Mauser in 7.62 or 308

[Hquiles]

Hi boys a d girls:

I'm new to this forum, and I don't really know much about mausers. I know there are a lot of variants and conversions, but I really don't know much about them.

Anyway, here's the question:

I'm looking for a mauser in .308 or 7.62. I have 2 mausers, Gew 98 and K98, one that I never used and the other only fired 20 rounds with it. Why? Ammo availability. In my 7 years of collecting milsurp guns, I only found a single 20rd 8mm box. No one sells milsurp ammo around here. Only ammo I can find, and not always, is 30.06 and 30 carbine. I have a few rifles that I never fired because of that.

Order ammo online? I live in a US territory (Puerto Rico) overseas, and shipping ammo thru mail is prohibited. So, I only have two options: make my own ammo, but you need a permit to handle explosives, very difficult to get, and also powder, VERY difficult to get too, or finding a rifle that use modern and available ammo, like .308.

So, which models and conversions do you recommend? I've seen online mausers marked 7.62 on top of the receiver, spanish mausers supposedly safe to shoot with .308, ut I prefer to know your opinion and experiences. Also, the prices of such rifles, a d what to look for.

I'll read your comments. Thanks.

 

[Guillaume d'Orange]

Hi boys a d girls:

I'm new to this forum, and I don't really know much about mausers. I know there are a lot of variants and conversions, but I really don't know much about them.

Anyway, here's the question:

I'm looking for a mauser in .308 or 7.62. I have 2 mausers, Gew 98 and K98, one that I never used and the other only fired 20 rounds with it. Why? Ammo availability. In my 7 years of collecting milsurp guns, I only found a single 20rd 8mm box. No one sells milsurp ammo around here. Only ammo I can find, and not always, is 30.06 and 30 carbine. I have a few rifles that I never fired because of that.

Order ammo online? I live in a US territory (Puerto Rico) overseas, and shipping ammo thru mail is prohibited. So, I only have two options: make my own ammo, but you need a permit to handle explosives, very difficult to get, and also powder, VERY difficult to get too, or finding a rifle that use modern and available ammo, like .308.

So, which models and conversions do you recommend? I've seen online mausers marked 7.62 on top of the receiver, spanish mausers supposedly safe to shoot with .308, ut I prefer to know your opinion and experiences. Also, the prices of such rifles, a d what to look for.

I'll read your comments. Thanks.

Hi Hector, you may look for Norwegian 98ks, most of them have been rebarreled in 30.06.
7.62/.308 is kind of a modern caliber, you might find Israeli 98ks or "custom" conversions.

 

[Hquiles]

Price of those? I don't have any idea of the prices.

I think I've seen pics of Israely mausers (the ones with the 7.62 marking on top of the receiver?), but I don't remember if I've ever seen norwegian mausers.

I prefer to get a 7.62 rifle. 30.06 is not easy to find, and those are over $2 per round. I have three 30.06 rifles that I don't use much because of that.

308 is very easy to find.

 

[heavy_mech]

Price of those? I don't have any idea of the prices.

I think I've seen pics of Israely mausers (the ones with the 7.62 marking on top of the receiver?) I prefer to get a 7.62 rifle. 308 is very easy to find.

Every type of gun and gun part is either crazy high priced or sold out. It's all over and everything (even complete junk guns) are selling like crazy. I'll say for a shooter Israeli in 7.62 you'll be at $500-600 bare minimum for an ugly piece and up to $1000 for a nice one. At that low end you'd have to be very lucky and 'find' one IMO.

 

[GeeRam]

Price of those? I don't have any idea of the prices.

I think I've seen pics of Israely mausers (the ones with the 7.62 marking on top of the receiver?), but I don't remember if I've ever seen norwegian mausers.

I prefer to get a 7.62 rifle. 30.06 is not easy to find, and those are over $2 per round. I have three 30.06 rifles that I don't use much because of that.

308 is very easy to find.

In that case, ex-Israeli K98k or one of the post WW2 Belgian made Mauser's in 7.62.

However, a word of warning about these, given your ammo availability issue.
Is the ammo you can get commercial US made .308 or can you get proper surplus 7.62x51 NATO ammo?

There is a big difference, as ex-mil rifle cambered to fire 7.62x51 NATO are usually not chambered or proofed to fire commercial .308 ammo which can be a lot hotter.
So, trying to find a 7.62x51 NATO ex-milsurp Mauser may not be that beneficial to you if you can only get US commercial .308 ammo.

 

[ernie8]

A k-98k or FN made 98 will have no problem with any 7.62 or 308 Win ammo . The cases are the same , as are the chambers [ other than the extra clearance found on most military rifles ] .

 

[R.W. Parker]

I've seen online mausers marked 7.62 on top of the receiver, spanish mausers supposedly safe to shoot with .308

Stay away from those '95s that've been rebarreled to 7,62 NATO, those actions are only rated for about 40,000 psi, tops. They're okay if you can assemble appropriate handloads but, as you said, that's going to be a problem in Puerto Rico. In fact, it's a problem everywhere presently unless you've socked away a bunch of components.

A rebarreled '98 is what you'll likely wind up with. Be patient, you never know -- perhaps something not too terribly expensive will come your way.

 

[Warrior1354]

A k-98k or FN made 98 will have no problem with any 7.62 or 308 Win ammo . The cases are the same , as are the chambers [ other than the extra clearance found on most military rifles ] .

I believe that's correct ernie. I think the only time you have a problem with those two is when you try to use it in a semi-automatic rifle like the M14 or FN FAL. And that's mainly due to the primers in the commercial ammunition being softer.

 

[Hquiles]

The only ammo you can find around here is commercial.

So, I'll try to look for a k98k or FN. But I think I'll have to wait and see if this hysteria calms down. Like you said, even junk guns are selling like crazy. Guns that I bought 3 years ago, now are selling 3X the price I paid then.

Maybe another option is a 2A1. Not a Mauser, but at least I think it can fire 308 without issues.

 

[Sexton]

Another option might be a Spanish FR-7 or FR-8. They don't look it, but under all that modification there is a Mauser receiver.

 

[Hquiles]

Another option might be a Spanish FR-7 or FR-8. They don't look it, but under all that modification there is a Mauser receiver.

Forgot about that model! Those look very nice. And I already have the bayonet.

Do yo know how much those are selling for?