7.65 Argentine Mauser carbine--good buy, or goodbye?

[DAL]

I recently saw a 7.65 Argentine Mauser carbine for sale for $200. It looked to be in very good shape both inside and out. The guy who is selling it is moving and he doesn't want to take it with him. I know nothing about this caliber, but I did have an 8mm Mauser years ago that was in decent shape and shot well. 7.65 Argentine ammo doesn't look to be nearly as plentiful as some of the other military calibers, so I'm wondering if I should pass it up based on that. It sure had a nice feel to it though.

BTW, the guy said it had a stout recoil due to its short barrel (I'm guessing it was 16-18") and light weight. Also, he said its design is based on the 1891 Mauser.

Does this sound like a decent deal? Thanks for any info. you can throw my way.
DAL

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Reading "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal," by Ayn Rand, should be required of every politician and in every high school.
GOA, JPFO, PPFC, CSSA, LP, NRA

[This message has been edited by DAL (edited February 22, 2000).]

[Herodotus]

Your discription of the rifle is too vague to identify it with any real confidence.
A lot of 1891 Argentine Cavelry Carbines are being sold at gun shows and at certain dealers right now for under $200, so if it is one of these, it is not a particularly good deal, but I guess not a tremendous rip-off either. Most of the ones being sold seem to be in in pretty good shape.
If you want to shoot this carbine, the only factory ammo available, to my knowledge, is Norma ammo from Sweden at about $40 per box of 20. In the Mid-West, some private reloaders are offering ammo made out of reformed 30/06 cases for considerably less. If you want to shoot the rifle a lot, you need to be rich or a reloader.
If you do want shoot it, I would have the head space checked by a gun smith that actually has 7.65 Arg. headspace gauges. Most do not. For some reason, the 1891 Mauser action does not inspire a lot of confidence in me. No real reason for this, just a prejudice.
I picked up one of these carbines about a year ago for well under $200, cannot remember exactly, more as a collectable. I have not shot it yet and am not sure if I really ever will.

[DAL]

A little more information on the rifle:

It's an Argentine Engineer Carbine (whatever that is).

It has matching serial numbers.

It has "DWM" stamped on it, along with (I think) "Muntionsfabriken" (sp?) and "Berlin."

Sorry, but that's all I know about it.

BTW, I looked in Shotgun News and found some 7.65 Argentine ball for 17.9 cents/round from Samco Global Arms, Inc.
DAL

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Reading "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal," by Ayn Rand, should be required of every politician and in every high school.
GOA, JPFO, PPFC, CSSA, LP, NRA

[average american]

DAL, i have three argentine mauser 1891's and have found them all to be good shooters. Each one of the three was a good deal for the simple reason that the caliber is fairly scarce on the commercial market.As someone else pointed, out if you don't reload, it may not be worth the trouble as Norma's ammo for it can be pretty pricey.If you do reload for rifle calibers however, it is really pretty easy to make them (7.65's) from 30-06 cases. Just make sure you have a strong rifle press as you have to full length resize the case, and then trim the excess off the case to spec. All three of the ones i have are great shooters as i said, and i have never had any trouble whatsoever from any of them. Recoil shouldnt be a problem either if you reload your own, but i can imagine that some of the old surplus ammo can be stout in a barrel of that length. the workmanship on the ones made in Berlin is usually pretty nice, at least on all the ones i have seen. As to price, thats a little bit high here in the Midwest, but not outrageous. I guess i should quit rambling here,if you want to ask specific questions about it, post them, and i'll take my best shot at them for you.

[DAL]

Thanks for the replies, they helped me make my decision on the rifle. I have decided to pass up the opportunity at this time. I'll definitely keep my eyes open for rifles of this type in the future though.

average american, I don't reload rifle carts. yet (although I do reload pistol carts.), and I'm not sure if or when I'll start in the future, so it may not have behooved me to buy the rifle at this point in time. But it sure was a fine example of craftsmanship.
DAL

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Reading "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal," by Ayn Rand, should be required of every politician and in every high school.
GOA, JPFO, PPFC, CSSA, LP, NRA