Recently acquired J.P. Sauer & Sohn (Suhl) Sporting Rifle (c. 1912)

[mike ford]

Steve,
I didn't really stay in touch with my friend that engraved the Ruger.He had wanted to come to "America", but needed a sponsor, to state that a job was waiting as well as a place to live, etc.I told him I would try to find work for him, when I returned to US. I was assigned to a job in the southeast(NC), but this was too warm for him, and he insisted on going to Canada.I couldn't help him with that. The last time I heard from him he was in a school to learn welding.I guess he decided it would be easier to find a job welding than engraving.
The factory would have a staff of engravers,including a master, but they would usually use the standard patterns.If someone commissioned special engraving, they would usually "farm" it out to a "self standing" engraver or as "side work" to their "master".They wouldn't slow the production of the shop.These engravers were well known to the factory and often worked there in the past, and lived in the local area. This was the system, also, for special stockwork,or gunsmithing like clawmounts,installing side plates, etc.By "shaded", I meant he used a shadeing tool to cut a series of shallow, parallel lines in the surface, over which the crosshatching was cut.
Mike

[sbakf]

Dan,

Thanks for your response. Identifying the stamping on the cocking piece of my rifle’s bolt (e.g., letter(s) & meaning) would be nice, but a time frame for when such “Fraktur-style” lettering was used by Mauser might be of more interest to me.

The underside of the bolt handle root was where German military inspection and proof markings were to be placed on the bolt body of any bolt action rifle acquired on behalf of the German armed forces. The standard markings in this location were spelled out in German ordnance handbooks, charts, and what have you. They were, per regs, a large crown-over-Fraktur letter closest to the bolt body, then a Prussian eagle (or alternatively a Bavarian lion), then topmost a small crown-over-Fraktur letter.[/SIZE]

So these “regs” stipulated such marking to be placed under the bolt handle – interesting! Wonder if that was to allow room for other necessary (governmental?) stampings to the topside of the handle – as was the case with this handle.
(RE: http://forums.nitroexpress.com/showf...e=1#Post231141).

Do you know of a readily available source for these “German ordnance regs” – translated to English? Did these regs also govern serial numbers and their placement– full and partial?


The bolt body shown began life as a Gew.98 bolt body, with a straight handle which was subsequently bent down into a "turned down" configuration. In the course of this latter work the top of the eagle and the smaller crown-over-Fraktur letter were obscured.

Here’s a photo of the topside of this bolt handle. There’s additional proof marks and a partial serial number. Because the font/proof styles were different (top vs bottom), it was suggested that this particular handle wasn’t original to the bolt.

MY GUNS - Mauser1907Stutzen01_zps774606a1.jpg

Huvius
I am not sure that the bolt handle on the first rifle isn't a replacement.
The knob is not very Oberndorf looking and there is no way the stamp at the root could be made with the bolt in its current configuration.

DORLEAC
Huvius,
The bolt is absolutely original to the rifle, not a replacement !...
It's numbered, perfectly stamped and marked, and more than that it's of the first type with slim gas holes and machined for retaining the pointed cocking piece.
I have already encountered early made rifles with that kind of knob that is correct for the period.
The slightly faded slow rust blue finish match the other parts of the rifle and the headspace is perfect.
I will publish photos showing more details of that bolt, firing pin and cocking piece as soon I will get some time left.

kuduae
Both marks under the bolthandle seem to support Huvius' suspicion. The shape of the "crown/B" mark is not the one of the commercial proofmark. also, I would expect a crown/U on a bolt instead. This crown/B stamp looks very much like a pre-WW1 military inspector's personal mark. The other mark is the lower Half of an also pre-WW1 military accceptance eagle, upper half obliterated when the bolt handle was bent. and, this bolt body and striker nut are indeed several years earlier than the 1907-8 made rifle. These bolt bodies with the narrow gas escape slits and the detent for the pointed cocking piece were made for a small-ring "Transition" action, pre- 1902. IMHO the rifle had lost the original bolt and came back to the factory for a replacement. The Mauser custom/repair shop then fitted a leftover bolt from the earlier, military test series and numbered it to the rifle, as they ever did. The former head of the Mauser sporting arms department, Walter Roell, continued to do so until the early 1960s. He had the original Mauser numbering stamps and not only continued the Mauser serial number range up into the 128 000s, but also whenever he rebarreled or restocked an older Mauser rifle, he habitually renumbered the replaced parts to the gun's original serial number.
BTW, that "holy grail" of collectors, "matching serial numbers" is no guarantee that a German gun, especially a military one, does still consist of the parts it left the factory with the first time. By regulations peacetime military armorers got the needed spare parts unnumbered. They had the prescribed numbering stamps. After fitting a new part to an existing gun they had to number the new replacement to the gun. Only late in WW1 they were allowed to cannibalize other guns, resulting in "mismatched numbers".

DORLEAC
Thanks to all.
More detailed photos of the 1907 stutzen Mauser bolt.
Sincerely, I think that kuduae hypothesis is the good one. However, if a new bolt has been fitted, the job was done at Mauser factory, with new proofing and with all parts perfectly numbered and finished.
What remains most interesting in this story, it's that they have used an old transition bolt.


I don’t have the knowledge base to take a stance either way in the above discussion. I do wish it had continued, with others contributing to the debate. Books are nice to have and reference (I have 4 new ones), but good debate can condense these things into tight little packages – packaged lessons that are easier to understand and retain.

I'm now sure the bolt to my rifle isn't original to the (pre-98 transitional) action installed. For that matter, the same can be said of the barrel. I'm still stuck on the question of why it was changed out. Could it have been just a simple upgrade to the rifle? I don't think a first buyer/owner would give much thought to maintaining originality.

Was the style (attributes) of my bolt available in 1912 or thereabouts?

Steve

[Dan Patch]

The '98 bolt with the narrow gas ports, chisel-faced firing pin nut, and lugless firing pin was fitted to all standard Gew.98 until about 1902, when the now-standard bolt replaced it in production. Nearly all of the early bolts assembled to rifles in the years 1898-1901/02 were subsequently recalled and scrapped.

[sbakf]

Mike,

... but this was too warm for him, and he insisted on going to Canada.I couldn't help him with that.

Wonder if he had any regrets - one of those "if only" or "what if" questions that one ponders later in life. I've told my kids many times, as my father told me, minimize the former and live with the latter.


The factory would have a staff of engravers,including a master, but they would usually use the standard patterns.If someone commissioned special engraving, they would usually "farm" it out to a "self standing" engraver or as "side work" to their "master".They wouldn't slow the production of the shop.These engravers were well known to the factory and often worked there in the past, and lived in the local area. This was the system, also, for special stockwork,or gunsmithing like clawmounts,installing side plates, etc.

I figured that was the way it worked - sort of like picking your tattoo from what's posted on the wall. If you want something really special and personal, find an artist and open your wallet wide. Thanks for the confirmation.


By "shaded", I meant he used a shadeing tool to cut a series of shallow, parallel lines in the surface, over which the crosshatching was cut.

I wondered if the term you used would be descriptive of what I was seeing on my bolt sleeve - seems to be the case. As stated yesterday,

I was looking through my pictures today and found one that shows that there is a striped pattern below the hatch pattern on my bolt sleeve (photo 1). This patterned underlayment appears rather unique in that the lines are again somewhat parallel to each other - i.e., I think not made by a common wire brush. Is this shading and how is/was it done?

You gave me my first learn something today - Thanks! Now tell me how they did it. Seems that it would be difficult on a contoured bolt sleeve - whatever the tool/technique used. Was this "shading" a customary 1st-step practice before engraving the crosshatch pattern?


Steve

[sbakf]

The '98 bolt with the narrow gas ports, chisel-faced firing pin nut, and lugless firing pin was fitted to all standard Gew.98 until about 1902, when the now-standard bolt replaced it in production. Nearly all of the early bolts assembled to rifles in the years 1898-1901/02 were subsequently recalled and scrapped.


Hi Dan,

With you and others handing me these nails, we might soon get this thing hammered down – perhaps just a few more boards to cut.


The '98 bolt with the narrow gas ports, chisel-faced firing pin nut, …

Please excuse my ignorance, but what is this “nut” y’all (Mauser gurus) keep referring to? I see this term used here, in other website forums and in some of my new books – I haven’t a clue. Only retainer I see associated with the firing pin is what I’ve been calling the cocking piece. I’ve looked at parts diagrams, but can’t find it listed. Is it an old term holdover applicable to an earlier-style bolt?


… lugless firing pin was fitted to all standard Gew.98 until about 1902, when the now-standard bolt replaced it in production.

I had read part of this shortly after receiving my first two books. It was in Speed’s book: MAUSER Original Oberndorf Sporting Rifles.

A Final Improvement to the 98 System: the Firing Pin Safety Shoulder (Speed et.al., pg 86)

In 1901, a safety shoulder was added to the one-piece firing pin to prevent it from going forward all the way until the bolt is fully closed.

This told me that my bolt’s shouldered firing pin was vintage 1901/1902 or later. What it didn’t tell me, however, was the shape of the gas ports in 1901/1902. Were they still of the narrow oval description? Your response seems to answer this question – i.e., the enlarged oval gas ports were present on all 98-Mauser bolts from 1902 on. Is this cited in one of the books by Speed? I’ve looked – just haven’t found a specific discussion of it.


Nearly all of the early bolts assembled to rifles in the years 1898-1901/02 were subsequently recalled and scrapped.

Dan – this bit of information could be really significant. I assume this is in reference to the pre-98 transitional bolts. In what year was this recall initiated and long did it last? Who initiated the recall and who passed out the replacement bolts? Was it all Mauser - using their available stock of new & upgraded ’98 bolts? Were these replacement fittings (i.e., bolt to receiver) done at the factory and/or through their affliates (e.g., J.P. Sauer & Sohn, local gunsmith, etc.)? So many questions here – is there a written description of this event in English? If in German, I’ll get it translated. I’d really like to read it myself, if possible.

Thanks for all your help,


Steve

[mike ford]

Steve,
Regarding the idea of selecting a "standard" scene "off the wall", this wouldn't happen. There would be a couple differen't scenes(deluxe,field) for each action type/size ie. drilling, o/u,12/16 ga,etc.These guns would be finished and sent to dealers before the ultimate owner ever saw them.You could have special engraving or other features, but that would put the gun into a "custom" or "bespoke" class, at a higher cost with longer delivery time.
Regarding shading, your bolt sleeve might be shaded, but I have no way to know. I never saw a boltsleeve being engraved. Not only would the contours be a problem,but they are hard and would have to be softened(in my opinion) and rehardened after engraving.
Mike

[Dan Patch]

Steve: The terms cocking piece and firing pin nut describe the same part. The former is essentially American and the latter is a rendering of the German nomenclature I believe. The U.S. Krag and '03 rifles had a cocking piece with a knurled knob on the rear that could be used for recocking; the '98 Mauser has a small vertical slot on the right rear of the nut that can be used for recocking and is essentially for emergency use, as in hangfires.

The enlarged gas ports in the bolt came in at the same time as the safety shoulders on the firing pin. The drill used to cut the safety shoulder seats in the interior of the bolt body was of 5 m/m diameter and entered the bolt through the area where the gas ports were located, so it made sense to combine two pieces of work into one and use the 5 m/m dimension for both the ports and the internal seat. Had the original gas port dimensions been left at 3 m/m with the seat drill at 5m/m one of the ports would have looked something like a keyhole.

When I wrote of recalling the early bolts and their replacement, I was referring specifically to bolts for German military Gew.98 rifles. As you've seen from this thread the path from Paul Mauser's patent drawings of 1895 to the definitive "model 98" action was pretty complex, and even the term "transitional" is not completely defined even yet. Since the German army had to have reasonable interchangeability among hundreds of thousands of rifles making running changes required careful planning, and, even then, sometimes things didn't go quite as planned. Mauser, as a commercial facility, could make design changes as seemed desirable, and could also recycle outdated components in order to get product out the door.

The recall of the original bolts for the Gew.98 and their replacement involved only the German armed forces and the depth of the taxpayers' purses. Even so, the process of revising the bolts in the Gew.98 was gradual. All newly-made rifles from about 1902 got the updated bolts, and rifles already in service appear to have been re-bolted gradually over a period of years. The bolts taken from service appear to have been scrapped in virtually all cases, as the early Gew.98 bolts with the shoulderless firing pins and the original firing pin nut are very scarce items. Oddly enough, a few rifles brought to the U.S. after the end of the First World War have been seen fitted with these early bolts.

Dieter Storz' book on the Gew.98 and Kar.98a is the best book in German or English on this topic, but even he is somewhat vague on the timeline of the bolt redesigns. Note that in the years 1898-1914 the bulk of production of the German issue '98 rifles and carbines was by the four German government armories (Spandau, Danzig, Erfurt, and Amberg), with DWM and Mauser producing much smaller numbers.

[sbakf]

Mike,

Regarding the idea of selecting a "standard" scene "off the wall", this wouldn't happen. There would be a couple differen't scenes(deluxe,field) for each action type/size ie. drilling, o/u,12/16 ga,etc.These guns would be finished and sent to dealers before the ultimate owner ever saw them.You could have special engraving or other features, but that would put the gun into a "custom" or "bespoke" class, at a higher cost with longer delivery time.

I follow and understand what you're saying. The process probably isn't much different today - either here or there.



Regarding shading, your bolt sleeve might be shaded, but I have no way to know. I never saw a boltsleeve being engraved. Not only would the contours be a problem,but they are hard and would have to be softened(in my opinion) and rehardened after engraving.

The more I look at it, I thinking stiff heavy gauge wire made the bottom pattern. Not in the usual sense (i.e., pushing sleeve into spinning wire brush), but rotation of the sleeve against a stationary wire mat. Here's some more photos.

DSC02183.jpgDSC02072.jpgDSC02066.jpgDSC02101.jpgDSC02104.jpg

[mike ford]

Steve,
I have no way of knowing, for sure, how the over hundred year old work was done, but in my experience a heavy wire wheel would not produce parallel lines.Also rotating the sleeve over a wire mat(like a file card) would take so many "passes" that it would not be possible for the lines to "track" for this pattern to result.Again without knowing for sure, maybe something like a checkering file(for metal)was used.
Mike

[sbakf]

Dan,

Sorry for the delay – my wife has been out of town visiting kinfolk and came back with a bag of honey-do’s.

The terms cocking piece and firing pin nut describe the same part. The former is essentially American and the latter is a rendering of the German nomenclature I believe. The U.S. Krag and '03 rifles had a cocking piece with a knurled knob on the rear that could be used for recocking; the '98 Mauser has a small vertical slot on the right rear of the nut that can be used for recocking and is essentially for emergency use, as in hangfires.

Thanks for clearing my head snag over use of terms. I’ve got an old 30/40 Krag - knurled knob on its cocking piece would seem far easier to use than that vertical slot on the Mauser nut. Which, not surprisingly, I had no clue of why it (slot) was there – until this week. A short passage, in I don’t remember where, described engaging the slot with the butt end of a spent shell case and pulling back to recock. I haven’t tried this procedure/technique, but I would think a difficult/cumbersome task to perform.

The enlarged gas ports in the bolt came in at the same time as the safety shoulders on the firing pin. The drill used to cut the safety shoulder seats in the interior of the bolt body was of 5 m/m diameter and entered the bolt through the area where the gas ports were located, so it made sense to combine two pieces of work into one and use the 5 m/m dimension for both the ports and the internal seat. Had the original gas port dimensions been left at 3 m/m with the seat drill at 5m/m one of the ports would have looked something like a keyhole.

Sounds like an experienced someone on the shop floor might have come up with this how to - simple and effective.

As you've seen from this thread the path from Paul Mauser's patent drawings of 1895 to the definitive "model 98" action was pretty complex, and even the term "transitional" is not completely defined even yet.

I definitely agree with you on this statement. Early in this thread, the repetitive use of the descriptive term “pre-transitional” (as opposed to “transitional”) had me utterly confused. I said as much in my posting #34. It wasn’t until my first glance through Speed’s book, who in his Chapter Nine had a section titled Pre-98 “Transitional” Actions, that things started to make sense. Just the simple addition of “Pre-98” brought some clarity to the discussion. In Speed’s Archive book (Chapter Two), he refers to them as early test rifles (actions). Who actually coined the terms “pre-transitional” and used it in describing the myriad of post-M1888/pre-98 transitional actions (i.e., working-prototypes)? “Working-prototypes” in the sense, they were not only designed, but made in sufficient numbers to be then actually field tested. Someone (or a group) needs to compile a list of all that might be included (subgroups if necessary), reach a consensus among the recognize Mauser scholars (book writers) on what should be included and post it somewhere so that all (we amateurs) might reference it (i.e., putting everyone on the same page and speaking the same language).


The recall of the original bolts for the Gew.98 and their replacement involved only the German armed forces and the depth of the taxpayers' purses. Even so, the process of revising the bolts in the Gew.98 was gradual. All newly-made rifles from about 1902 got the updated bolts, and rifles already in service appear to have been re-bolted gradually over a period of years.

Disappointment – I was hoping to hear that a recall was issued for all actions effected (military and civilian). Perhaps just another off-the-record (no press) change-order to be contained within the military-industrial complex. When was the problem with the firing pin recognized/discovered? Was it truly a serious (dangerous) defect in design?

Did J.P. Sauer & Sohn know of the reason behind the design change by Mauser? Did they, like Mauser, offer a remedy to correct or upgrade? I have no information to suggest that they did. Yet, the original bolt fitted to my rifle’s receiver was, at some point in time, change out for the upgraded version.

[Axel E]

The '98 bolt with the narrow gas ports, chisel-faced firing pin nut, and lugless firing pin was fitted to all standard Gew.98 until about 1902, when the now-standard bolt replaced it in production. Nearly all of the early bolts assembled to rifles in the years 1898-1901/02 were subsequently recalled and scrapped.

Of course, this applied only to those Gewehr 98s already in military service then! Those hunting rifles in civilian hands did not have their bolts replaced, as neither the owners nor the retailers bothered with these latest improvements. If there ever were a general recall of the older bolts, no such bolts, pre-transitional or transitional, would be known today. The older bolts without the safety firing pins were and are just as safe and servicable as the improved ones in normal use. Most hunters I met with such early bolts in their rifles had never noticed the difference until I told them. And the thousands of Swedish military rifles and early husquarna sporters, as well as Springfields, M17 Enfields, Winchester 70s and so on don't have this feature.
As your action is unmarked by Mauser on the outside, but has the Mauser commercial serial number in the proper places under receiver ring and on back of magazine, it was sold by Mauser as an action only, without barrel or stock, to Sauer & Sohn, who used it to build their rifle on the action, using a typical Suhl barrel and a stock of their own make.
The original bolt was likely lost when the rifle was "liberated" in 1945. Quite often then bolts were removed first from the rifles to make them "safe". Rifles landed on one big heap, bolts on another. Then a GI who spotted a nice sporting rifle on the big heap would liberate it and search the smaller heap for a bolt that seemed to fit, without looking for details unknown to him. Remember, there were no "matching serial numbers" on American military armament, neither Sringfield nor Garands. So mismatched bolts are rather frequent on Mausers found now in America. I dimly remember a thread a long time ago: One guy reported a rare Mauser target rifle with a mismatched bolt. Another chimed in, having the same type of rifle, but with a mismatched bolt too. After checking serial numbers, they simply swapped their bolts.

[Jim Cate]

Axel, I had this to happen to me also....One guy reported a rare Mauser target rifle with a mismatched bolt. Another chimed in, having the same type of rifle, but with a mismatched bolt too. After checking serial numbers, they simply swapped their bolts. Two different guys had mismatched Sauer shotgun barrels. One in Kansas, the other in Kentucky. They had each others correct barrels. Both guns had been brought "home" as souvenirs after the war was over.
I enjoyed putting them 'right' once again....Regards, Jim

[Dan Patch]

Steve: The reason behind the new firing pin was the possibility the firing pin could break at its connection to the nut at the rear when the bolt was driven forward in the loading cycle. With the old system the firing pin, propelled by its spring, could fire a not-quite-locked cartridge, with spectacular results. With the revised pin, no fireworks, as the pin couldn't move far enough to produce ignition. That said, it requires a perfect storm of breakage and bad luck for this to occur. The Mexican 98-type action, used there as their standard from 1902 until at least the 1970s never had the new pin and apparently produced few, if any, such accidents.

To my mind the real weak point in the original bolt used in the Gew.98 was that firing pin nut and the shallow, sharp-edged detent at the rear of the bolt body into which it clicked when the bolt handle was turned up in the loading cycle. Evidently the nut and its detent were both subject to rapid wear, and they certainly make operating the bolt more difficult than with the later type with which we are familiar. And, since there was the spring-operated bolt sleeve lock performing the same function, it was redundant. My own guess is that the first type nut was one of those ideas German army ordnance insisted on, like the Lange (the so-called "roller coaster") rear sight.

Axel's suggestion of bolts switched due to piling rifles in one heap and bolts in another is probably the major cause of mismatching on this side of the Atlantic, but I'd suggest that in other cases rifles lost their bolts before they even got to the turn-in station. Dan

[sbakf]

Hi Axel,

Good to have you back – been off skiing somewhere? I have very fond memories of my time in Munich in the mid-60’s (UofMd, Munich Campus, 64-66) – skiing nearly every weekend in the winter months (Garmisch, Kitzbuhel, Kuprun). Great place to be when you’re between 18 and 20.
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You started your first posting to this thread with - The rifle Looks quite enigmatic to me:. Well, it still is – an enigma. Place one piece of the puzzle – or you think you have – and another (or more) get laid on the table.

As always, when researching a subject where there is little supporting data from the original manufacturer, some logical guesswork must play a role in trying to make sense out of the unknown. (Speed et.al., pg. 144)

I’ve been going through 3 Mauser books over the last few days. They’re all good and have brought some clarity to the early history of my rifle – or more precisely, what it might have been. Unfortunately, these books (in my read of them) have also exposed possible errors in thinking on my part (assumptions made too soon). Here’s just a sampling of some passages from Speed’s book:

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MAUSER Original Oberndorf Sporting Rifles

Pre-98 “Transitional” Actions
On October 30, 1895 Mauser patented his new improved bolt with a sleeve lock (Fig. 130), wing safety (Fig. 130), third safety lug, a bolt guide rib, gas escape holes in the bolt to divert gases out the left side of the action (Belgian patent 120477, March 12, 1896; Fig. 133), and an integral firing pin shroud with a larger flange to further divert any escaping gases. Cocking occurred mostly on opening the bolt. (Chapter Nine, pg. 81)

A run of 2,000 Mauser rifles was ordered in 1895 for testing, in 8X57mm calibre. (Chapter Nine, pg. 83)

Test continued with all remaining rifles until 1902, which resulted in the destruction of most of them. A few actions were kept as spares and some rifles survived the troop tests. (Chapter Nine, pg. 87)

Some of these very rare transition actions dating from 1895 to 1898, predecessors of the actual 98 action, were used to make up sporting rifles. These may have serial numbers indicating later assembly, or very low numbers that fall into the very beginning of the new Model 1898 sporting rifle SN range. (Chapter Nine, pg. 87)

The 98 System Sporter Serial Number Range (Chapter Ten, pg. 89)
Starting in 1898, all new 98-actioned sporting rifles were serially numbered on the left side of the receiver, ahead of the firing proofs, starting from number 1. Rifles were numbered in the order in which they were completed, there being no differentiation made for action size, model, or caliber.

The MAUSER Archive
(Chapter Two, pg. 25)

The serial numbers on these rifles could be the ones from the actual troop test rifles, or a number from the correct corresponding sporter serial number series started in 1898.

Another point to mention after looking at many Mauser parts lists is that the company frequently made up extra spare actions/barreled actions whenever they were developing new arms.
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I’m now questioning the meaning of SN 871 on the underside of my receiver ring. What does it stand for? Does it represent ”test action” number #871 of the 2,000 (8X57mm) actions made by Mauser in 1895? Why would Speed’s Serial Number Chart (Appendix I) even apply to my rifle’s actions? The numbers there are for Mauser sporting rifles, not sporting rifles assembled by J.P. Sauer & Sohn using a test action made by Mauser.

Many more questions to address, but these I'll have to post when I figure out what direction to take. The path I'm on is getting rather complicated. A big problem for me now, it seems, is Sauer's records (per Cate's book) are no where near as neat as those for Mauser (per Speed's book). A plot of SN's vs Production Date (or) vs Sale Date for Sauer sporting rifles would probably look more like the pattern of a shotgun blast.

49344 1894
51237 1895
52399 1895/96
56982 1895
58177 1895/96
58323 1896
58438 1893-1899
58987 1896-97
60149 1897-98
60177 1898-1900
60379 1900
62531 1900
63379 1898
65259 1898/99
67842 Mauser 98 bolt action rifle (no year)
68096 1900-1902
71354 1908-10
71621 1908—09
72089 1908
77274 1910
77721 Mauser 98
77983 1911
78202 Mauser 98 (9X57mm)
80944 1911-12
81044 Mauser 98 (8X57mm)
81168 1902-06
81232 1902-06
83472 1903
83511 1901-03
83652 1903
86009 1904/08
86109 1900/01
86334 1903
86698 Mauser 98 (8X57J)
87353 1903
87888 1902/03
88851 1903-04
89097 Mauser 98 1899
89365 1904
89686 Mauser 98 (8X57J)
89690 Mauser 98 (8X57J)
90567 1904
91053 1903/04
91073 1903
91318 Mauser 98 (9.3X62mm) 1904
91320 Mauser 98 (9.3X62mm)
91922 Mauser 98 (8X60mm)
92084 1903/04
92216 1904
92222 1912 markings
95480 Mauser 98 (8X57J) 1902-04
95628 1902
95707 Mauser 98 (8X57J)
95588 1902-03
99501 1902/03
100000 1908
101316 1902/03
101747 1910-11

[Axel E]

I’m now questioning the meaning of SN 871 on the underside of my receiver ring. What does it stand for? Does it represent ”test action” number #871 of the 2,000 (8X57mm) actions made by Mauser in 1895? Why would Speed’s Serial Number Chart (Appendix I) even apply to my rifle’s actions? The numbers there are for Mauser sporting rifles, not sporting rifles assembled by J.P. Sauer & Sohn using a test action made by Mauser.

See Jon Speed: "Original Oberndorf Sporting Rifles", page 146, "Marking for Export": It's the Mauser commercial Serial number, marked in the usual place for otherwise unmarked actions. All the Mauser commercial actions destined to be sold to other gunmakers like Sauer & Sohn as actions only had their Mauser commercial serial number stamped under the receiver. So your "816" is a Mauser commercial serial number, fitting in between 356? and 950 for 1898 -99 on page 433 of OOSR. Remember, before WW1, from 1897 to 1912 Mauser sold about 49% of their civilian rifle production as actions only to other gunmakers. Speed's Mauser Archive, page 416, pic 630: 30186 Pürschbüchsen = complete rifles, 29314 Pürschbüchsensysteme = actions only.