jcn59,
has posed some good points about shooting an old surplus military type bolt action military rifle and his comment about the resale value of being probably higher with another countries mauser action being used.
Should be very safe to shoot most military rifles/actions made last 100 years, when proper pressure cartridges are used in them that fall into the range of pressure for what they were originally built to withstand. There are some exceptions to this, such as the low serial numbered U.S. 1903 springfields, some of which, were produced with much too brittle receivers before army realized a problem and changed their heat treatment techniques for the 1903 receiver. So, scattered among the about one million 1903s that were produced, before heat treatment problem discovered and corrected, are some that may be dangerous to shoot even with the proper ammo. Now the mausers made in Spain have an opposite problem of using a softer metal in their receivers than the mausers made by Swedes, Germans or Czechs. Having the softer metal doesn't make them unsafe to use for sporter conversions when properly done and etc. Just more of a problem with Spanish made mauser receivers having a reputation of more of a headspace problem than other mausers due to softer metal in the receiver lug areas. A couple of years ago, I came across a box of small ring Spanish 93 Oviedo complete actions that were being sold for $20 each at a gun show. I already had a new 7mm mauser chambered German made carbine barrel that cost me about $40. I didn't hesitate in buying one of the 1927 made Oviedo actions that had a nicely turned down sporter bolt handle and had a gunsmith install the barrel on it for about $50. LOL, built my own stock for it and did work myself drilled and tapped for scope and etc., so I have less than $200 invested in a nice rifle that I often take to range to enjoy shooting. Its not as accurate as my other mauser sporters, but it is certainly accurate enough as a light carry rifle for deer hunting.
As for the Arisakas, only the late WWII production rifles, the so-called "last ditch" Arisakas, are questioned for their metallurgy. The arisakas made by Japanese before or early in WWII are certainly made well. Japanese have a tradition for making very high quality steel that goes back for centuries. When Japan industrialized late in the 19th and early 20th centuries and began producing their own mauser type rifles, took great care in producing a high quality military rifle. Memory serves me correct, used German made equiptment and Mauser/German advisors/expertise when making their first modern military rifles.
