M95 Chilean action is almost identical in every detail to the regular M95 Spanish action, except that it has a third, or safety, locking lug. This lug, about .175” high, .125 ” wide and .540” long, is located on the right side of the tang just behind the bolt handle root. This lug does not contact the bolt handle, but is designated to leave a visible gap between it and the bolt handle. Its purpose is not to help hold the bolt locked in the receiver, but to act as a safety measure. That is, if the forward dual-locking lugs should fail when the rifle is fired, the small safety lug behind the bolt handle would halt or retard the rearward movement of the bolt. In such an extremely rare event the safety lug would afford some protection to the shooter by preventing the bolt from striking his head. It is in this respect only that the M95 Chilean action is somewhat safer than the other pre-98 actions. In my opinion, however, this feature does not make the action any more suitable for high-intensity cartridges.
Other Variations
Earlier in this chapter the M93 Spanish action, made in Spain by Industrias de Guerra, was mentioned as having a gas escape vent in the bolt and receiver. This particular action further differs from the usual M93 and M95 in that the magazine/guard has a hinged floorplate. The floorplate is hinged at the front on a pin and is held closed by a small spring-loaded latch—fitted into a hole at the upper front of the trigger guard bow. Pushing the small plunger of this latch to the left, with a bullet tip or pointed tool, releases the floorplate so it, along with the follower and follower spring, can be swung down to empty the magazine. On others of the same make, a different latch was used. A release lever similar to that used on the Japanese Type 38 caliber 6.5mm rifle is located inside the front curve of the trigger guard bow, and depressing the button releases the floorplate.
Bottom of the M95 bolt (right) as compared with the M93 bolt (left). Note gas escape vent near M93 bolt head.
Another distinct variation is found on M93 Turkish rifles in 7.65mm caliber. This action has a magazine cutoff—a thumb-operated lever, pivoted on the right side of the receiver. When the cutoff is engaged, it forces the cartridges in the magazine down so the bolt can be closed without picking up a cartridge. To lower a full magazine of cartridges, a deeper floorplate was used on this rifle.
Most M93 Spanish Mausers were made with a magazine follower, square at the rear, which blocked the forward movement of the bolt when the magazine was empty. This feature prevented “blind loading” of the rifle. After ejecting the last case, the bolt will not close, indicating an empty magazine. Other military rifles based on the M93 action, like the M94 Brazilian and the M95 Chilean, had the follower sloped at the rear so the bolt would close when the magazine was empty.
Some M93s and M95s have a deep thumb notch cut into the left receiver wall just ahead of the bridge—an aid in loading the rifle from a stripper clip. The notch is frequently as deep as that found on the M98 action. On others, the thumb notch will be very shallow, just the top edge of the locking lug raceway cut away and rounded. Another type, like the M95 Chilean Mauser, shows no left wall cut at all.
The safety lug (arrow) on the Chilean M95 action is located on the tang just behind the bolt handle base. The lug is about .175” high, .125” wide and .540” long. It does not (and should not) contact the base of the bolt handle.
Model 93 and 95 Rifles
I will list here a few of the variant rifles and carbines based on M93 and M95 Mauser actions. Foremost were the M93 Spanish rifle with 29.06” barrel, weight about 9 pounds; the M93 Spanish short rifle with a 21.75” barrel, weight about 8.3 pounds, and the M95 Spanish carbine with a 17.56” barrel, weight about 7.5 pounds. Many of these Spanish rifles and carbines were made in Germany—Ludwig Loewe &Company, Berlin, made about 250,000; the Mauser firm made 30,000. A great many of these arms were made at the Fabrica de Armas arsenal in Oviedo, Spain, and a huge number of the short rifles were produced by Industrias de Guerra de Cataluna arsenal, also in Spain. The Spanish arsenals made these rifles for many years and I have seen some dated after WWI.
Perhaps the next most common rifle using this action is the M95 Chilean. It carries a 29.06” barrel and weighs about 9 pounds. Like the Spanish M93s and M95s, it is chambered for the 7mm Mauser cartridge.
Century Arms has Chilean M95 Mausers with “OVS” over the serial number (left side of the receiver ring). These were originally sold to Orange Free State, Africa, but a portion were not paid for or were refused— for whatever reason. These were then engraved (?) with the Chilean coat of arms on top of the receiver ring and sold to Chile.
Rarer, and not as well known, are the M93 Turkish caliber 7.65mm rifle with a 29.06 ” barrel, the Brazilian M94 in 7mm caliber with 29.06” barrel and the Orange Free State M95, which is similar to the Brazilian M94. Other countries which also adopted the M95 Mauser were Mexico, Uruguay and Persia (Iran).
The Mauser firm made over 200,000 of the Turkish M93 rifles. Ludwig Loewe &Company (Germany) and Fabrique Nationale (FN) of Belgium produced rifles for Brazil.
M94 and M96 Swedish Mausers
By the time Spain had adopted the M93 Mauser in 1893, Paul Mauser was making further changes to improve it and obtain contracts from other countries. In 1894, Sweden adopted a carbine with these improvements, designated the Model 94 Swedish Mauser Carbine. The new cartridge introduced with this carbine was the 6.5x55mm. which eventually became famous for its long-range accuracy, both as a military and target round.
The Swedish government ordered 12,185 of these carbines, during 1894 and 1895, to be made by Mauser Werke in Germany. Later, the M94 carbines were made by Carl Gustafs Stads Gevarsfaktori (the Swedish government arsenal) in Eskilstuna, Sweden.
Being made for a different cartridge, having a slightly larger body and head diameter than the 7mm, the M94 Swedish action differed from the M93 and M95 actions in that the cocking piece had an upright projection at the end, the top checkered. The true purpose of this feature is not known, but most likely it was meant to uncock the action manually: that is, a way to hold the cocking piece so that, on pulling the trigger, the striker could be lowered or uncocked. It is almost impossible to cock the striker by pulling the checkered projection. Hence, its purpose must have been to uncock the action rather than to cock it, if it had any purpose at all.
Just ahead of this checkered projection there is a notch which allows the safety to be swung over when the striker is down. Like most other bolt actions, when the M94 firing pin is forward and the bolt closed, the firing pin tip protrudes from the face of the bolt. If the safety is swung over to the right, engaging this extra notch in the cocking piece, the firing pin is pulled back within the bolt and locked there. It may have been that this feature, plus the checkered projection on the cocking piece, allowed the soldier to uncock a loaded rifle (with a cartridge chambered) and then engage the safety; thereafter, an accidental blow to the cocking piece would not discharge the rifle. With the safety engaged on the uncocked action, the bolt is locked closed.
M94 Swedish Mauser bolt face.
In 1896, Sweden adopted a rifle called the Model 96 Swedish Mauser, based on the M94 action, but made with an important additional feature. The early M94 Swedish action only had a shallow cut for the thumb in the left receiver wall, and this was found to have insufficient thumb clearance when charging the magazine with a stripper clip. On the M96, the thumb notch was made much deeper, extending through the left locking lug raceway. Therefore, to prevent the left locking from striking
