I'd not want to generialize the power of the 7.65 Argentine as equal to the .308 winchester it came into being the same time as other ctgs of the age
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7.65%C3%9753mm_Argentine I have a 1891 with a T86xxx serial number that was mfg around 1900, this particular action is not the stronger Mauser 98 receiver allot think it is.
The 1891 Argentine was made by Ludwig Loewe and after Loewe combined with a German cartridge maker, DWM.
These were very fine rifles, but not nearly as strong as the later 1893-94-95-and 98 Mauser's.
During the between the war years, the 91 Mauser was a favorite of German custom hunting rifle makers for building light weight stalking rifles.
Argentine 1891 Mauser's were made in 29 inch rifles, and 17 inch cavalry carbines.
Many of these had the Argentine crest ground off the receiver ring after Argentine rifles started turning up in a war between two Central American countries.
When questioned about this, Argentina began grinding the crest off surplus rifles.
Later, this practice was ended and rifles with intact crests were again sold. Argentina surplused some of their stocks of outdated 1891 mausers to other south American countries.
Huge quantities of both the rifles and carbines were imported into the US, and you see many of them that were converted to sporter rifles of various qualities.
Original caliber was the Mauser/Argentine 7.65mm.
These rifles are not suitable for use with more powerful cartridges.
norma 7.65 arg. ammo is loaded to 52,000 psi.
7.65 Mauser maximum pressure was 42,660 psia.
although critical failure usually happen at 70,000 + Despite such early development, performance of the 7.65 in modern guns is practically indistinguishable from 308 Winchester ballistics. Interestingly, to the untrained eye, these two cases look very similar; however, similar is not identical and these rounds are not interchangeable. Obviously, with top loads, the 7.65 Argentine is useful for the same range of hunting applications, as is the 308 Winchester; however, due to continued use of potentially weaker rifles in this chambering, data listed here is significantly reduced and ballistics are therefore also limited (think .303British when reloading)
I would not push a 1891 past commercial loadings, but they are perfectly fine for those.
Value depends entirely on the condition of the rifle The firing pin of this rifle is very slender and fragile looking when compared to a Mauser 98's I'd suggest not dry firing this particular model much, My 1891's when I'd gotten it had a busted bolt stop and firing pin (both dont interchange with M98's)
