The rifles were still in service during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 on both sides of the conflict. Over the course of Spanish Mauser production, Fábrica de Armas built around 325,000 of the modernized Model 1916 rifles & this is one of them. In addition to Mauser, the Spanish 1893 rifles were manufactured under license by a variety of other firms, including Ludwig Loewe & Company (and its successor, Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken) of Germany, Fabrique Nationale of Belgium, Fábrica de Armas & Industrias de Guerra de Cataluna of Spain. The converted rifles were used for training & for the Guardia Civil through the 1950s. The M1916 short rifles remained in production in Spain until 1951 & many of these later rifles were converted to shoot either 7.92×57mm Mauser or 7.62×51mm NATO, which is what this rifle is chambered in. All versions of the rifle saw extensive service in the Spanish Army, beginning in the Spanish–American War in 1898, the Rif War of 1920–1927 & the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939. The M1893 was developed into several variants, including a shortened carbine adopted by the Spanish as the M1895 & as the M1913 & M1916 short rifles.

These rifles featured a 21.75-inch (552 mm) barrel & were manufactured by Fábrica de Armas from 1916 to 1951 & Industrias de Guerra de Cataluña from 1936 to 1939. Beginning in 1913, large sight protectors were added to the front sight. The M1916 rifle had a bent bolt handle & a full-length stock with a lug for an M1913 sword bayonet. The M1893 introduced a short staggered-column box magazine that fit flush with the bottom of the stock & the magazine held five smokeless 7×57mm Mauser rounds, which could be reloaded quickly by pushing a stripper clip from the top of the open bolt. The M1893 was based on the experimental M1892 rifle, which Paul Mauser developed for the Spanish Army as part of a program to correct deficiencies in the earlier 1889, 1890 & 1891 series of Mauser rifles. The Mauser Model 1893 is a bolt-action rifle commonly referred to as the Spanish Mauser, although the model was adopted by other countries in different calibres, most notably the Ottoman Empire. The Model 1916 rifle was adopted on 14 November 1916 to replace the M1895 carbine which was itself a descendant of the Mauser Model 1893.

Model 1916 spanish mauser