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Santa Barbara Mauser

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One Piece Pivot Mounts
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Santa Barbara Mauser Rifle Review 

Santa Barbara Mausers were rifles built around the Mauser 98-actions and manufactured from the early 30s up until the 60s by the Empresa Nacional Santa Barbara de Industrias Militares, S.A. in La Coruna, Spain. The after-war actions were mostly sold to various gun manufacturers around the world such as the Parker Hale or Golden State Arms to be used as a basis for building custom rifles. Numerous SB actions also ended up in the hands of smaller gunsmiths or hobbyists.

The production was also carried out for some time in Centro de Estudios Técnicos de Materiales Especiales with the markings on the receivers changing accordingly to the acronym CETME. The older models of Santa Barbara Mauser with stripper clip guide were known as the M43 and were based on the K98k action, sharing the same components. The post-war actions, however, were produced for commercial use and thus came without the stripper clip guide. The B distance between the receiver holes on the newer models is the same as that found on Zastava M70 and Remington 798 which also use Mauser 98 action design.

The bolt body of SB Mauser features three locking lugs, two at the front and one at the rear end of the bolt. Together, they lock up safely with the action's housing. Trigger guards were made either out of aluminum alloy or steel, depending on the manufacturer and year of production. The receiver looks like one of the FN commercial actions for the most part, with one of the differences being the missing thumb cut on the left receiver wall. Triggers normally came factory pre-set, although they had the option to be adjusted later by the users or gunsmiths. The bolt release lever was positioned on the left side of the receiver. Post-war versions had the switch safety positioned on the right side of the bolt shroud.

Up until today, the actions of Santa Barbara Mausers have a mixed reputation. There have been claims made in the past that certain models had some structural issues because of the improperly hardened receiver metal used during the manufacturing process. Supposedly, various rifles facing such flaws were recalled, thus it should be quite difficult to stumble upon one today.

Santa Barbara Mauser

Figure 1: Santa Barbara Mauser, chambered for 243. Win. (Source: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/125065241_santa-barbara-model-1000-243win-bolt-rifle-used)

Santa Barbara Mauser Calibers

The rifle is chambered for the following calibers:

  • .22-250 Rem.  

  • .243 Win. 

  • 6mm Rem. 

  • 6.5x55 

  • .270 Win.  

  • 7x57

  • 7x64

  • .308 Win.  

  • .30-06 Spr.

Santa Barbara Mauser receivers came with four holes for mounting purposes, two on the front and two on the rear mounting surface. The 97 mm B distance between the holes on the receiver is the same as that found on Zastava M70 and Remington 798 which also use Mauser 98 action design.

Santa Barbara action

Figure 2. Santa Barbara action chambered for 7x57 (Source: https://www.gunauction.com/buy/8986639)

The mounting surface of Santa Barbara Mauser

A: 21.9 mm

B: 97 mm

C: 12.7 mm

BHU: 4 mm

Ø: 6-48

R1: R14/30°

R2: R18

Scope Mounts Interchangeable With Santa Barbara Mauser

Rifles That Have One-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable With Santa Barbara Mauser

The necessary condition for rifles to have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable is that the mounting surfaces of these rifles match in every dimension. Rifles that have one-piece scope mounts interchangeable with Santa Barbara Mauser are the following:

  • H&R Mauser Model 340

  • Herters XK3

  • Herter's Zastava J9

  • Husqvarna 5000

  • Interarms Mark X

  • JC Higgins Model 50

  • JC Higgins Model 51

Rifles That Have Two-Piece Scope Mounts Interchangeable With Santa Barbara Mauser

For two-piece scope mounts to be interchangeable, the mounting surfaces of the rifles must match in every dimension except the action length which can vary. This is because the distance between the two pieces of the mount is not fixed. Rifles that have two-piece scope mounts interchangeable with Santa Barbara Mauser are the following:

  • H&R Mauser Model 340

  • Herters XK3

  • Herter's Zastava J9

  • Husqvarna 5000

  • Interarms Mark X

  • JC Higgins Model 50

  • JC Higgins Model 51

  • JC Higgins Model 51-L 

  • Parker Hale 1200

Best Scope Mounts for Santa Barbara Mauser

Fixed Scope Mounts for Santa Barbara Mauser

This steel two-piece MAKfix scope mount is made in Germany and comes with a 30-year warranty. It is a suitable choice for your Santa Barbara Mauser.

Detachable Repeatable Scope Mounts for Santa Barbara Mauser

If you are looking for a detachable repeatable mounting solution, we recommend this EAW pivot mount for Santa Barbara Mauser. It is made of high-quality steel and comes with a 30-year warranty.

Picatinny Rails for Santa Barbara Mauser

Picatinny rails are one of the best mounting solutions when it comes to variability. They have equidistant slots all over the surface allowing the device to be mounted wherever the user finds it fitting. This steel Picatinny rail made by the Croatian manufacturer Rusan is a suitable choice for your Santa Barbara Mauser.

Help Us Build Our Riflescope Mounts Database

If you happen to own this or any other rifle, we would appreciate it if you could help us expand our database by sending us some photos of the rifle receiver (the bare mounting surface of the rifle without the scope mounts installed). For your help, our company offers a fair return in terms of practical rewards.

Please send us an email for more information. You can contact us here: info@optics-trade.eu

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VIDEO

Pivot mounts are a special kind of repeatable mounts that are especially popular in Europe and mainly produced by European manufacturers. Most notable among them are German Companies like EAW (Ernst Apel Wurzburg), Recknagel, Henneberger and MAK. These Companies were also among the first to produce mounts of this type. Non German companies like Rusan are also following this trend.

Main benefits of pivot mounts, or swing mounts as they are sometimes called are:

  • 100% repeatability,
  • very quick and easy detaching and reattaching,
  • extremely durable; most mounts of this kind are tested on 10000 or more reattachments,
  • size and weight; light and small, elegant.

There are also some minor weaknesses that such mounts posses and they are: they are usually more expensive than other types of mounts, the installation on the rifle should be done by a skilled gunsmith and most of these mounts are higher than 14 mm.

A distinct feature of pivot/swing mounts is the way the scope attaches to the rifle. The front foot of the mount on the scope is inserted in the front base under a 90 degrees angle to the barrel. Then the entire scope is pivoted around the front base until it is locked into position by the rear base.

Pivot mounts of all types enable windage correction on the rear base at the time of the mounts installation. There are three main types of pivot mounts which are distinguished by the type of the rear base:

  • EAW style rear base: produced by EAW and Rusan,
  • Dovetail rail base: produced by Recknagel, Henneberger, MAK and others.
  • Leupold type rear base