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Part 2:

On the international market, the denomination more common of 7,65x54mm Mauser is that of 7,65 Argentine and this in spite of having being used by other countries as Belgium, Spain, Turkey, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Bolivia. It is my opinion that this owed to the fact, almost entirely fortuitously, of that Argentina was selling great quantity of guns, M 1891 and M1909 when the F.A.L. was adopted as regulation gun in the decade of 1950.
Due to this, our Mauser 7,65 is very well know in the rest of the world, but mostly in the USA where they were very popular in the decade of 1960. In several occasions I have surprised by the appreciation that our guns get in both models. Bearing in mind that the Model 1891 is overcome technologically by the Model 1909, we might think that great they would consider it a model " second quality gun ". Nevertheless, I have found in Internet fanatics of the M 1891 that consider it the last of the old fashioned rifles. The quality of manufacture of these rifles and his quality control is incredible and very estimated for the connoisseurs.
The Model 1909 have the particularity of being one of the most suitable to be used in Custom rifles chambered for long cartridges like the .375 H&H., 8x68mm and the Weatherby cartridges among others.
For this cartridges you have to increase the length of the magazine and this can be done backward or forward. The most suitable reform is backward since to extend the loader towards ahead implies weakening the housing of the lower bolt lug, with the potential danger that this involves in cartridges of so high pressure. Though this does not mean that a reformed gun hereby is going to break inexorably using .375 H&H Mag. Ammo, I know of some actions that suffered a deformation notable in the above mentioned place. The classic model Mauser 1898 possesses a system of retention of the magazine that make very complex the backward reform and it is necessary do very important changes in the above mentioned system. On the other hand, the system used by our Mauser 1909 the loader allows to lengthen it backward without much complications.
But Mauser was the only one offering guns chambered for our 7,65x54mm.
At the beginning of the 20th century, many Argentine gun shops were buying and/or ordering from Europe for the 7,65x54mm. That was the case of the guns made by Imman Meffert for Pedro Worm, one of which I had for some time. It was almost identical to another rifle I saw hung on the above mentioned gun shop.
Other manufacturers were offering this cartridge in some of his models, such it is the case of the Rolling Block Model Nº5 of Remington. A small lot of these guns was sold to the Argentina in 1902 and probably some more have been bought by individuals. These guns should be differed of others made by Argentine arsenals with cannons specially sent from Germany before the order of the first model was finished 1891.
Another very little known fact is that Winchester offered his first bolt action rifle, Model 54 in three European cartridges, the 7x57mm, the 9x57mm and our 7,65x54mm Mauser. This rifle, predecessor of the famous Winchester 70 and was on the market between 1925 and 1941. The destination of these guns was undoubtedly the international market and the incorporation of our cartrige speaks of its popularity those years and of the important position of our country in the world.
Of another side of the Atlantic Ocean, the famous gun maker Daniel Fraser, in Edinburgh, Scotland, was offering his bolt rifles in his property cartridge, the .303 Fraser rimless. This one was not other that ours meritorious 7,65x54mm Mauser. Though it seems to be very strange that a British gun maker offered guns chambered for foreign ammo, this was common enough. We have not to confuse this cartridge with other rimmed of the same manufacturer called .303 Fraser who is based on .303 British.

Thanks for reading.
Martin

Edited by beleg2 (31/03/08 11:52 AM)

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