Having just purchased a Beretta Jetfire I wasn't looking to buy anything else right away. But I spied a rifle that caught my eye. It was a 7mm-08 on a Mauser 1893 single lug action. It's in a walnut stock which for all the world looks like a 77 Ruger stock and it has a light contour barrel with timney trigger and two position timney safety. It's in excellent condition and only $300. I layed it away. But is it safe ?
All of the small bore military Mausers, 1892 and newer, have two locking lugs, but the pre-1898 styles don't have an auxiliary/safety lug. Do you know were it was made the action, as that, for me, is a deciding factor. If it was made in Spain, as many 1893s were, I would avoid it, but I am not a fan of Spanish-built Mausers. If it was made in Germany by Ludwig Lowe or DWM, it might be safe, but it is over 100 years old, so there is (IMO) a bit of risk involved.
If you want a 7mm-08 to shoot, CDNN still has some of the Marlin XS7s for $250. Doubtlessly not as attractive as the Mauser, but newer, stronger (maybe), and perhaps safer.
I have put together around 20 rifles on small ring military Mauser actions, pre-1898 styles, and have exclusively used Swedish actions, as I think that they are the best in all areas, materials, workmanship, and quality control. Those made by Husqvarna during the early 1940's are, again IMO, the best small ring pre-1898 style military Mausers that were ever made.
EDIT: IMO, the primary weakness of the pre-1898 small ring military Mausers isn't that they are "weak", it is that their gas handling in the event of a blown primer or case separation isn't as good as the 1898 style in both large and small ring styles. When I build on a Swedish Mauser action, I ALWAYS install a commercial style bolt shroud with a larger gas shield. I have built Swedish Mausers in 220 Swift, 22-250, 225, 243, 6mm, 257 Roberts, 260, 6.5x55, 7x57, 308, 8x57, and 358, maybe even a few more that I can't recall without looking in my rifle book. My Norwegian bachelor farmer friend owns all of them except the 257, that's mine, and he loads for all of them and, AFAIK, has never had a problem that was related to the strength of the action.
