of ammunition makers here and abroad load this cartridge, some with several different bullet weights, and most of the large sporting arms makers offer rifles chambered for it.
The 7mm Mauser has always been a handloaders dream cartridge. This is because there is such a wide range of domestic bullets available in this caliber. In military rifles the best accuracy will usually be obtained with heavier bullets, those ranging from 139 to 175 grains. Some of the lighter bullets may give fine accuracy if seated very shallowly in the caseneck, for a minimum of jump from case to rifling.
The 6.5 x 55mm Cartridge
If I have praised the 7mm Mauser cartridge, then I should extol the 6.5x55mm Mauser cartridge as well since it, too, is a renowned performer. It is, in the opinion of many experts, the finest 6.5mm cartridge ever developed. It first proved to be an excellent military cartridge, and later The first stop on the bolt allows the trigger to be pulled, uncocking the firing pin as the bolt is closed and locked. on a better sporting and target cartridge. As a target cartridge, it established some enviable records. Its high esteem is reflected by the fact that it was offered as one chambering for the Remington 40XB target rifle. Therefore, if you have an M94, M96 or M41 Swedish rifle with an excellent bore, it would be plumb foolish to rebarrel it in another caliber.
Left side of the M94 Swedish action, showing the thumb-slotted receiver wall. The first stop on the bolt allows the trigger to be pulled, uncocking the firing pin as the bolt is closed and locked.
The 6.5x55mm, as loaded by Norma, is available from dealers handling this brand.
Like the 7mm, the heavier-bullet loads perform best in the deep-throated 6.5x55mm militarily chambered barrels. Using Norma cases it’s a good cartridge for the serious handloader. The best reloading information on this cartridge is in the Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading.
Conclusion
The Swedish rifles discussed in this chapter were never plentiful. From time to time during the 1950s, some dealers in military surplus offered M94 carbines for about $30. M96 rifles were offered less frequently, and were usually priced a bit higher. Some M38s were offered, as were the actions, in the late 1950s and again in the early 1990s. Sales apparently were good—for these items were seldom listed after 1960. Surprisingly, however, in 1967 and 1968 a couple of firms offered the M41 Swedish sniper rifle complete with scope and mount for about $70. While all the Swedish Mauser rifles are becoming more scarce, it usually is not too difficult to pick one up from dealers handling used firearms.
As for the M93s, they appear to be more common than ever before. Since the military surplus market boom began after WWII, it seems that more of the various M93 carbines and rifles have been offered, as well as M93 actions, than any other foreign arm. I expect this condition to exist for a few years yet, though the supply will diminish eventually. M95 Mausers, especially M95 Chilean rifles, are much more scarce.
A fine custom-made sporter based on the M94 Swedish Mauser action. A 1903 Springfield four-groove barrel is fitted to the action and rechambered to 308. A new bolt handle, Buehler safety and Weaver detachable side mount carrying a K-4 scope were also fitted. The figured walnut stock has skip-line checkering.
M94 Swedish carbine, 6.5x55mm cal., 17.38” barrel, 37.4” overall, weight about 7.3 pounds.
Mauser Smokeless Powder Actions Models 88, 89, 90 & 91 FdH
M91 Argentine carbine, caliber 7.65mm Mauser. Barrel is 17.63” long, length 37” overall, weight about 7.2 lbs.
PAUL MAUSER MUST surely have been disappointed when his native country adopted the Model 88 Commission rifle in 1888. Although the M88 action contained a number of original Mauser design features, it was not a “Mauser.” The Mauser features used in the M88 were those of the blackpowder M71/84 including the non-rotating separate bolt head, ejector, trigger and firing mechanism.
While Germany was considering adoption of the M88, Paul Mauser was busy designing a new action. He tried to improve and strengthen his M71/84 action, and at the same time eliminating the special clip needed to hold the cartridges in the M88 magazine, a poor feature.
Experimental M88
This action was an improved version of the M71/84 Mauser with high receiver walls, double locking lugs engaging recesses in the receiver bridge, and a nine-shot single column box magazine. It was chambered for a new Mauser cartridge, the 7.65mm, a smokeless-powder load. Mauser entered this rifle in the Belgian rifle trials but was not successful in selling it—it remained an experimental model.
Failing with the experimental M88, Paul Mauser designed an entirely new action. A far departure from any of his earlier types, it was the forerunner of the justly famed Model 1898 Mauser. This new and vastly improved action introduced the Mauser locking system for the first time. The one-piece bolt, bored from the rear, had dual-opposed locking lugs on the forward end. The rifle, chambered for the 7.65mm Mauser cartridge, was adopted by Belgium in 1889 and became known as the Model 1889 Belgian Mauser.
The M89 was the first highly successful Mauser action designed for a powerful, smokeless powder, rimless military cartridge. It was also the first Mauser action designed to load the magazine with a charger (more commonly referred to as a stripper clip). This action set the general pattern for other Mauser turnbolt rifle actions which followed, with changes and improvements that made Mauser actions a standard the world over.
M89 Mauser Rifles
The first Belgian M89s were made in the large Fabrique Nationale (FN) plant in Herstal, Belgium. Originally there were three versions: a rifle with a 30.67” barrel, a carbine with a 21.65” barrel and a shorter carbine with a 15.75” barrel. All of these (plus a carbine to be introduced in 1916) were made with a barrel jacket—essentially like the one used on the M88 Commission rifle. This jacket was a thin-walled steel tube covering the barrel. The rear of the tube threaded on to the front of the receiver ring, with a bushing at its opposite end to center the barrel muzzle. The FN plant made some 275,000 of these rifles and carbines from 1889 to about 1925. A great many more were made in the Belgian government arsenal in Liege. Many were also made in Birmingham, England, at a plant set up and operated by Belgian refugees. Oddly enough, an American firm (Hopkins & Allen of Norwich, Conn.) obtained a contract and made many of these rifles for Belgium a few years before World War 1.
Some versions of the Belgian Mauser made after the introduction of the 1890 Turkish and 1891 Argentine Mausers will often have minor improvements found on these later rifles. These improvements will be pointed out in the detailed discussion which follows.
The last version of the M89 Belgian Mauser, the M89/36, does not have the barrel jacket.
None of the M89 Belgian rifles were made by the Mauser plant in Germany. Some of the late M89/36 Belgian rifles were made by Ancetab Pieper in Herstal, and were so marked.
Model 1890 Turkish Rifle
During the development of the M89, Mauser had a contract to make the M87 rifle for Turkey, one based on the M71/84 action. A clause in the contract provided Turkey with the benefit
