Newbie here

[Gene L]

Mike, I found the number on the magazine box. It's 52...does that help?

[mike ford]

Gene
If you mean 52 thousand and something, that would fall in 1912. If you mean only 52, that is likely the last two digits of the serial number of the action the magazine came from. If it were "52", the action would be one of the 1896-98 transitional actions which were "small ring" and the photo of yours show it is "large ring". Since I have confused you about all I can, maybe Axel will come in and straighten us out.
Mike

[Gene L]

No doubt it is from the donor magazine.

[mike ford]

Even if we don't figure anything else about your rifle, it is still a nice Suhl made hunting rifle and can provide many years of enjoyment. Some people are hesitant to shoot the .318" version, but there is really no reason not to. American made 8mm Mauser ammo is loaded to be safe in any of the 8x57 rifles in decent shape. You might even be able to use .323" bullets, if you can easily place one in a case fired in your rifle and not resized. This means that the chamber neck area is large enough to release the bullets without driving pressures up. Even if a fired case won't accept a .323" bullet( or .321" 32 Win. Spec. bullet) and you have to use .318" ones, they are available. You can even size .321 or .323" bullets to .318" and make your own. If you have regular 8x57 loading dies, you can likely use them by sizing the cases without the expander button( or change to 30 caliber expander to deprime). The seating die works as intended. If the case still won't hold a bullet by sizing w/o the expander, you might have to find another way. All this will just add to the fun your rifle will give you. Enjoy.
Mike

[Gene L]

Yes, I think it's a fine old rifle. I don't hunt, so I'm not concerned with stopping power or anything. I load for the 8mm, a reduced load since I shot the factory load once or twice and it kicked! I also load for the .303 British, which I think uses the same diameter. I can resize my 8mm down and use the British sizing button and should be golden. Thanks for your help.

[mike ford]

Good shooting, Gene

[Gene L]

I should have introduced myself before posting a "help me" post. I'm Gene L, I have only three Mausers, a bring-back in 06, the one I posted, and a 95 in 6.5, a carbine which I like a lot. I live in GA, shoot not as much as I would like to, and don't hunt, so my rifles are mostly under loaded and fun guns. Thanks for this site, which is very informative.

[mike ford]

Gene,
What part of Ga. do you live in? My Doctors are still in Columbus, so I go there several times a year. Tell us about the 06.
Mike

[Gene L]

I'm in Watkinsville, which is 8 miles south of Athens.

Back to my rifle: it has the numbers 6049 on the receiver ahead of the lug. On the bottom of the receiver is 28043.

[Axel E]

28043 is obiously the Mauser factory, Oberndorf, commercial serial number. It dates the action to late 1909 - early 1910. Until WW1 Mauser suld nearly 70% of their Commercial production as actions only to other gunmakers, both British and German ones. 6049 is the Serial number of the real Suhl or Zella -Mehlis gunmaker who barreled and stocked the rifle.

[Gene L]

Thanks. I figured it was an old one, and seems to be finely made.

[Gene L]

Shot the rifle today. It did fine, kicked a lot. I found out a couple of weeks ago that .318 bullets are only offered by two retailers, the cheapest ones are from Buffalo Bullets, 170 grain, the others are from NZ. About twice the price. Once I figured out the Lyman 48 sight, I got it hitting where I wanted. HOWEVER, I didn't tighten up the action screws previously, which got very loose and caused trigger problems. So I didn't get to shoot it at 100 yards. The Lyman sight, bottomed out, was still high at sight-in range.

Also, once I got it in the sunlight, I saw faint numbers on the stock. They weren't stamped, but put on by painting faintly or maybe burning and then the finish was applied. The numbers are the same as the bolt.

[Gene L]

On theright side of butt of the rifle visible only in bright sunlight is the last four SNs. Very faint. They are not stamped, but applied in a non-invasive medium, either paint or acid. Large numbers, relatively speaking. Anyone have any ideas on how these numbers were applied?

[mike ford]

Gene L
I have an idea of what the marks might be, but I'm not sure enough yet to say. It would be very helpful if you could photograph the markings, failing that, a drawing or description would be better than nothing. The most important thing would be if there is a mark on the right side of the barrel that looks like an eagle with outstretched wings.
Mike

[Gene L]

The marking on the stock isn't very visible and I doubt it could be photographed. It's quite faint, but it's quite large. The last 4. I noticed it kind by accident in bright light. As I think I said earlier, the numbers about an inch or more high and 1/8" wide, look like they were introduced before the finish was applied. Looks almost if a deeper colored stain was used, although I don't see how without any runover. Very unusual.

Don't remember an eagle on the barrel, which has been milled down with a full rib, from octagonal to round. There is the eagle on the bottom of the barrel; I think I showed those earlier.