Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Introduction/7x57 Mexican Mauser Project

I am considering this option as well. As much as I like the hinged trigger guards they are hard to justify if one is on a tight budget. I've seen some reshaped military trigger guards that look pretty nice. If you have a small ring action you can get a Spanish Mauser military hinged trigger guard for $50 so there's an idea. They certainly don't look as sleek and sporty as the commercial units but they might be a good starting point:


Another option is to cut off the trigger guard on a military bottom metal unit and install a shotgun-style trigger guard. Not too difficult. This is the one on my Waffen Honold guild rifle:

I visited Mr McDaniel's shop offten. I still pass it on my way to work.

I have a Flaig's custom in 30-06 that I just finished. I installed a Lepould scope base and scope. A Timmey trigger, piller and bed job. The gun shoots MOA now. I love the gun, but it is really the long way to get to MOA rifle. I would guess 4x to 5x the $ cost. I fully respect the people working with modern firearms.
MM879

Mhutchinson, I might have to look at one of those Spanish Mauser trigger guards. I put a hinge and a lever on a Springfield triger guard once that turned out really nice. It isn't hard to do, but it takes time. It will likely be another month before mine gets back with a new barrel, so I have some time to play around with the idea.

I hope you will post pictures as you get your rifle together. Love this kind of stuff and people don't seem to do it much any more. I can't buy a rifle these days that is anywhere near as smooth as an old Mauser without spending myself into the poor house. The last Ruger I looked at sounded like you were scrubbing a credit card on a pair of corduroy pants when you worked the bolt.

The Last 7x57 I put together prior to finishing the stock or bluing:



Giving the handle a slight slant rearward while maintaining the straight up and down look as much as possible:



A 1936 I was prepping it to be barreled. It has since become a very nice .257 Robt's.:


I think these are a much better deal than the sporterized barreled action: http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2711043/m/2441092932

Thanks for sharing those builds. It helps me a lot to see examples. I'm jealous of the knurled cocking piece on your 1936 Mexican. Somehow my action lost that all-too-unique part.

I happen to have a 1916 Spanish short rifle with one of those trigger guards so I put it on my Mexican action to see what it would look like.

[img]https://imgur.com/2yVReQE[/img]
[img]https://imgur.com/zhkMNXj[/img]

It could certainly use some cleaning up and modification, and I don't think it would look as nice as the expensive commercial units but it might be a good route for someone on a budget. In the end you'd get the same functionality as a more expensive part.

Beautiful work, do you have any photos of the finished rifle?

Beautiful work, do you have any photos of the finished rifle?



I would like to see the finished project as well.

These pictures make me wish mine would hurry up and get back so I could get to work on it.

Is the hole spacing the same on a Spanish 1893 Mauser and a Mexican 1936 Mauser? I don't have my Mexican 1936 action here so I can't measure the spacing on it. Any help would be appreciated.

Samo samo

Yes, hole spacing is the same. Sorry guys, I don't have pics of the finished rifle thanks to Photobucket. But thanks for the compliments!

Yep. And in that department, I've been unable to find any nice-looking hinged trigger guards for a small ring mauser other than the few gunsmiths who make them, all of which are just too much money for me. So on that note, another idea would be to buy a trigger guard for a 98 (you can find hinged ones for under $100) and shorten it by 0.2" or whatever. Of course, this would require welding but it would still probably be cheaper than spending $300 on a new part. If I go this route I would probably try to make the appropriate cuts myself so that the only thing I couldn't do myself is make the welds which wouldn't cost much on their own. The only difficult part of the ordeal would be removing precisely the right amount of metal so that the action screw holes lined up perfectly after welding the magazine box back together.

Thanks for the replies! I had about decided to modify the one that came on my rifle and I found a trigger guard with a hinged floorplate for the 1893 Mauser. I got that thing ordered and I'm going to see how it works out. I hope it will clean up so that it looks kind of good. I'm not trying to make anything but a shooter out of my Mexican Mauser, but the hinged floorplate is a convenience for a hunting rifle that, to me, is worth the effort.

I'm really hoping that the wood in the stock is going to draw peoples eyes away form the metal work.

They are an expensive piece. But this action is intended to be a 7x57 or .275 Rigby done up in Rigby styling. The economy tanked shortly after I aquired the action and bottom metal. So it's been in the safe for years collecting dust. Someday it'll get under way. It's quite an investment in a piece that I can pass on to my niece and nephews and hopefully they'll have proper appreciation for a classic rifle. Hopefully!

Built for me by David Christman several years ago. It is in 7X57, Shilen Barrel, Timney trigger, Wisner bottom metal, LaPour safety, double square bridge, Half Octagon, and recase hardened. I haven't shot it yey, but need to.

Oh no, don't shoot it.....I'll help you out just send it to me!

Y'all are posting some 7mm's that are going to make it look like Bubba the gun hack made mine....