This got me thinking about other milsurp rifles out there that might be oddballs. I was thinking of re-finishing the wood / mounting a forward optic, but it looks like these go for a couple hundred more than I paid, so I should probably resist the urge & leave it as is. I did get a replacement cleaning kit tube, as the original was missing when I purchased it, and I have a sling eyelet for the front sight band. The sights are pretty dead on & the bolt is smooth. Cooper popularized (I previously had a Ruger GSR that I loved as well). Apparently, this is one of the precursors to the scout style rifle Col.

As far as I can tell, these FR-7 & FR-8 rifles are the only mauser actions with peep sights like these. They decided to take their collection of mauser action rifles & convert them to 7.62 NATO to use for training & police type units. The Spanish military was upgrading to CETME semi auto 7.62 NATO rifles in the 50's, but they couldn't make enough of them. Turns out it's a Spanish mauser, not Argentine. Many were also converted into FR7 rifles for military training and Guardia Civil use. Some were later re-barreled to use the 7.62Р“вЂ”51mm CETME round. I liked it because it was short, has cool peep sights, chambered in 7.62 & has the oddball straight bolt handle.Р”Р„nyways, after bringing it home, I started doing research on it. It was a shortened version of the M1893 rifle with a straight stock chambered in 7mm Mauser. It was tagged as an Argentine 98 for $200, but I'd never seen anything like it before, so I grabbed it (there was another guy eyeing me up to buy it if I ever set it down). Picked this up last Wednesday at one of my favorite shops.

Spanish mauser 308 accuracy