your barrel beyond repair. It could even be
dangerous. Damage to the casing, while trying to force the proverbial
"square peg" into a "round hole" can be dangerous too. Even if you made
it work, and managed to pop off a shot without the rifle exploding in
your face, good luck getting the casing out. Good way to make rifle
worthless when you need it most.
Anyway, I'm still hitting a wall with the Mauser 91. My sources
say the Argentine model, which was also exported to several other South
American and European countries, is the only Mauser bearing the 1891
title. It was made in Germany and exported to Argentina, but was not
issued officially to any German forces. The only German Mauser between
the Model 79 and the classic G98 of WWI fame is the 71/84, which was an
update to the Model 71.
The Argentine 1891 (
http://www.surplusrifle.com/argentine1891/index.asp) bolt featured the very infantile stages of what would become the
classic Mauser bolt. You are correct about the caliber though. It was
7.65mm. But the rifle differs in many ways from the classic Mauser in
shape, the most obvious being the Mosin-Nagant style magazine sticking out of the bottom, in front of the trigger guard.
If that is indeed your rifle, then I did figure out the bayonet situation, and in answer to
your question as to whether or not your new bayonet would fit, the
answer is no. The bayonet for the 1891 was similar in basic design, but
the rail is on the bottom of the nose cap, rather than in front of it,
as on the G98 and 98k, so the ring on the hilt, that fits around the
barrel has to be farther away from the blade than on a bayonet for a
later Mauser. That's assuming what you have is indeed the same rifle
I'm talking about. Yours says Berlin on it, so it was almost certainly
made at the Deutsche Waffen Und Munitionsfabriken arsenal, and it
probably says so somewhere on the reciever. In fact, I'm looking at the
side rail of an Argentine 1891 in a picture right now, and it says
"Mauser Modelo Argentino 1891, Deutsche Waffen-Und Munitionsfabriken,
Berlin".
What you want to do is check out the top of the reciever and see
if there's a national crest up there. That will tell you who it was
made for. Most likely, it's the Argentine national crest, which has an
oval with two hands shaking and a torch (which looks an awful lot like
a santaclaus hat on a stick), and horizontal lines from the middle to
the top. The oval is surrounded by a wreath and there's a sun rising at
the top of the whole motif. There were other crests too, that denoted
rifles issued to different branches of the Argentine military, as well
as miltary academies. It's also possible that it was made for another
country though, so the crest is what matters for identification. If it
says "Deutsche Waffen-Und Munitionsfabriken, Berlin" and a year,
instead of a crest, then it was made for the German army.
My Czech VZ24 Mauser was made by BRNO and bears the BRNO markings on
the side rail, with the rest of the writing in Czech (but the crest,
which has been largely obliterated by a grinder) is the Romanian crest
of King Carol, which means that the rifle was made for export to
Romania for use in their army. The only non-matching serial numbers are
on the bolt handle and the floor plate of the magazine.
That your rifle was taken as a trophy in the ETO during WWII means that
either it was never exported, or had been sold back, possibly as part of an
exchange for a shipment of newer weapons, and was pressed into service
as part of the last ditch effort in the waning days of the Reich.