Mauser, originally the Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik, was a German arms manufacturer. Their line of bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic pistols was produced beginning in the 1870s for the German armed forces. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Mauser designs were also exported and licensed to many countries, which adopted them as military and civilian sporting firearms. The Gewehr 98 in particular was widely adopted and copied, becoming one of the most copied firearms designs and it is the foundation of many of today's sporting bolt-action rifles. Around 10 million Gewehr 98-style rifles were produced.

History

King Frederick I of Württemberg founded the enterprise as Königliche Waffen Schmieden (literally: Royal Weapons Forges) on 31 July 1811. Originally located partly at Ludwigsburg and partly at Christophsthal, the factory was transferred to the former Augustine Cloister in Oberndorf am Neckar, where Andreas Mauser worked as the master gunsmith. by Chilean forces, is a bolt operated magazine fed rifle using the 7×57mm Mauser cartridge. It is the first major modification of the Mauser Model 1893 and was produced by Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken, known as DWM, and Ludwig Loewe Company from 1895 to 1900.

Model 1896

thumb|Swedish rifle Model 1896On 3 November 1893, the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway adopted the 6.5×55 mm cartridge. As a result, the Swedes chambered their new service weapons, the m/94 carbine and m/96 rifle, in this round. The rifle action was manufactured relatively unchanged from 1896 to 1944, and the m/94 Carbine, m/96 Rifle, m/38 Short Rifle, and m/41 Sharpshooter models are known by collectors as "Swedish Mausers". They are still sought after by military service rifle shooters and hunters. Initial production of the weapons was in Germany by Waffenfabrik Mauser, with the remainder being manufactured under license by Sweden's state-operated Bofors Carl Gustaf factory. The m/38 short rifle was produced by Husqvarna; additional m/38s were converted from Model 96 rifles.

"Swedish steel" is a term for the steel used by the German Mauser, and later by Swedish manufacturing facilities, to make the m/96 rifles. Swedish iron ore contains the proper percentages of trace elements to make good alloy steel. Thus, though lacking the industrial base necessary for mass-producing steel and iron, the Swedish steel industry developed a niche market for specialty high-strength steel alloys containing nickel, copper, and vanadium. Swedish steels were noted for their strength and corrosion resistance and were especially suited for use in toolmaking, cutlery, and firearms. When Mauser was contracted to fabricate the initial production runs of Swedish Mausers in Germany due to production delays, Sweden required the use of Swedish steel in the manufacturing process. The Swedish Ordnance Office continued to specify the same Swedish steel alloy in Swedish-made Mausers until the last new-production m/38 barrelled actions were completed in 1944.

Model 1898

thumb|Mauser Model 98In 1898, the German Army purchased a Mauser design, the Model 98, which incorporated improvements introduced in earlier models. The weapon was originally chambered for the Patrone 88 and officially entered German service as the Gew. 98 on April 5, 1898. This remains by far the most successful of the Mauser designs, helped by the onset of two world wars that demanded vast numbers of rifles.

Noticeable changes from previous Mauser rifle models included better ruptured case gas venting, better receiver metallurgy, and a larger diameter receiver ring compared to previous Mauser "small ring" bolt-action designs that had diameter receiver rings for additional strength and safety. Mauser incorporated a third "safety" lug on the bolt body to protect the shooter in the event that one or more of the forward locking lugs failed. In 1903 the improved 7.92×57mm Mauser S Patrone "spitzer" (pointed) round was introduced. Mauser had nothing to do with the development of this round. The S Patrone provided the accuracy and barrel life improvements the German military was looking for and it was in response to the French adoption of a pointed boat-tail bullet, which offered better external ballistic performance. The bullet diameter was increased from to . Pointed or spitzer bullets give bullets a lower drag coefficient (C<sub>d</sub>) making them decelerate less rapidly and also markedly decreases the lateral drift caused by crosswinds, improving the effective range of the cartridge.

Most existing early Model 98s and many Model 88s were modified before World War I to take the new round, designated "7,9mm" or "S Patrone" by the German military. Modified Model 88s can be identified by an "S" on the receiver. Due to the possibility for overpressure from the undersize barrel, the spitzer round cannot safely be used in unmodified guns, particularly with Model 88 rifles.

Paul Mauser died on 29 May 1914, before the start of World War I that August. The war caused a spike in demand for the company's rifles. The 98 carbines were sold, as well as an experimental version with a twenty-rather than five-round box magazine. The extended magazine was not well received, however.

A number of carbine versions known as Karabiner 98s were introduced and used in World War I, some even shorter than the later K.98k. These carbines were originally only distributed to cavalry troops, but later in the war to the special storm troop units as well.

G98 derivatives

Many military rifles derive from the M98 design. Some of these were German-made by various contractors other than Mauser:

  • M1902 & M1936 Mexican in 7×57mm Mauser
  • M1903 & M1905 Turkish in 7.65×53mm Argentine
  • M1907 Chinese in 6.8×57mm
  • M1904 Portuguese in 6.5×58mm Vergueiro, 7×57mm Mauser and 7.92×57mm Mauser
  • M1907 and M1908 Brazilian in 7×57mm Mauser
  • M1908 Uruguayan in 7×57mm produced by the Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken
  • M1910 Serbian in 7×57mm Mauser
  • M1909 Argentine in 7.65×53mm
  • Steyr Model 1912 Mauser for Mexico, Chile and Colombia, in 7×57mm Mauser
  • Type 24 Chinese in 7.92×57mm
  • Belgian Mauser Model 1935
  • M1943 Spanish short (not to be confused with the M93 Spanish Mauser) in 7.92×57mm manufactured in the Spanish arsenals. Will have "La Coruna" or the Spanish Air Force Eagle stamped on the top of the receiver. Virtually identical to the K98k.
  • vz. 98/22 Often made from G98 parts, rebuilt in the BRNO factory in Czechoslovakia.
  • Kırıkkale M1938 - made by Turkish MKEK.

The Mauser 1918 T-Gewehr was the world's first anti-tank rifle—the first rifle designed for the sole purpose of destroying armored targets. The weapon, essentially an enlarged G98, fired 13×92mm (.525-caliber) TuF (Tank und Flieger, "tanks and aeroplanes") semi-rimmed cartridges. In May 1918, the Mauser Company began mass-producing the Mauser 13mm Tank Abwehr Gewehr Mod. 18 in Oberndorf am Neckar.

Following the collapse of the German Empire after World War I, many countries that were using Mauser models chose to develop, assemble, or modify their own G98-action rifle designs. The most prolific of them were the Czechoslovak M1922 CZ 98 and M1924 CZ and the Belgian Fabrique Nationale M1924 and M1930.

The Belgians and Czechs produced and widely exported their "Mausers" in various calibers throughout the 1920s and 1930s, before their production facilities were absorbed by Nazi Germany to make parts or whole rifles for the German Army. Strictly speaking, these were not "Mauser" rifles, as they were not engineered or produced by the German company.

To take advantage of the widespread and popular German single-shot 8.15×46mmR cartridge for use in a military firearm, a modified Gewehr 98 referred to as a "Wehrmannsgewehr" was designed. These were made primarily as single shots; some only had a wood block in the magazine space. These became the 1936 Olympic team rifles for the Germans.

<gallery>

File:M61411451.jpg|An 8.15×46R Mauser Wehrmannsgewehr

File:M61411306.jpg|The top of the receiver on an 8.15x46r Wehrmannsgewehr

</gallery>

As the restrictions on production were increasingly ignored by the Germans in the 1930s, a new Mauser, the Mauser standard model, was developed from the rifle-length Karabiner 98b. It was nominally intended for export and civilian sales. While many standard model rifles were indeed exported, it was meant primarily for use by the revived German military. It rapidly evolved into the Karabiner 98 Kurz, which was adopted by Nazi Germany as the standard infantry rifle in 1935 and saw service until the end of World War II.

Mauser M1902

Long recoil semi-automatic rifle, lacked in ejecting cartridges.

Type A, Model B, Model K, Armee-Model C, Africa Model

A series of very successful hunting rifles were developed in the first decades of the 20th century. The Special Rifle Type A was the top-of-the-line sporting rifle of the early 20th century. The Model B (B for Büchse) and Model K were sport rifles offered in many configurations. The Model C, made from 1903 to 1930, was a cheap rifle made to accommodate a range of cartridges for hunting. The Mauser Africa Model, introduced around 1904 or 1905, was used mainly by settlers in Africa.

Model M1913 Selbstladegewehr Sporter

Semi-automatic rifle adapted by the German military for aircraft use. It was produced in 9mm caliber and with a scope rail.

Model M and model S

The Model M was introduced in 1914. A Model S (S for stutzen or short) was also offered.

Mauser M1916

thumb|Mauser M1916

The Mauser M1916, or Mauser selbstladekarabiner (self-loading carbine), was a semi-automatic rifle that used a delayed blowback mechanism and fed from 25-round detachable magazine. The process of developing a semi-automatic rifle cost Paul Mauser an eye when a prototype suffered an out-of-battery detonation. The mechanism was quite delicate, working reliably only when completely clean, which made the rifle unsuitable for infantry use. However, the Imperial German Flying Corps adopted the rifle for its aircraft crews in 1915, and more generally in 1916. Aerial combat provided the clean environment the rifle required, and its semi-automatic capability was an advancement over bolt-action rifles.

However, the rifle was expensive to make. The air service turned to the Swiss-produced Mondragón rifle, which was tested by the army; though less accurate than Mauser's design, it cost about a third as much. The widespread adoption of machine guns then made all self-loading rifles obsolete in the air service.

Mauser 1925 Special range rifle

The 1925 Special range rifle was a commercial product introduced in 1925 and sold in the United States. It was intended for high accuracy range shooting. The company also produced a .22 caliber training rifle during this time frame.

Karabiner 98k

thumb|Karabiner 98k in mint condition, made in 1940. From the collections of the [[Swedish Army Museum.]]

The Karabiner 98k "Mauser" (often abbreviated "K98k" or "Kar98k"), adopted in the mid- 1930s, became the most common infantry rifle in service in the German Army during World War II. The design was developed from the Karabiner 98b, one of the carbines developed from the Model 1898. The K98k was first adopted by the Wehrmacht in 1935 as their standard-issue rifle, with many older versions being converted and shortened.

Mauser KKW cadet rifle

The Mauser KKW cadet rifle is a single shot, .22 caliber rifle that was introduced in 1938. It is virtually identical to the Karabiner 98k. These cadet rifles were used by all German military, paramilitary and police organizations, especially the Hitler Youth.

Gewehr 41

thumb|Gewehr 41 (Mauser version) semi-automatic rifleThe Gewehr 41 rifles, commonly known as the "G41(W)" or "G41(M)", were semi-automatic rifles used by Nazi Germany during World War II. By 1940 the Wehrmacht issued a specification to various manufacturers, and Mauser and Walther submitted prototypes that were very similar. Both Gewehr 41 models used a mechanism known as the "Bang" system (named after the designer of the M1922 Bang rifle). In this system, gases from the bullet were trapped near the muzzle in a ring-shaped cone, which in turn pulled on a long piston rod that opened the breech and re-loaded the gun. Both models also included inbuilt 10-round magazines that were loaded using two of the stripper clips from the Karabiner 98k, utilizing 7.92×57mm Mauser rounds, which made reloading relatively slow. The Mauser design, the G41(M), failed as it, along with its G41(W) counterpart, suffered from gas system fouling problems. Only 6,673 G41(M) rifles were produced before production was halted, and of these, 1,673 were returned as unusable.

Handguns

Mauser C78 "zig-zag" Revolver

thumb|Mauser C78 "zig-zag"The Mauser C78 zig-zag was a revolver manufactured by Mauser during the late 19th century. It was Paul Mauser's first handgun design.

C1896 Pistol

thumb|Mauser C96 in 9 mm Luger

Mauser branched out into pistol design in 1896, producing the C96, commonly known as "broomhandle," designed by the three brothers Fidel, Friedrich, and Josef Feederle (often erroneously spelled "Federle"). All versions used detachable shoulder stock holsters. Over a million C96s were produced between 1896 and the late 1930s.

Mauser 1910 and 1914 pocket pistols

<!-- This section is linked from Browning Hi-Power -->

thumb|Mauser factory, 1910

thumb|Mauser 1910

thumb|Mauser 1914

The Mauser Model 1910 was a small self-loading pistol chambered for .25 ACP (6.35&nbsp;mm). It was introduced in 1910; an updated model chambered for .32 ACP (7.65&nbsp;mm), the Mauser Model 1914, came out in 1914. Most of these were used by the Wehrmacht and the Kriegsmarine. They were also sold commercially.

Mauser Model 1934 pocket pistol

thumb|left: 7.65 mm 1934 Model pocket pistol, right: Browning 9 mm (for comparison)

This was a small pocket pistol chambered for .32 ACP (7.65 mm) based on the earlier Model 1910/14. The Mauser Model 1934 is virtually identical to the 1914 except for the grip, which has a more curved back. It was used by the Kriegsmarine and was also sold commercially.

Mauser HSc

The Mauser HSc was a self-loading handgun introduced in the 1940s. It was a compact double-action blowback design in .32 ACP. Production ran from 1940 until the end of World War II, and into the 1960s and early 1970s. The post-war models were also available in .380 ACP.

After 1940

In 1940, the Mauser Company was invited to take part in a competition to re-equip the German Army with a semi-automatic rifle, the Gewehr 41. A number of impractical requirements were specified, including that the design should not use holes drilled into the barrel to take off gas for the operating mechanism, thereby requiring mechanisms that proved unreliable. Two designs were submitted, and the Mauser version, the G 41(M), failed miserably in testing. It was canceled after a short production run. The resulting design did not see real success before it was switched to a simpler gas-operated system in the Gewehr 43. During World War II, the Mauser factory in Oberndorf, a major source of German arms production for the Reich, was strategically bombed by the Allies, resulting in the deaths of 26 workers and the destruction of the company's power plant. French forces entered Oberndorf (which they subsequently occupied for some time) on 20 April 1945 when the town's mayor and planning committee surrendered.

thumb|Mauser K98K [[stripper clip with 8×57mm rounds]]

After the war in Europe, the factory was briefly put back in order to produce weapons for the now under-equipped French military. The plant was dismantled by the occupying forces for the purpose of war reparations, most factory buildings (approximately 60% in total) were demolished and the records destroyed on orders of the local French Army commander. For a number of years, Mauser Werke manufactured precision measurement instruments and tools, such as micrometers. Edmund Heckler, Theodor Koch, and Alex Seidel, former Mauser engineers, saved what they could and founded Heckler & Koch, which has since become Germany's main small-arms manufacturer. Mauser continued to make hunting and sporting rifles. In 1994, it became a subsidiary of Rheinmetall, a manufacturer of autocannons such as the Mauser BK-27 and other munitions until 2004, when it was merged into Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH. In 1999 the civilian manufacture of hunting, defense, and sporting rifles were split off from Rheinmetall.

Mauser ammunition

Paul Mauser designed the 7.65×53mm Mauser (1889) and 7×57mm Mauser (1892) rifle cartridges. These cartridges were chambered in military Mauser service rifles and were high-performance service cartridge designs compared to other contemporary smokeless powder service cartridges such as the 8mm Lebel (1886), 8×50mmR Mannlicher (1890) and .303 British (1891). Mauser also developed the 6.5×57mm, about 1890, and the 6×57mm, about 1895, both not used by any military, but saw use as hunting cartridges. The 6.5×57mm probably influenced the design of several 6.5 military cartridges. The 6×57mm became obsolete, though the commercial 6mm Remington cartridge is similar.

Mauser firearms after 1945

Mauser was formally re-established in the 1950s.

1960s

A rifle design by Walter Gehmann was purchased, and it went into production in 1965 as the model 66. Some self-loading pistols were also offered, such as the Mauser HSc.

  • Model 66
  • Model 66 S
  • Model 66 P

1970s–1990

thumb|Mauser SP66 sniper rifle

  • Model 77
  • Model 86 SR
  • Mauser SP66 – a sniper rifle based on the Model 66. A further upgraded model was the Mauser 86 SR.
  • Mauser Parabellum

1990–2004

In 1995, the firearms division of Mauser was bought by Rheinmetall Berlin AG. The sale was completed in 1996 and the company was renamed Mauser-Werke Oberndorf Waffensysteme GmbH. Rheinmetall Berlin AG was renamed Rheinmetall AG in the same year.

In 1999, part of Mauser was sold to Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG), which is no longer in the arms industry. This part became Mauser Jagdwaffen GmbH.

  • Mauser SR 93 sniper rifle
  • Model 94
  • Model 96 / model 96 S – a straight pull action rifle
  • Mauser SR 97
  • Mauser 80SA – a Browning Hi-Power clone manufactured by Fegyver- és Gépgyár (FÉG) and finished by Mauser
  • Mauser 90DA – a DA/SA Hi-Power derivative, also manufactured by FÉG

Autocannons

;Pre–World War II

: 20&nbsp;mm FlaK 30/38 cannon

: 20&nbsp;mm MG FF cannon—derivative in 1936 by Ikaria Werke Berlin of Swiss Oerlikon FF

: 20&nbsp;mm MG 151 cannon/20

: 20&nbsp;mm MG 213 cannon—developed during war but not put into production

: 30&nbsp;mm MK 108 cannon developed in 1940 by Rheinmetall-Borsig

;Post–World War II

: 27&nbsp;mm BK-27 cannon

: 30&nbsp;mm RMK30 cannon

See also

  • Heym Express Magnum
  • Mauser M18
  • Antique gun

References

Note: The reference from Sportsmansvintagepress is a reprint of:

Bibliography

  • Persian Mauser
  • Zastava Arms
  • The Mauser Bolt Rifles FAQ
  • M1878/80 Mauser Milovanovic
  • Luger Artillery and Mauser Parabellum
  • The website from Mauser-Waldeck Safes
  • Paul Mauser Archive web site by Mauro Baudino.
  • Nazarian's Gun's Recognition Guide: A member of NZR Para (PMC) with a somewhat modified K98k
  • Nazarian's Gun's Recognition Guide FN 98 Manual (.pdf)