Santa Barbara Mauser 98
- Category
- Rifle
- Barrel
- 560 mm
- Weight, empty
- 3.40 kg
- Introduced
- 1950
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Santa Barbara Mauser 98 is a commercial bolt-action rifle built on a modified Mauser Model 1898 action and manufactured by the Empresa Nacional Santa Bárbara de Industrias Militares at La Coruña, Spain. Produced from the early postwar period into the 1970s, the action featured a solid left receiver sidewall, an omitted stripper-clip guide notch, and a smooth bridge drilled and tapped for FN- and Mark X-pattern scope mounts. Santa Bárbara actions and complete sporters were exported around the world — notably to Golden State Arms in the United States and to gunmakers such as Parker Hale — to be barreled and stocked into hunting rifles, most commonly in .30-06 Springfield. Built around the proven controlled-round-feed Mauser 98 action with its large non-rotating claw extractor and three-position safety, it offered a robust and serviceable sporting platform.
Santa Bárbara was Spain's state-owned military industries concern at La Coruña, the same arsenal that built the FR-7 and FR-8 service Mausers. Its surplus commercial 98 actions became a staple foundation for custom and budget sporting rifles in the 1960s and 1970s, prized as an affordable controlled-round-feed alternative to FN Herstal and Zastava Mark X actions.
Spanish arsenal steel alloys and heat-treating varied; the actions are regarded as serviceable working sporters rather than premium-grade. A complete sporting rifle line built on Santa Bárbara actions was offered in the United States circa 1970, often stocked by Reinhart Fajen, but importation became uneconomical as the US dollar weakened in the late 1970s and the line was discontinued.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Empresa Nacional Santa Bárbara de Industrias Militares, S.A.
- Category
- Rifle
- Country
- Spain
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1950 to 1979
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 560 mm
- Overall length
- 1120 mm
- Weight, empty
- 3.40 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Bolt action
- Firing mechanism
- Striker fired
- Trigger
- Single action
- Capacity
- 5
- Magazine
- Fixed box
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Walnut
- Finish
- Blued
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 850 m/s
- Muzzle energy
- 4210 J
- Effective range
- 500 m
- Maximum range
- 4000 m
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Mauser 98 action
Controlled round feed
Claw extractor
Drilled and tapped for scope
Internal box magazine
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 75 .30-06 Springfield rifles | 3.40 kg | 3.40 kg | Heavier than about 60% |
| Overall lengthAmong 73 .30-06 Springfield rifles | 1120 mm | 1100 mm | Longer than about 80% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 75 .30-06 Springfield rifles | 560 mm | 584 mm | Shorter than about 60% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 78 .30-06 Springfield rifles | 5 | 4 | Holds more rounds than about 80% |
Answers
Questions about the Santa Barbara Mauser 98
How much does the Santa Barbara Mauser 98 weigh?
The Santa Barbara Mauser 98 weighs 3.40 kg (7.50 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Santa Barbara Mauser 98?
The Santa Barbara Mauser 98 is chambered in .30-06 Springfield.
How many rounds does the Santa Barbara Mauser 98 hold?
The Santa Barbara Mauser 98 holds 5 rounds, fed from a fixed box magazine.
How long is the Santa Barbara Mauser 98?
The Santa Barbara Mauser 98 is 1120 mm (44.1 in) long overall, with a 560 mm (22.0 in) barrel.
Who makes the Santa Barbara Mauser 98?
The Santa Barbara Mauser 98 is made by Empresa Nacional Santa Bárbara de Industrias Militares, S.A. (Spain). It was designed by Paul Mauser.
When was the Santa Barbara Mauser 98 introduced?
The Santa Barbara Mauser 98 was introduced in 1950 and discontinued in 1979.
How does the Santa Barbara Mauser 98 operate?
The Santa Barbara Mauser 98 uses a bolt action, and its firing mechanism is striker fired.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- Golden State Arms
- United States
Provenance
Confidence in this record
62%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/santa-barbara-mauser' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "santa-barbara-mauser", "name": "Santa Barbara Mauser 98", "manufacturer": { "id": "santa-barbara", "name": "Empresa Nacional Santa Bárbara de Industrias Militares, S.A.", "countryCode": "ES", "foundedYear": 1959, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-07-06 11:00:16", "updatedAt": "2026-07-06 11:00:16", "version": "a0c5ca6f083702638438e2951535b6e1fa2035c7c1f1559725e639bfc89edba5" }, "category": { "id": "rifle", "name": "Rifle", "description": "Long-barreled firearms designed for accurate shooting" }, "country_of_origin": "ES", "year_introduced": 1950, "barrel_length_mm": 560, "weight_empty_g": 3400, "action_type": "bolt_action"}