Mauser Identification - "Type A"?

[Paul B.]

Hello,

I hope all is well. I recently acquired an Oberndorf Mauser sporter. I believe it to be a pre-WWI, numbers matching, commercial "Type A" sporter in 7mm Mauser produced in 1912 for the British market. It has a single, 2-stage, trigger, rear express sights, and a military-style recessed button drop floorplate. I'd truly appreciate your analysis of the attached pictures to confirm the year range of manufacture, model/type, as well as any other helpful information you can decipher from the attached.

Thank you!
- Paul B.

[Paul B.]

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[Paul B.]

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[Paul B.]

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[Paul B.]

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[Paul B.]

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[ellenbr]

Appears as if it wears the Halska V. & Companie stamp?


Cheers,

Raimey
rse

[Axel E]

This rifle is quite puzzling to me! The intermediate action and barrel are typical for a pre-WW1 7x57 commercial Mauser, Oberndorf, factory sporter. Merely the bolt handle has been reshaped similar to some 1930s Holland & Holland Mausers. The rifle is dated to 1912, both by ring date and serial number. It shows the contemporary Oberndorf BU proofmarks. 222.5 is the old-fashioned gauge number for a 7mm barrel, marked by Mauser on most barrels until WW2. The rifle was proofed by the Birmingham proofhouse too, but much later than you think. See the circled HB4 Birmingham mark: B is Birmingham, 4 the individual proof inspector, and H is the year of proof, 1982! At that time, early 1980s, several much older sporting rifles were duly Birmingham proofed after being imported to Great Britain. I own a M1900 Mannlicher-Schoenauer, rechambered to 6.5x55 SE, and I know a Boer war M92 "Plesier" Mauser, both Birmingham proofed in 1982 too.
The stock with the round "Prince of Wales" pistol grip and the oval reinforcing panels is a typical pre-1913 Mauser sporter stock at first glance. The rubber buttplate may be dismissed as a recent addition immediately. Black buffalo horn foreend tips are sometimes seen on such stocks, but most were fitted aftermarket. I have never before seen such a foreend checkering pattern on such a pre-1913 stock. Usually such foreends left the factory uncheckered and without a contrasting tip.
Mauser Express rear sight bases on round barrels were invariably mounted with a band or sleeve over the barrel. This results in a little step at the front of the base. As no such step is visible in the photos, this rear sight base was soldered on outside the Mauser factory. The front sight with it's base and cover is not by Mauser. It is a shape used by Holland & Holland and others on their sporters from the 1920s on.
The earliest Mauser type A rifles known are dated 1913, a year after your rifle was made. IMHO the rifle started out as a standard 1912 Mauser sporter with the usual tangent rear and Mauser front sights.(The "B" monicker was applied to such rifles in the 1920s only) It was exported then to some African colony outside the British Empire. After African independence it was bought up, together with many other old sporting rifles, by some arms dealer. After being imported to Britain, Samuel Cummings' Interarmco Manchester warehouse?, it was proofed by the Birmingham proofhouse so it could be released to the British guntrade. Afterwards it was heavily reworked. New British style sights were mounted. The bolt handle was altered to a then popular "H&H" shape and all metal parts reblued.The stock was cleaned up and refinished, the foreend checkered , pistol grip checkering cleaned up, perhaps the black tip added and certainly the rubber pad added. All in all, a masterfully "restored" and refurbished Mauser rifle, but not an original "very early type A".

[Paul B.]

Thank you very much!! The above is extremely informative, interesting, and entertaining! I look forward to continuing to learn from all of you, thanks!

[Axel E]

Paul B., you should notbe too disappointed about your Mauser not being a type A collectors item. At least, you have one of the finest 7x57 hunting rifles ever made, with quite nice wood too. Alas, it is the same action and barrel, just a bit different stock, as the famous ".275 Rigby" (=7x57) rifles as used by "Karamojo" Bell on elephants and Jim Corbett on man-eating tigers once. As those pre-WW2 Rigby rifles were merely finished (at best) in London, these pre-WW1 Mausers were made at the same Mauser, Oberndorf, factory by the same men on the same machines. The modern iteration of such rifles, the "Rigby Highland Stalker", is made by Mauser too. It would set you back by about $ 8000.- : https://www.johnrigbyandco.com/guns/...hland-stalker/

[Paul B.]

Thanks Axel E!! I often look at the new Rigbys as well as the 'new' model 98's currently being produced by Mauser and smile as my pre-WW1 rifles (a 1913 sporter in 8mm Mauser as well as my 7x57 above) cost a fraction of the cost ($700 and $1500, respectively).

[Paul B.]

Hi All - I have one more quick question regarding the rear express sites on my rifle. Any idea which 7x57 loads would work best in terms of properly matching up with the flip up meter markings (200m, 300m, etc.)? Perhaps this was intended for an original, heavier, bullet maybe? What do y'all think? Thanks!

[mike ford]

Paul,
I suggest you try the 173 gr. standard German load first. Note the bore diameter in mm is marked 7,0; whereas if it was intended for the 140gr load, I believe it would have been marked 7,0S ( the S being for "spritzer"). If that doesn't work out, then try the lighter bullet. The current loading with either bullet may or may not match the trajectory of the old loads. Shooting it will tell the tale.
Mike

[Paul B.]

Makes sense. Thanks Mike!

[Axel E]

As the sights, both rear and front, are not original Mauser factory, but added quite recently, nobody knows for what load they were regulated, if they were regulated at all. So the only way to find out is: Pack up all loads you have on hand and head for a range. Shoot all the different loads at 100 yards over the different sight leaves. Carefully measure and note the changes of impact for the range settings. Comparing the results with the ballistic tables will allow a fair guess at the regulating.