Louis Awerbuck was a firearms author and instructor. A native of South Africa, he was the first Rangemaster of what became Col Jeff Cooper’s Gunsite Academy. Awerbuck wrote several books and produced videos on various techniques. I recommend his book Defensive Shotgun Techniques. Famously, he once wrote:
“When it all comes down, the last man standing is going to be standing there in shorts and sneakers with a ’98 Mauser, and all the ninja-looking guys belly up at his feet – with all their cool gear.”
I take the quote to mean that the person who knows and uses their rifles and equipment, including living their preps, is going to come out ahead against the armchair warriors you find on Facebook, displaying their bugout and INCH bags full of gadgets that have never been used and in many cases still have the price tag on them.
While I am not going to get rid of all my modern rifles and “cool gear”, I thought I would take a look at the century plus old design of the 98 Mauser and considers its usefulness in a prepper’s arsenal.
The Gewehr 98, more commonly called the Model 1898 or simply “98 Mauser” in English anyway, was the standard infantry rifle used by Germany and many other countries. Germany adopted it in 1898, hence the name, and used it until 1935 when it was replaced by a newer version, the Karabiner 98k (pictured), with the “k” standing for kurz or short). Both the Model 98 and the 98k are are chambered is a 7.92mmx57 rimless round, commonly called the 8mm Mauser. This is a .30-06 class cartridge–actually slightly more powerful. The internal box magazine holds 5 rounds, although the top round is stripped from the magazine when the bolt was cycled after loading the rifle, leaving only four rounds in the magazine. I suppose you could drop the hinged floorplate and top off the magazine, but that is a bit of a hassle.
The Model 98 is a cock on opening design, with a three-position safety, fire, safe – bolt can cycle, safe- bolt locked closed. It has what is called controlled round feed, meaning that as a round is fed from the magazine, it is captured by the extractor, so that in theory the round is never free to fall out of the gun.
Controlled round feed versus push feed is another one of the endless gun debates that can be found in gun shops and on-line. Controlled round feed is claimed by many to be the only action that should be used for dangerous game. The bolt has two front locking lugs as well as a rear safety lug in case of over pressure.
The 98 Mauser was the culmination of the design originally created by Paul Mauser and adopted by the German Empire in 1871. The Gew 71 was a single shot firing an 11mm Black Powder round. Between 1871 and 1898 there were a number of significant improvements including the 1893 Spanish Mauser, the 1895 Chilean Mauser, and the 1896 Swedish Mauser.
Over the years, there were many variations and many manufacturers including a scaled-up anti-tank version, the Model 1918 T-Gewehr, which was chambered for the 13.2mm TuF–a roughly .52 caliber semi-rimmed round. As an aside, when I went through Army OCS in 1979, the headquarters building had an enormous 1918 Mauser on display. When we messed up, the Tac officers were fond of bringing out that very large, very heavy rifle for the offending party to march with.
The military version of the 98 Mauser was produced up until 1964 by FN in Belgium for various countries in a number of calibers and minor variations. It reportedly served up until 1986 with the Belgian army reserve forces, and can probably be found still serving somewhere in far flung corners of the world.
My Latest Find
Moving to more recent history, last weekend, I was out (while social distancing) checking pawn shops for bargains. Also, I was curious to find out if they were seeing a surge in business yet. So far, no increase in people pawning items, but a big increase in people buying guns. One of my regular shops ended up bringing out some of what they think of as their less desirable guns to fill out the display. A hunting rifle caught my eye. It had freckles of rust on it, and a water stain on the stock, but a close look showed that it was gunsmith built by someone who knew what he was doing, but who unfortunately did not sign his work.
In the shop, I could tell it was a Mauser commercial action with a Wilson .30-06 barrel, a really well-made walnut stock with sharp checkering and straight grain. Drilled and tapped for a scope and for receiver sights, it came with a folding leaf sight on the barrel and a front sight with a gold bead. What really caught my attention as to the quality of the rifle was the fact that all of the plug screws in the drilled and tapped receiver sight and scope mount holes were clocked in parallel alignment with the bore. You just don’t see that level of craftsmanship, these days.
Anyway, $150 later, it was on the way home with me. About that time, I remembered Awerbuck’s quote and thought this might the start of a fun article for SurvivalBlog.
Once I got home, I stripped the gun, cleaned off most of the rust with fine stainless steel wool and WD40, and put some Boiled Linseed Oil on the stock. Eventually, I will probably need to sand down the stock and refinish, but this works for now. While I had it apart, I found markings indicating it was a 1948 Belgian commercial Mauser action with an aftermarket adjustable trigger that broke like the proverbial glass rod with absolutely no creep and no take up. The trigger didn’t even seem to move as it broke at 5 pounds. I didn’t take off the Pachmayr recoil pad, so the gunsmith’s name may be under it.
Some Comparison Tests
While I could have written an article just on this rifle, I thought it would be more interesting to throw a few other Mausers into the mix. Digging around in a couple of the gun safes yielded the following:
- German 98k re-barreled by Israel in 7.62×51 and set up as a designated marksman rifle
- Yugoslav M48 in 8mm Mauser
- Belgian 1948 commercial Mauser (as described above) in .30-06
- Belgian 1962 Commercial Mauser in .270 with receiver sight
- US Springfield 1903 Mark 1 in .30-06 (CMP gun)
- US Springfield customized National Match target rifle in .30-06 (used in an earlier article I wrote for SurvivalBlog ).
Anticipating a couple of questions:
- Why include the 1903 Springfield? Well it was pretty much a direct copy of the Mauser 93 with enhancements from the Mauser 98. It “borrowed” so much from the Mausers that the US was found liable in court and ordered to pay royalties, which they cancelled as a part of the Armistice. [JWR Adds: Yes, the U.S. continued to pay royalties to Germany during World War 1 for each Springfield M1903 produced, by way of Switzerland. Strange but true.]
- Why no German 98? A while ago, I got rid of all my Nazi guns, except for the Israeli Mauser. This was hard for me as the Germans made a lot of innovative weapons, but it was a personal decision.
So, how to test these rifles? Well, I didn’t want to spend a lot of time at the range, as the Spring weather was still on the damp, cool rainy side of things. I also didn’t see the need for prolonged accuracy testing or working up loads to optimize each rifle. In the end, I decided on two simple tests. Speed shooting at 25 yards, how fast could I empty each rifle while keeping all rounds in the A or C zone of a standard IPSC silhouette target and firing off the bench at 100 yards to see what sort of group I could expect.
For ammunition I used what I had around. The 30-06 rifles were shot with standard Winchester soft point hunting ammunition, likewise for the .270. The Israeli Mauser was shot with Federal 7.62×51 surplus ammo, and the 8mm Yugoslav Mauser was shot with some Yugo surplus ammo that I have a couple of spam cans full of.
For any kind of training, I would highly recommend that you acquire a shot timer. I have a Competition Electronics timer that I bought around 15 years ago. It doesn’t have all the bell and whistles, but it works. The latest model is around $110. You can find others for less, and some for quite a bit more. I have heard that you can get an app for your phone that works like a shot timer, but the only folks I know that have tried them say they don’t always work well.
So how did they shoot?
Five of the six Mausers had iron sights, with four of those having hunting or military sights. The telescopic sight on the sixth Mauser was a vintage Lyman All American six power scope. I wasn’t expecting tack driving results especially given the weather, but I was happy with how they all performed.
The iron sighted guns were all able to put five rounds in the center sections of the target in fairly uniform times. Fastest time was the Yugo M48 at 4.9 seconds. Slowest was the 1903 Target rifle at 7.9 seconds. The other rifles were in the 5.5 to 6.5 range. The target rifle weighed in at 11 pounds and was a but unwieldy. I found that at a close range like 25 yards, I was able to take a “flash” sight picture concentrating on putting the front sight on the target, with the rear sight somewhere in the vicinity of where it should be. Not taking the time for a proper sight picture definitely speeded things up. The scoped Israeli Mauser was the slowest at 9.2 seconds. A six-power scope is just not conducive to fast shooting at 25 yards.
Moving to the hundred-yard range, the results were as follows.
- German 98k Israeli DM rifle 2.75 inches
- Yugoslav M48 5.0 inches
- Belgian 1948 commercial Mauser (the impetus for this article) 1.75 inches
- Belgian 1962 Commercial Mauser in .270 with receiver sight 2.0 inches
- US Springfield 1903 Mark 1 in 30-06 (CMP gun) 3.25 inches
- US Springfield customized National Match target rifle .75 inches
I think the weather contributed a bit to the group size being a bit larger than I would like, also I probably need more practice with the military sights. I really would like to try them a longer ranges as well, but the nearest long distance range I can use is a 1 ½ hour drive, and I didn’t have the time. Maybe this summer I can give them a workout. Because 100 yards is really a nothing shot for guns like these.
So my conclusion? Yes, the Mauser can serve well in a prepper’s arsenal. Military Mausers, especially sporterized, are still available at a third of the price or less of a .308 class semi-automatic Modern Sporting Rifle like an AR-10 and a tenth of the cost of the “rarer” ones like a HK91 or Belgian FAL.
You can even find some pre-1899 antiques in modern calibers that are exempt from federal law. The M1895 and M1916 Spanish Mausers are often rebarreled in .308 and the 1896 Swedish Mauser in 6.5×55 is a great choice. Additionally, who knows what will happen to gun laws, but one scenario that the gun banners push is banning semi-automatic firearms of various flavors. Having a Mauser 98 or two (or other vintage bolt gun) might be a good contingency plan.
After discovering that I had antique short barrel 1895 Chiliean Mauser made in Germany that was rebored to 7.62 Nato in 1961. I replaced the worn and faulty extractor, and developed an accuracy load that was near the maximum safe pressure of just below 46,000 cup, launching a 165 Nosler BT, it shoots well. Shortly afterwards, I discovered that they used an insert to rechamber it from 7×57 to the 5mm shorter 7.62 Nato case. This insert is some how soldiered in. This opens up more questions about the safety of the rifle. And also because the 7.62 Nato cartridge is 5mm shorter, and the magazine follower is made for the 7×57, on occassion the bolt fails to ‘pick up’ the 7.62 round and fails to chamber it. I therefore must advise others not to purchase these converted rifles. Also consider that the M95 should be hand loaded, as 7.62 pressures can vary from manufacturer to manufacture, and this is made in 1895 when metallurgy was not refined. These rifle must be kept within specified pressures or lower. One round from a box labeled 7.62 Nato was found to cause a heavy bolt lift as it was too hot for this old rifle.
Although officially labeled 7.62 Nato, IMHO, the M95 conversions are unsafe unless hand loaded below the SAAMI pressure limit of 46,000 cup. Use starting loads for 7.62 Nato, or find an accurate load using .300 Savage load data that will be under 46,000 cup. IMR4064, H4895, and IMR3031 are good powders for accurate lower pressure loads. Because of the particular load developed, I consider it a good 200 yard deer rifle because the accurate load found was right at the maximum pressure for 7×57. Because of the iron sights, it is zeroed around 100 yards, and the bullet would drop below 3 inches at about 200 yards. With a scope, zero it at 200, and it is good for 280 yards. The load developed was a 165 grain Nosler BT loaded with 39.1 grains of IMR 3031 that I estimate should have a muzzle velocity out of a 18 inch barrel of about 2,450 fps. This bullet is designed to expand adequately down to 1,800 fps, and is on par with the Hornady 160 grain FTX ammunition. A 170 RN, or Flat Point .30 -30 bullet is designed for a MV of 2,200fps, and expands reliably as low as 1,600 fps. A 150 grain .30-30 bullet might also used with a maximum of 42 grains of IMR3130 for a velocity of about 2,550 fps out of the short carbine barrels. The soft lead construction, and the round or flat nose assists in expansion.
The M1916 ‘.308 ‘ conversions may better handle the lower pressures of 7.62 Nato ammunition if they were made in Germany, but then these pressures do often exceed the 7×57 maximum pressure of 46,000 cup. I would avoid any converted Mauser made in Spain unless the head space was checked, and it was hand loaded using .300 Savage load data. Recievers made in Spain are of inconsistent quality.
Good info. How can you spot the insert? Is it visible to the eye or do you need something like a borescope?
I discovered that they used insert in these conversions when doing a bit of homework on the rifle. There is a photo of a cross section of the chamber that clearly reveals the insert. The concern was that over time, hot gases could etch out the solder that supports the insert, and weaken it’s ability to withstand cartridge pressure the rifle was originally designed for. One can argue the maximum safe pressure for these converted rifles should be lower than 46,000 cup. This is why I suggested .30-30 bullets and lower pressures that would make me more comfortable should I use the rifle often. As it is, the rifle is a decent and handi deer rifle for in the woods carry, or a truck gun, or for something in the corner that there for a target of opportunity. Do not use these rifles for self defense unless that is all you got. Because of the longer magazine, and the shorter 7.62 Nato case, it has a intermittent failure to feed problem.
There are many reasons most folks should avoid these rifles, but if you can reload the rifle, it is safe. Some people run .308 Winchester loads in the M1916 Spanish Mauser conversions that is also a small ring Mauser, and I cannot get them to understand that the rifle will eventually fail after a steady diet of high pressures approaching 62,000 psi, when it was originally designed for 50,000 psi, that is approximately about 46,000 cup.
Look up the Service Rifle load data for 7.62 Nato, and .308 Winchester load data, and compare the pressures listed with 7×57. Use the Hodgdon Reloading Center that is online.
There are several reason to avoid these rifle. I got mine for nearly free in a trade, and because I too am a Mauser nut and I reload, it has it’s place in the arsenal. Btw, my new ‘Mauser’ of interest is a Springfield 03A3 that had been sporterized and accurized. I can run modern loads in that with out concern. It has a smoother and faster action than most Mausers, and it can spit out a 15 grain bullet at 3,072 fps using a max load of 65 grains of Superformance. The trajectory is as flat as a .270, .243 and others. Zeroed at 250 yards the bullet should not rise or drop much more than 3 inches out to 380 yards. The drop at 500 yards is only 6.5 inches. This make range estimation less of a factor to contend with, and one can concentrate on doping for the wind. There is something to be said for lower recoil, but also something to be said for flat trajectories. The .243 Winchester has both low recoil and flat trajectories. Unfortunately the barrels are short lived, and do not last nearly as long as .308 and larger bores, but if you’ve got one, it probably has not been shot much, and is good for several thousand rounds. To get the flattest trajectory, use 90 grain or lighter bullets. .270 Winchester should use 130 grain bullets.
I don’t know the technical info, I just enjoy your quote, B.F.
Carry on in grace
When and IF they take your semi auto… Wait two minutes and they will ban your bolt action also… Any weapon you have will be banned… If you let them put their foot in the door with banning semi auto.
I used to be skeptical of comments like these, But after watching the Governors and local Governments arbitrarily implement their version of compliance with respect to social distancing such as arresting a paddle boarder mothers at parks and more recently a Texas Judge making it Illegal not to wear a mask. I can see a gun ban in the near distance, in fact, It wouldnt surprise me to see them coming door to door all in the name of public safety. Or tie it to some sort of future Stimulus payment.
You’re right, tuesdayissoylentgreen-day about how; the people wanting to ‘control’ firearms right now, also want to confiscate ALL the guns in future. We see the guns being taken away and outlawed in other countries.
***************************
***************************
Quite often, a US Official publicly proclaims the desire to ban all guns. =
On Sept. 25, the Democrat-led U.S. House Judiciary Committee held a 3 ½ hour “hearing” entitled “Protecting America From Assault Weapons.” …
“The most startling claim of the proceedings came when Dr. RaShall Brackney, ~>Chief of the Charlottesville Police Department in Virginia responded to a question from Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) about whether she would support a ban on hunting rifles. “I believe any weapon that can be used to hunt individuals should be banned,” Brackney replied.” …
“This admission seemed to indicate that Brackney would be open to the banning of any firearm – or even any weapon – whatsoever, since a criminal bent on “hunt[ing] individuals” could use virtually any firearm for that purpose.”
“Dr. Brackney was given two opportunities by pro-gun committee members to walk back or provide more context for that statement. Instead, she dug in and reiterated the statement.”
“Again, however, Rep. Steube tried, to clarify, asking, “Any type of weapon … that can be used to kill people should be banned?” “Sir,” Brackney replied, “you’re adding the word ‘type.’ I said ‘any weapons,’ so that’s my answer. Thank you.”
[The video of the exchange, and the article can be found at NRA~ILA for FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2019. ~Virginia Police Chief Advocates Ban on All Guns at U.S. House “Assault Weapons” Hearing~]
*************************
She’s NOT alone in with her view of US citizens owning guns. … Many politicians want all the guns too.
Gunshop talk article full of fallacies and quotes from yesteryear.
Y’all missed the entire point Mr. Awerbuck was trying to make. The point is that you can’t buy your way into being a gunfighter by hanging gadgets off of it and yourself and not knowing what to do with them. He certainly did not mean for you to buy a Mauser and drop in the Mog and fight a mile. He meant for you to be proficient, don’t do stupid stuff looking for a fight and be reasonable. He was speaking to folks who don’t work in dangerous jobs but want to skirt the edge of it in an attempt to be something. He was not talking to an operator who 15 years in on multiple continents not an officer with 6 shootouts under his belt after 5 years working narcotics.
Get a decent weapon, have additional items for it like ammo, mags and spare parts and get trained and stay proficient. Do not overestimate your abilities.
The Mauser is a good weapon as the others listed but hardly the first choice for modern warfare. Col Cooper certainly wasn’t trying to carry one as-is, even to hunt with. He spent many years trying to improve it.
Not sure what the fallacies are, maybe you can point them out to me. Other than that we are in agreement. Know and use your gear. Whether all you can afford is a used $150 Mauser or whether you have the latest whiz bang $2000 AR, it should show signs of honest wear from use. That comes from my 23 years of deployments to four continents.
Get a low mileage Mauser, and find an accurate load, and it will be a force multiplier if used at extended ranges, scoped or with iron sights, that a typcial AR-15 can’t handle. Mausers can be reloaded with stripper clips and can handle the heat and remain accurate enough. If bedded and barrels free floated, they become more accurate. These are proven in battle where as modern and refined hunting rifles are not. Of course a modern hunting rifle can also be used, but do run it hard and find it’s limits. Stuck cases might result. If a Mauser is supported with semi-autos, then a marksman can do his job. Is it ideal? No. But I would rather put the money into night vision first rather another well tuned and scoped AR-10, or similar for DMR or other work. If the field of fire is there to be leverage with accurate long range fire, I would have a bolt gun in every position. Granted, I’ve never been in the military, and there is likely better and more qualified opinion, but that is what I got, and perhaps better than nothing. I would prefer to learn from the experts. I’m all ears if you chime in. One can not have the skills of a soldier unless one has been there and done that, but I can learn how to do the best I might.
I whole-heartedly agree with Mr. Soylentgreen’s assessment of the situation as stated in his post. The whole impetus behind this “gun control” BS is TOTAL DISARMAMENT of the sheeple. They must be disarmed and fall in line for the NWO’s Communist take over.
I’m amazed by these people on blogs, youtube, etc.., that espouse “bury your guns, hide your guns”…WHAT??? If ever there was a time for USING your guns and implementing those valuable tools as a means to throw off dictatorial morons that are hell-bent on enslaving you, this is it! After all, that’s what the 2nd Amendment is all about, contrary to Crazy Joe’s diatribe on shotguns and duck hunting.
These would be potentates (Governors, States’ AG’s, and unelected bureaucrats) that have “found” their new “powers” and intend to use them need at the least a recall, and booting from office or at best a PUBLIC tar & feathering followed by APPROPRIATE PUNISHMENT FOR TREASON & VIOLATION OF THEIR OATHS OF OFFICE.
People power is powerful. Have you notice the various protests of late in MI, WI, MN, etc… One thing about it, especially where there are ARMED patriots present, the cops/enforcers aren’t wading in to start any trouble. They know they are out numbered. They know deep down that the people are right and the dictators they serve are in the wrong. It’s time the American people knocked the PUBLIC SERVANTS back down to their servile status as administrators of government, not some celebrity that is specially endowed with extra powers, special powers or dare say DICTATORIAL powers.
Re: Nazi guns
I agree with JWR’s assessment, but slightly confused, were the German 98’s not phased out by the time the Nazi’s assumed power?
Yes, the original full length Model 1898 Mauser had been phased out in the 1930s, but the 98k Mauser (slightly carbinized) was the PRIMARY rifle carried by German troops all through World War 2. But to call it is a”Nazi” rifle is spurious. Rifles don’t have politics. And in fact the Israeli Defense Force’s FIRST standard rifle (circa late 1940s to late 1950s) was the 98k. But it is understandable why they ground off all of their little swastika Waffenampt markings…
I think another point to consider regarding the Mauser vs modern semi-automatics is that you aren’t going to be wasting your shots thinking you have 29, 28, 27, … more in the magazine.
Skilled marksmen will take the extra .5 seconds to make each of their shots count.
JWR
I agree totally, weapons are not political nor are they partisan. They are merely tools destined to do a job. I own 2 Mausers and an AK variant ( WASR ) but neither weapon makes me want to tilt my views towards communism or totalitarianism. They are just good ( some might say great ) weapons that are highly reliable and get the job done, within their respective capabilities and limitations. So don’t quite get the BF view, unless he is Jewish and really has a total aversion to anything that can be remotely attributed to the now defunct 3rd Reich.
Re magazine capacity–the magazine does indeed hold 5 rounds, chamber empty. But putting a 6th one in the gun in impractical, with controlled round feed.
Dear,
Thomas Jefferson,
Hear. Hear.
It’s great to see an article about the various Mauser rifles. When I was a kid, I enjoyed deer hunting with one of my dad’s guns — a sporterized 7 x 57 Mauser. (The 7 x 57 didn’t kick as much as Dad’s 30.06 sporterized Enfield.)
Also… when I was possibly still a teenager, I purchased a military Mauser from a Montgomery Ward retail store in our county. I had intended to sporterize it (to look like my dad’s Mauser), but then got busy with college and other interests and didn’t follow through. I still have this military rifle in its original condition and have never used it. I think I paid around $20.00 for it (nearly 50 years ago), but am wondering if anyone has an idea of the current value? Also is it more valuable as a collectors item, or as a sporterized rifle (taking into account the cost to convert it)? Here are the specs:
Make/model: Fabrica de Armas, Mauser
Year (stamped on top): 1933
Caliber: 7 x 57 mm
Condition, stock: Nice walnut finish, no water stains.
Condition, metal: good bluing, no apparent rust spots or pits anywhere.
# stamped on top of rifle: A 2860
# stamped on bottom of rifle: 8603
Sticker on bottom: Interarms United, Alexandria, VA.
(Sticker says it was checked for completeness, functionality and appearance
prior to packaging.)
Thanks in advance for your thoughts about the background and value of this rifle.
Blessings!
Cliff
Sounds like a Model 1916 Spanish Mauser. The exact value depends on condition. It is actually a GOOD thing that you didn’t later it. That preserved its collector’s value. So, instead of being worth between $100 and $250, it is worth AT LEAST $300, and possibly as much as $550. Again, depending on condition.
Thanks so much, James, for the quick response! That’s great info. Now I’m really glad that I didn’t try to convert it to a hunting rifle!
I love my 98K. A truly beautiful gun, standing next to my M1A and Stag Arms in the gun safe. As for politicians, Biden said he will put Beto in charge of gun confiscation, if elected. https://nypost.com/2020/03/03/joe-biden-promises-to-put-beto-orourke-in-charge-of-gun-control/
No doubt about it. It is not the firearm, but the person behind the firearm. I remember watching a training video when I was a Peace Officer showing a former Marine armed with an a SKS take on and shoot a bunch of cops in Ceres, CA. This guy knew what he was doing.
The one thing about Mr. Awerbuck’s statement which gives me pause is this: How much ammunition do you have for your Mauser? 7.92X57 is not that plentiful any more. My go-to bolt gun is an Ishapore Enfield in 7.62X51. It holds ten rounds. The ammo is used by police and military. The action is as smooth as butter. It does not kick as much as the 98K. Given the current fast-deteriorating state of my country, I have to think about ammo availability and even battlefield pick-up, along with all of the other prepping challenges. Stay safe and vigilant, my friends.
i have a couple of mausers in 7×57 and 8×57 sold to me by one of JWR’s advertisers
i’ve never been disappointed with either BUT i would rather have a semi-auto in afire fight anyday….
One thing to note from a prepper/survivalist standpoint is these Mausers, no matter which caliber they are typically chambered in, are far more effective at taking medium to large game animals than any .223/5.56 caliber AR. Heavy bullets anchor those larger animals way more effectively than lighter 55 or 62 grain buckets ever will. So not to say don’t have your semi auto AR ( or M4gery as Rawles would say ) but they can’t do all jobs required of a rifle all of the time.
My Mauser ’98 is a Spanish Army FR-8 bolt rifle. Designed as a transition piece for the Spanish Army from the ’98 to the CETME autoloader. Some believe the Spanish Home Guard was supplied with these while the new CETME was issued out to the formal Army.
The barrel from the original bolt rifle was removed and a CETME barrel was installed, only upside down. It retained the bayonet stud, now under the barrel like a standard rifle bayonet. The CETME bird cage flash hider was kept as well as CETME rifle rotating rear sight for range. The front sight post is inside a heavy duty ring and is offset so that when rotating for elevation, it also weaves back and forth for windage.
It was and is an ugly rifle. Same magazine, receiver and straight bolt as originally made though. It is chambered in 7.62 NATO and fires the .308 Winchester as well. I bought it as a truck rifle and it has served the purpose admirably. It would be a major project to scope it – iron sights it has remained since I’ve owned it.