Santa Barbara Mauser

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

Voere Kufstein 2165

JC Higgins Model 51-L
Parker Hale 1200
Zastava M70
Remington 798
Early models Ruger M77

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

Zastava M70

Remington 798

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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Rusan Picatinny rail, Steel - Zastava M70

€89.00

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Optik Arms Picatinny rail - Zastava M70

€79.00

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Rusan Picatinny rail, Steel - Zastava M70, 20 MOA

€109.00

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Contessa Picatinny Rail for Voere 2155

€109.00

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Bock Picatinny Rail - Zastava M70, M98

€109.00

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ERAMATIC Swing (Pivot) mount, Picatinny Rail

As low as €379.00

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Optik Arms Picatinny rail - Zastava M70, 20 MOA

€79.00

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Contessa Picatinny Rail for Mauser Zastava M70

As low as €109.00

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Contessa Picatinny Rail for Voere 2155 (20 MOA)

€109.00

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Contessa Picatinny Rail for Mauser Zastava M70 (20 MOA)

€109.00

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VIDEO

Introduction

In recent years we can observe that a trend of Picatinny rail has become widespread and global. It is driven by the NATO standardized rails, more commonly known as the Picatinny rail standard. Picatinny rail being the New Jersey Arsenal that developed it in 1995.

These mounting options are revolutionary. The biggest and best advantage being that the Picatinny rail can be used its entire length and not bordered to a few pre-designed slots like for example the Weaver rail standard was before.

The other main advantage is the ease of use and interchangeability. If a product is meant for a Picatinny rail design it will fit all Picatinny-rails, no matter the manufacturer or date of production.

Picatinny/Weaver Rail

Picatinny Rail and Weaver rail profile

Design

The Picatinny rail is almost exclusively crafted from a single piece of metal (in some cases aluminum). In this manner, the axis of the Picatinny rail is perfectly straight and aligned with the axis of the firearm. Therefore the rifle scope which is mounted onto this kind of configuration is certainly aligned with the rifle / gun and the trajectory of the ammunition.

Weaver rail design on the other hand is usually manufactured in two separate pieces, greatly increasing the possibilities for the axis to be crooked, overlapping, and out of line.

It is always harder to align two separate pieces to a third line than it is to align one piece to another. In this way, the lapping of two mounting rings on a single-piece Picatinny rail is no longer required.

The single-piece rail will assure that both rings are perfectly aligned to each other and that no unwished stress is transferred to the riflescope.

Picatinny compare to Weaver Rail

The Picatinny rail itself is an evolutionary step forward from the older Weaver rail. The main difference between Picatinny rail and Weaver rail is the spacing of the slots. Picatinny rail design has them evenly placed exactly 5.23 mm from one slot to the other, 3 mm deep. For this reason, the mounting options are repeatable and the same as other firearms using the Picatinny rail standard.

Interchangeability was a major driving force in the development of the new standard as different NATO armies need to be compatible with each other.

Weaver rail has 3.8mm wide slots and these slots can be placed anywhere on the Weaver rail and in any number that the producer wished.

Advantages of Picatinny design

A big advantage for using the Picatinny rail design is the ever-present recoil stop. Furthermore, the manufacturing of the rail is not very technically demanding and can be done without the use of state-of-the-art machines which greatly reduces the cost of the finished product, making it very affordable.

The Picatinny rail is easy to mount and usually, this type of configuration does not transfer negative stresses and forces from the fired weapon to the rifle scope.

In addition, the Picatinny rail with its very long useable surface works well for mounting longer rifle scopes or to achieve optimum eye relief.

The durability and toughness are other big pluses for this solution.

Manufacturers of Popular Models

A majority of the Picatinny rings are fixed, but a number of best rated European manufacturers (EAW, MAK,..) have, in recent years, put a lot of effort into the development of detachable ring with100% repeatability, with which it becomes easy to remove the scope from the weapon without the use of tools.

No re-zeroing is needed with such mount options, but these models tend to be expensive.

Weaver and Picatinny Rings

Picatinny rail and weaver rail share one more thing. It is possible to use the Weaver ring and the Picatinny ring on the Picatinny-rails, but it is usually impossible to use the Picatinny ring on the Weaver base. The reason being the above-mentioned positioning and spacing of the slots.

Picatinny mounts have a 5mm recoil stop that goes into the rail slot and since
Weaver rail only has 3.8mm wide slots such rings do not fit on Weaver rails.

Due to this reason, the Picatinny-rails are popular and prevailing on the market in recent years and eventually, these options will completely oust the Weaver rail from the market.

Santa Barbara Mauser