Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles 7.65x53 “Argentine“

Anyone here have some experience in using this round for hunting? And does anyone know of a source that may have some ammo in stock? I would imagine that it is a quite capable deer round at reasonable distances, like many others.

I have used the 7.65 Belgian for years. Both of my rifles are strong '98 actions, so I load it to it's true potential. Because of the 1889 Argentine platform, the USA loading data is anemic as hell, maybe with good reason. I load mine to meet or exceed .308 Win performance, probably with a lot less pressure because my brass life is very very good. Besides hunting, I use one of the rifles, a 1935 Peruvian with original mil bbl, nearly year around, ringing steel out to 600 yards. If you are not set up to reload yet, Norma factory is very good, power and accuracy and dependable bullet performance. I will go so far as to say that the 7.65 is one of those cartridges that by luck or design...'wants to shoot'...like the .308, just about any powder and bullet combo will make it sing. Oh what I wouldn't give for an old Remington Model 30 Express or pre 64 Mdl 70 in the original chambering.
PS..don't pass up the lowly Hornady 174 gr Roundnose bullet in the 7.65, superb reliable accuracy and game killer.

I have a couple of extra boxes of handloaded custom ammo for this.

100% agreed on the Hornady 174, RN, super accurate and excellent hunting bullet. I load my own, super accurate.

Ballistics of all the following are very very close to each other in the game fields. All are just fine for deer and even elk with proper bullets and marksmanship.

30-40 Krag.
303 Brit
7.5 Swiss.
7.62 Belg/Argn
7.5 French
7.7 Japanese
300 Savage
307 Winchester
Many of the commercial loads for 7.62X54 Russian.
Some of the lower to mid pressure loads for the 308 Winchester. (Often the most accurate)

Many of the above rounds had or have legendary status as game killers in their days of popularity. All, when loaded with bullets or 175 to 180 grains give muzzle velocities in the 2350 to 2500 range.

Of the list above I have owned all but the 307 Winchester and the 7.5 French. I have killed at least 1 deer with all the rest at one time or another, except for my old 7.7 Jap. With the 303 Brit I have killed about 12 deer and with the 300 Savage I killed 1 elk and about 25 deer as well as 11 antelope. With my several 308 Winchesters I have killed probably 20 deer, 7 antelope and 8 elk.

A .308" to .312" bullet of around 180 grains, well made to expand and not break up completely, leaving the rifle at 2350FPS to 2600 FPS is never going to need to apologize as a deer round, no matter what the shell shape is. Do not feel a bit hesitant to use an accurate Mauser in 7.65 Argn for hunting deer. The gun and the round will not fail you. Any failures to kill deer will be blamable on "something" other then the gun or the round.

Out of stock at the moment but:

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/77021

in stock:

https://theammosource.com/prvi-partizan-7-65mm-argentine-mauser-180gr-sp-box-of-20/

https://theammosource.com/hornady-custom-7-65-argentine-150-gr-sp-20-rds/

Norma loads as well.

If you don`t find brass I made some from 30-06 back when an Argentine came my way.

Easily made from 8x57 also.

Correct and the easiest. I used several 7.62Belg guns for years. They were all I could afford. I wish I still had my '09 rifle and '09 carbine. They were beautifully made. In the field the round was about a duplicate to my later Mdl 99 300 Svg, a round that's killed a lot of elk.

I haven't myself, but was in an elk camp, that someone the others knew, came down from Bend, and had one.

old one, but in real nice shape.. it was his only rifle.. but he sure took a nice elk with it, with one shot at about 200 yds..
some sort of factory ammo, from lord knows where and was kinda old...

but it sure did the job it was supposed to on the bull elk... not a trophy, but certainly a big one, with plenty of meat on the bones.
up by Crater Lake.

I would be very surprised if any .308 dia bullet worked well in the 7.65. The OP did not bother to tell us what rifle he has. But Mauser themselves specify a .314 nominal groove diameter. And back in the glory days of 1909 importation, Speer produced .313 bullets for the 7.65. Stick with .312's whenever you can to get the best out of your rifle. .311's will work but I think a bullet .005 undersize will disappoint. I fired a bunch of Argentine surplus ball ammo...horrible stuff, dirty, wildly inaccurate, undersize bullets, Berdan primed, probably corrosive...avoid it.

My first rifle was a 1909 Argy in 7.65 and it took my first deer ever. Got my behind torn up by the older guys in the hunting club telling me I'd never be able to fit in the woods with that rifle. That all stopped as we dragged my deer into camp. One shot and dropped got it right through the heart didn't have to track it. Norma factory ammo circa 1978 worked very well. Hunted with that giant thing for another year until I got my No5 Enfield and never looked back.

Still have that 1909 but I wish my old eyes could still use those tiny little sights effectively. It's a range toy only now. The old barrel still shines with Hornady .312 dia 180gr Spitzer flat base bullets combined with IMR 4064, Federal primers in PPU or Norma brass. These old barrels weren't designed for boatails leave them for the newer guns that were made for them.

The 7.65x53 is a great cartridge and if the U.S. Ordinance Corps had been the least bit forward looking, they would have selected it, or a 7.62mm bore version of it, instead of the 30-40 Krag in 1892.

In a strong action, not the 1891 Argentine Mausers made in Germany by Ludwig Lowe and DWM, the 7.65x53 is equivalent to the 7.62x51 in performance potential. I had a minty 1909 carbine for awhile, shot a box of 2 of Norma factory loads, but the straight grip stock ergs didn't work for me, so I sold it to a collector for a fraction of what it would bring today.

I picked up a nicely sporterized 1891 long ago as a youth rifle. Even with reduced/starter loads and 150 SP bullets, it killed deer just fine.

I have a Argentine rifle and couple of Argentine Engineer Carbines. They're sweet rifles! The 'commercial' style inside guard floorplate release have caused many to become donor actions. If the rifle is nice, a definite 'collector ouch!'. But... life! Brazilians of same quality but less "sporterization targeted in 'afterlife" as without the Argie magazine feature. Of course the 7mm of Brazil definitely preferable! I also like the classic architecture of straight grip stock!
I'm not a handloader and that always a consideration in what I considered "exotic ammo". If not commercially available or surplus in my city, I evaluated more as collector or something of special appeal. In retrospect, I've avoided some great guns for cause of 'chambering'. Laments but in reflection of 'more than my share of nice guns coming my way!
Best!
John

I’ve always had a soft spot Argentine Mausers. They are among those that I regretted selling. Still have a couple and love my sporterized 91 Argentine. It just reeks of a European flair with the trim lines and drop box magazine. Most of my loads are cast 314299 at 1800 fps and serve well on the range or woods.

The 1909 Arg.long rifles were around $100.00 ea. about 1980. I was attracted to them because of the crest . There was some that were damaged and pitted bad that you could get for 10 dollars. My 1909 Engineers carbine with the heavyfront sight protector is 30 06 but the barrel obviously has not been changed. I think there were a few of these. Some of the South American Mausers were converted to 308 NATO but the bolts though straight handled were mismatched during the process.I figure the Germans ,before WW I were selling these rifles to attract themselves allies because they are so nice. They were big down in South America in those days and some of their battleships could go down there take on coal and hide before radar.

Many consider the '09 Berlin-marked some of the nicest military Mausers made in a full size '98 action, particularly given the magazine release design. They feed very well, are strong, and not too heavy. The cartridge is well-proven with all American big game. I have a few in original and custom chamberings, and only need "one more"!

I bought a very nicely sporterized 91 engineers' carbine several years ago with a Fajen stock and one of the best rust blue jobs I've ever seen. It had sat in the bargain rack at a LGS for several months when I made a lowball offer and they accepted. The smith who built that one knew his business! It threw shotgun patterns with 123 grain .311 bullets, but 170 grain .311's tightened things up nicely. I used .300 Savage load data and got the velocity up a bit over 2K FPS- - - - -plenty for mid-range deer. I didn't notice them getting any deader when I used a .30-06.

Back in the 70s, Crawfords Guns in Silver Spring, MD had a bunch of like-new 1909s for IIRC $175. Still had a test target attached to each one. Of course, that was about a week’s pay, but they sure were nice.

The Williams book on sporterizing shows really nice sporters built with the 91s. Prices for the work are almost comical now.

I would love to have a Winchester M54 in 7.65X53MM in my grubby little paws.........