The most successful way to bridge the gap between pistol and carbine is the shoulder-stocked pistol, and Mauser lit the path, presaging the development of the sub-guns genre which saw the development of the legendary M3 Grease Gun, the BSA Sten, the HK MP5, and many others. Although the concept of a personal defense weapon went unnamed at the dawn of the 20^th Century, its value was recognized, and the new Mauser pistol became a worldwide best seller. Like Mauser rifles, it loaded from a stripper clip and the bolt could also be held open by an empty stripper clip, allowing the cartridges to be loaded individually by hand.

The ability to hit targets easily with a reliable weapon was the virtue that sold most people on the new pistol. Despite appearing clumsy in the hand, the pistol is easy to handle. Since most folks aren’t dedicated pistol shooters, having a pistol that makes up for some of their lack of expertise is a blessing. Firing with the C96 one-handed easily produces a ¾-inch group at 25 yards. A lot of revolvers won’t even do that from a Ransom Rest fixture. Due to its forward position of the magazine, those who want to use a two-handed grip should put the second hand around the front of the magazine. This gun is shaped differently than other guns and that becomes an advantage for precision shooting.

The pistol also came with a shoulder stock that doubled as a holster. Most small, light, guns are hard to hit with. Not this one. In addition to being about the smallest and lightest gun practical, the stocked Mauser Military Pistol locks-in solidly for accurate firing. Put your second hand around the front of the magazine well and it becomes rock steady. Hits at ong-range (200 meters and beyond) are easily attained. Exactly why this gun is so easy to shoot (both with and without its holster stock) is a mystery. Everyone has a pat answer, but none of them hold up under intense scrutiny. It just is.

Due to its compact size, you could effectively use the stocked Mauser pistol with one hand while still holding the reins of a galloping horse with the other. Of course, steadiness on a galloping horse is relative, but some cavalrymen of the day used it that way while others used it just as a pistol. The ability to go back and forth between being a pistol and a compact carbine sets the stocked Mauser Military Pistol ahead of the “modern” PDWs that are too big to fill the role of a pistol.

The stocked Mauser Military Pistol was very compact. Fitted with a holster harness, it was often worn on the belt and, sometimes, a sling was used. The rig also fits nicely in a briefcase. Without the stock, you have a very thin pistol that lends itself to concealment. In one instance between WWI and WWII, when it was common for Europeans to carry pistols, a group of men sharing a train compartment decided to compare pistols to help pass the time. The first three produced various .25 automatics but the fourth pulled out a full-size Mauser Military Pistol. There was a surprised silence as they beheld this comparative behemoth then one of the men said, “you’re in the military, aren’t you?” The fourth man smiled and nodded as he holstered his Mauser pistol.

Easy handling and concealability weren’t the new automatic pistol’s only virtues. In all its long history, no one has ever been able to fault its reliability under the worst combat conditions. When you drew this pistol, you could be sure that it would work. Screws are often a source of trouble in pistols as they loosen and back out. The only screw in this pistol is the one holding the grips on. Power was another virtue. The pistol was originally chambered for the flat-shooting .30 Mauser cartridge which launched an 86-grain bullet at 1410 FPS, easily penetrating 11 standard 7/8-inch boards and equaling the penetration of a .357 magnum armor piercing round. Penetration on the battlefield (where the enemy is constantly trying to hide behind cover) is paramount. Due to the light bullet weight, there was very little recoil, and this came to the forefront between the wars when the select-fire Mauser Military Pistol Model 711 came out. Despite a very high cyclic rate, the pistol was controllable in full-auto, so long as the holster stock was attached. If a close-range emergency dictated full-auto fire without the stock, you would turn the pistol on its right side and let it arc to the right without climbing. In WWII, German dispatch riders often carried this pistol, as did some members of the Nazi SS.

While less common than the original .30 Mauser chambering, the pistol was also made in the powerful 9mm Mauser. It fired a 128-grain bullet at 1362 FPS. In China, they made a copy in .45 ACP.

For those wanting the most compact survival rifle practical, the stocked Mauser Military Pistol has no competitors. Certainly not the current Air Force “survival” rifles”. These skeletonized abominations are glorified zip guns and the hardest things to shoot accurately that I have ever encountered. Not to mention, they also lack the power to deal with large game or to stop a determined attack by man or beast.

THE STORY OF TWO PISTOLS

There are two different Mauser Military Pistols shown in the photos. The near mint example was brought back as a war trophy by an officer in the 24^th Infantry Division in the Philippine Campaign of WWII which saw some of the hardest and most intense fighting of the war. He was issued a M1911A1 pistol and an M1 carbine, but used the pistol for most of the fighting, and using the carbine only for long range shots. He had grown up using his father’s pistols killing snakes and was quite adept with them. Whether the Japanese who had originally owned this Mauser Pistol had gotten it as a private purchase pistol, which was common, or had taken it as a war trophy in China is unknown.

The second pistol in the photos is a stocked Mauser Military Pistol that was loaned to me by Hunter’s Lodge in Ethridge, Tennessee. They have a number of them in inventory. This one is a well-worn WWI 9mm version but without the red “9” on the grips that these models are known for. It functioned flawlessly and despite the well-worn barrel, it still shot accurately. The holster stock was a bit longer than normal, which suited me as I take a 15 9/16-inch length of pull if a stock is being made to fit me. One of the photos shows the now rare stock sling for this gun.

TIPS FOR USERS

The Mauser Military Pistol has a heavy metal bolt stop to prevent the slide from coming out of the gun. It’s a good idea to check this part for cracks and replace it if need be.

If you want to be sure that the locking lugs are working properly, there is a simple test for that. Knowing that the barrel must recoil slightly to initiate the unlocking process, hold the pistol by the barrel and try to pull the bolt back. If the locking lugs won’t let it move, the test is passed.

This pistol is very fast and easy to take apart and put back together, but one thing that none of the manuals tell you is that these guns usually need a sharp tap from a block of wood to snap together in the last assembly step. Just make sure that the lug on the right side is aligned with the notch on the frame.

The number of pristine condition Mauser Military Pistols is small, and their collector value is high. Do not despair, though, if all you can get is a worn out, beat up one. Eugene Golubstov at Lugerman.com is one of the few total restoration gunsmiths in the world. He can take any junk Mauser pistol and refurbish it, inside and out, so that it’s indistinguishable from one that has just left the Mauser Factory 100 years ago. He can also do major and minor repairs and re-barreling on these guns.

CONCLUSION

It is a testimony to the genius that went into this pistol that, today, 128 years since it first came out, there is still no other weapon that precisely fills the niche of the Mauser Military Pistol.

By the end of World War II, just about everyone had decided that the era of the magazine-fed bolt-action rifle had ended, at least in a modern well-equipped army thanks to the U.S. Rifle Caliber .30 M1. However, millions remained in service and stores all over the world while their state owners modernized small arms and replaced the bolt action rifle with both selective fire and semi-automatic firearms.

Yugoslavia doesn’t exist as a state anymore; it began with the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire following the end of World War I in 1918 and started its slide into disintegration with the death of Marshal Tito in 1980 and picking up momentum with the implosion of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, cobbled together like Frankenstein’s monster (with about the same results) from the remains of the Austro-Hungarian Empire shortly after the end of WWI, became Yugoslavia in 1929.

Serbia, the most nationalistic and militant province, the former Kingdom of Serbia (and now the Republic of Serbia) has a long history of arms manufacture that dates back to 1853 when they began the manufacture of cannons in Kragujevac.

The Kingdom of Serbs et al first order of business was to an attempt to modernize and standardize their small arms, as they were using an assortment of rifles procured from Turkey, Germany, and others. They adopted the German 7.92×57 service cartridge as a standard and in 1924 contracted with FN in Belgium and BRNO in Czechoslovakia to produce the Mauser designed M1924 rifle, then proceeded to acquire machinery and tooling to produce their own M24 in country. The M24 was a “short rifle” having a barrel length of 23.25 inches.

The short rifle concept was intended to supply a single length weapon for all troops replacing the assortment of full-length rifles for infantry, short rifles for service troops, and carbines for mounted troops. The Austro-Hungarian Army was the first to field the short rifle concept, that is a rifle with a barrel length in the vicinity of 24 inches, in 1895 and the U.S. followed suit with the Model 1903 rifle. Yugoslavia adopted the short rifle concept in 1924, while the 98k didn’t appear until 1936.

Germany invaded Yugoslavia in 1941 and proceeded to lay waste to everything it came across, including the capture of the arms complex in Kragujevac.

Things did not go well for the Germans; various bands of partisans of every political stripe resisted the invasion and each other with equal enthusiasm.

Even with all the infighting and jockeying for position with the Allies and the Soviet or both, the partisans, or banditti (depending on who was doing what to whom and your point of view) managed to toss the Germans out in 1944 without direct boots-on-the-ground Allied help. No small accomplishment when dealing with the German Army.

The Communist partisans headed by Josip Broz, better known as Marshal Tito, ended up being the most powerful political force in post WWII Yugoslavia. While Tito was a confirmed Socialist, he entertained some closet free-market ideas that put him at odds with Stalin. When he died in 1980, things began to unravel and in the early 1990’s the situation turned into a civil war between the disparate parts of Yugoslavia complete with “ethnic cleansing”, NATO airstrikes on the Zastava Works, and war crime trials.

Tito was very wary of the Soviets and their history of heavy-handed take overs and continued his successful WWII strategy of playing both ends against the middle. Yugoslavia became a “non-aligned” state, neither fish (aligned with NATO) nor fowl (a member of the Warsaw Pact), receiving aid from both the west and the Soviets. This caused the COMINTERN (Communist International) to toss Yugoslavia out in 1948.

The Kragujevac complex was rebuilt after WWII using some machinery confiscated by the Soviets as war reparations from Germany and some of Czech manufacture, also furnished by the Soviets.

The Yugoslavian Army continued to use the 7.92×57 cartridge as their service standard cartridge rather than adopt the Soviet calibers.

By 1948, the Yugoslavians had perfected the design of a “new” rifle. It was to be a amalgamation of the M24 and the German 98k rifles, of which they had a good supply captured from German forces both in the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.

While the M48 design was approved in 1948, production didn’t really get under way until 1950 and continued to 1952, when, as a cost cutting and production expedient, the M48A variant was adopted and produced until 1954. The A model, as it left the factory, features a stamped fabricated magazine floor plate.

There is also an M48B model with a few more stamped parts such as trigger guard and barrel band and a welded magazine well which had a production run from 1954 to 1965. However, this model is also marked M48A. Last but not least, there is the M48BO model which has no markings whatsoever except for a serial number. It was intended for export to various insurrectionist groups in third world countries. Some M48s were converted to “sniper” rifles by the addition of optics and used unofficially in the civil wars that consumed Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

The M48 uses the same intermediate length receiver and bolt as the M1924/M24. The M48 is definitely a 98k clone with standard Mauser features such as the three position turn-over safety and large circular gas shield on the bolt sleeve, the cup-style butt plate, and tangent rear sight (regulated out to 2000 meters in 100 meter increments for the Yugoslavian M49 Ball cartridge), with a 196 grain projectile and a “V” notch battle sight regulated to what appears to be (on the author’s sample) 200 meters and hooded inverted “V” front sight.

The major differences between the 98k and the M48 are overall length, longer upper hand guard that extends all the way to the nose cap, and the bolt handle/stock area. While both have a turned down bolt handle, the 98k has a round bolt knob and a relief cut in the stock to aid in grasping the bolt handle. The M48 has a flattened bottom surface on the bolt knob and has slightly less of a bend to provide grasping clearance.

Except for very late war production, most 98ks have a metal ferrule set into the stock as a bolt take-down assist tool or a hole drilled through the side of the cup butt plate to accomplish the same function. The M48 did not have this feature.

All of the M48 models were produced in the “PREDUZECE 44” factory, which is really a code for the Zastava Works in Kragujevac, Serbia. Preduzece translates to “enterprise” and 44 was the number assigned. This complex has operated under many different names including Military Technical Workshops Kragujevac, Military Technical Works, and during the M48 production period, Zavodi Crvena Zastava or Red Flag Institute. Zastava, the name of the Serbian firm operating the complex today, means flag or banner in English. The total production run was between 1.25 and 1.5 million.

Apparently, post WWII Yugoslavian troops were armed with various models of the M24 arsenal rebuilt as M24/47 and M24/52 models and the M48s were placed in stores for some contingency not readily apparent today as a good number imported to the U.S. are in arsenal new condition.

This situation went on until 1959 when Nikita Khrushchev, trying to woo the Yugoslavians into the Soviet camp, gave them a complete production line to produce the SKS. The Zastava works proceeded to build a very high quality SKS Models 59 and 59/66.

This illustrates the main fault with any socialist government operating with central economic planning and production. The infamous Soviet 5-year plan comes to mind, they keep producing goods that they don’t need, that their people don’t want, and end up selling for pennies on the dollar.

In any event, the Kragujevac/Zastava works was the only producer of the high-quality M48. With its forged and machined parts, it’s nearly the equal of pre-war German 98k production rifles in both fit and finish.

The author’s sample was delivered in arsenal mint condition with what appears to be a good quality nitrate blue/black finish. The bolt and the cup style butt plate are in the white. The wood-to-metal fit is very good for a service weapon; however, the stock (which looks to be made of some sort of birch) is extremely rough and gave the impression that splinters would result if one rubbed the grain in the wrong direction. The stock finish seems to be a very light coat of Tung oil, giving a yellowish finish. Several coats of linseed oil smoothed the stock and improved the feel. The M48 is designed for the 98k style sling, (actually, a carry strap) on the left side.

The M48 features a 23.5-inch (597 mm) barrel with four-groove rifling, right hand twist 1 in 240 mm (about 9.44 inches). The M48 has a 5-round internal magazine with a removable floor plate and can be filled with 5-round stripper clips or loose rounds. The author’s sample weighs 4.6 kg or just under 9 pounds with a leather sling.

Many of the imported M48s were marketed with a bayonet, steel scabbard, and leather frog, two-cell ammunition pouch, and cleaning kit.

The M48 was being produced in one form or another all the way up to 1965, mostly because it was a reliable and inexpensive way to equip third-world insurgent combatants (many of which had limited mechanical skills and little or no experience with firearms) with a simple weapon to master, or at least to shoot someone with.

By During the late 19^th century, the main armament of most country’s militaries at the time was a single shot rifle, often in inferior calibers from a ballistic perspective. Sweden, during this time, went from a simple-but-sturdy single-shot rolling block rifle in a weak caliber to one of the best repeating rifles of the 20th century in a caliber that, to this day, still has the upper hand on many modern calibers.

The history of the Swedish Mauser began in 1866 when a joint commission was formed between Sweden and Norway to review existing rifle designs with the specific goal of finding a future army rifle for the two countries. The king of Sweden was also the king of Norway, so a joint effort was natural.

Several repeating rifles such as the Henry rifle and the Spencer rifle were considered, but the weapon that was finally recommended by the commission in 1867 was Remington’s rolling block. The armed forces adopted this rifle as the m/1867 in the same year and ordered 10,000 copies from Remington. The weapon was a solid construction in 12.17x42R caliber with a barrel length of 37.2 inches (94.8 cm) and a total length of 53.8 inches (136.6 cm) and a weight of 2.2 pounds (4.3 kg). The weapon, including some carbine variants, were initially ordered from Remington, but in the latter part of the 19th century both carbines and rifles were manufactured on the rifle factor in Eskilstuna and in Husqvarna.

However, 12.17x42R caliber was not optimal with less than good ballistic properties with a velocity of 1266 fps (386 m/s) for a 370-grain (24-gram) projectile. In 1889, 100,000 of the Rolling Block weapons were refitted with new barrels to use the new Danish 8×58R Danish Krag cartridge and the rifle was renamed the m/1867–89.

ENTRY OF THE REPEATING RIFLES

In the late 1800s, repeating rifles were developed, and most weapon designers worked with different solutions. The Norwegian Jacob Smith Jarmann designed a single-shot shotgun that was manufactured as a test model at the rifle factory in Eskilstuna and further developed by the weapon designer Ole Hermann Johannes Krag with a tube magazine in the 10.15×61 caliber.

This weapon was advocated in competition with other rifles by a new commission between Norway and Sweden, and the weapon was adopted in Norway in 1881. Further tests were carried out in Sweden and the weapon was adopted in 1883 as a test model fm/1883. In total, 1,500 of these Jarmann rifles were manufactured in Eskilstuna and were tested by the armed forces. But even though they worked well, the trial model was never adopted and the weapons were sold off to civil hunters and sport shooters in Sweden.

However, Sweden did not rest in its quest for a new, well-functioning repeating rifle and took an interest in Paul Mauser’s designs and the rifles that were manufactured for, among others, Spain and Belgium. In April 1892, Sweden tested model 92 and 88 Mauser rifles and in September 1892, three Swedish officers, including Captain Carl Hyltén-Cavallius, head of Carl Gustaf’s rifle factory in Eskilstuna, travelled to the Mauser factory in Oberndorf to get acquainted with and test the latest weapons from Mauser.

THE 6.5×55 mm CARTRIDGE

The discussion in Sweden and Norway for a new caliber was ongoing and the goal was to find a caliber with the best ballistic properties. In November 1893, a Swedish-Norwegian commission stated that the caliber would be 6.5 mm and the bullet should have a weight of 10.1 grams or 156 grain. The Norwegians wanted a rimmed case, but Sweden objected, desiring a regular case. In the end, the Swedes won, and the final case became 55 mm in length, non-rimmed with a 156-grain bullet with an initial speed of about 2297 fps (700 m/s). King Oscar II approved the cartridge on January 18, 1894, and it was named the m/94 cartridge.

The bullet in the m/94 cartridge was initially a round nose but this was not optimal from a ballistic pointy of view. So in 1925, Norway developed the cartridge further and replaced the round nose ball with a pointed ball (spitzer) with boat tail called “torpedo”. The new bullet had better accuracy than the old round nosed bullet, weighed 139 grains with an initial velocity of 2625 fps (800 m/s). Sweden adopted this cartridge in 1941, retaining the name m/94 but redesignating the bullet name to m/41. Special batches of this cartridge that were found to have a very good precision were selected and got the additional designation “prickskytte” (that is not meant to be offensive, it means “bullseye shooting” in Swedish.) There was also an armor-piercing cartridge, tracers, a blank cartridge with a wooden tip, and a smaller bullet in a regular case with reduced velocity that was meant for indoor practice called “kammar”.

SWEDISH TRIALS AND DECISION

The debate was still ongoing about the rifle and the Norwegians preferred the Krag-Jorgensen. Politics came into play and the Norwegian commission had persuaded King Oscar II to use Krag-Jorgensen’s rifle in Norway. In August 1893, three rifles competed for the contracts, the Mauser rifle, the Krag-Jorgensen, and the Austrian Mannlicher rifle. During the latter part of 1893 and at the beginning of 1894, the main troop trials were carried out primarily at the shooting school in Rosersberg north of Stockholm and at the local Stockholm regiment called Livgardet.

Advantages and disadvantages of each of the three rifles were noted during the tests and compiled. Krag-Jörgensen’s advantages were that the mechanism was very good, and it handled bad primers very well. The magazine was separate from the mechanism and cartridges could be inserted one at a time without the need to open the mechanism. The magazine could also be emptied without feeding the cartridges through the mechanism. The drawbacks for Krag-Jörgensen were that the design was old and no longer used by any other country. The feeding of cartridges from the magazine was unreliable and unless the repeating handle was firmly at the end of its travel during reloading of a cartridge, the rifle would not fire.

The Mannlicher’s advantage was a good mechanism which was easy to manufacture. The drawbacks were mainly linked to the magazine which, when filled with cartridges, is completely inserted into the mechanism. Cartridges cannot be loaded one at a time and half-filled magazines worked poorly and if the mag had the slightest dent, would not work. The bolt head of the Mannlicher was a small part, easy to lose and if the weapon was fired without it installed, it might result in an out of battery detonation of the cartridge, potentially damaging the shooter.   

The shining star of this trial was the Mauser rifle. The mechanism was very smooth and very resistant to corrosion. The risk of firing the weapon out of battery is non-existent, which could be an issue with the other two rifles. The magazine and stripper clip were robust and easy to manufacture and maintain, and the magazine could easily be topped up by single cartridges without the stripper clip. The magazine is completely inside the weapon and does not protrude in any way, and after the last round, the mechanism is locked open on the magazine follower, so there is little risk that the soldier thinks he is reloading another round but ends up with a “click” as the magazine is empty.

The only real disadvantages of the Mauser that was identified was that the action had to be pulled all the way to the rear of its travel for the shooter to be able to refill the magazine and the cartridges can’t be removed from the magazine without feeding them through the chamber and extracted by working the action. This is not entirely true as you are able to, with a bit of finger dexterity, get the cartridges out by hand from a Mauser m/96 without the need to feed them through the chamber.
 
The advantages listed for the Mauser rifle far exceeded its disadvantages and it was considered better than the Krag-Jorgensen and the Mannlicher. It was therefore chosen as the new standard rifle for the Swedish military. However, the Swedes came very close to choosing the Krag rifle, which was chosen for the Norwegians, and had the favor of the king. It is rumored, even if the author cannot verify this, that the king acted on the advice from several officers who at the time had shares in the Krag company. The first rifle to be adopted was the carbine, intended for the cavalry on August 7^th 1894 and it was called 6.5mm Carbine m/94.

To facilitate the manufacture of Swedish rifles in Oberndorf, Germany at the Mauser factory, Paul Mauser constructed a new part of the factory called “Schwedenbau.” This building stands to this day and it’s here that the Mauser Museum is located.

MANUFACTURE OF THE m/94 CARBINE AND THE m/96 RIFLE

On March 3, 1895, Captain Carl Hyltén-Cavalius went down again to Oberndorf and on July 24, 1895, there were a total of 11 Swedish officers and gun manufacturers who supervised the production of the Swedish carbines on “Schwedenbau.” When the first carbines were manufactured, they were tested and measured in detail, and the carbine with serial number 06 was chosen to be “working model” after which all other carbines were manufactured. 7,000 carbines were ordered in the first batch and then another 5,000. Manufacturing of the first carbines began in September 1895 and by February 1896 all 12,000 had been manufactured and delivered. In December 1895, the Swedish officers returned to Sweden with all the notes and measurements they needed to move the production of carbines to Sweden. Machines were ordered in April 1896 and from 1898 to 1913 about 113,000 carbines were produced on the rifle factory in Eskilstuna.

Several different variants were made of the m/1894 carbine, including one named the m/94-96 carbine for fortification troops with sling attachments on the underside of the weapon instead of on the side. Several lighter training rifles for indoor shooting with reduced charges were also produced. An odd carbine was the one that was made in small quantities for the Swedish Navy called the m/1894-14-87 which had a bracket on the side for mounting the very long saber bayonet m/1887. Most m/94 carbines were made in 1914 to be able to take the m/94 bayonet and were then called m/94-14. This model is still present and used by the Swedish high guard for ceremonial purposes.

Carbine number 06 is today held in the Eskilstuna arms museum collection, where the author gained access to it. This copy is really a piece of Swedish weapon history! The rifle is marked with “6” and the side of the box is engraved with “WAFFENFBK MAUSER OBERNDORF A/N” and there is no control stamp from any weapons inspector.

In addition to the carbine, Sweden needed a longer army rifle, and Mauser was to deliver on this as well. The experimental model m/92 developed into the trial model fm/1895 which was adopted as the 6.5mm rifle m/96 on March 20, 1896. Serial production of this weapon started at the rifle factory in Eskilstuna in 1898 with production of about 3,200 rifles. In total, 532,000 rifles were manufactured in Sweden between 1898 and 1925, of which approximately 18,000 were made in another factory in the city of Husqvarna. The Mauser factory in Oberndorf also produced about 38,600 m/96 rifles between 1899 and 1900 due to delays in delivery of manufacturing equipment to Sweden.

ENGRAVINGS AND OTHER INSIGNIAS ON THE WEAPONS

The engraving and stampings on these weapons provide informative details such as the manufacturing site and year. Using the serial number, you can find even more information about manufacturing time using the right literature. Stamps are also available from the weapons inspector who inspected the weapon. The m/96 rifle that the author has been shooting was made in Eskilstuna in 1918 and was stamped “HK” next to the serial number. This stands for Helge Kolthoff, who was a lieutenant at an artillery regiment and was an inspection officer at the rifle factory between 1912 and 1923. On the weapon’s metal parts, for example on the bolt, there is also a stamped crown, which indicates that this weapon is inspected and test fired. On the underside of the weapon, just behind the trigger guard, there are two crowns and one crown with a “S” under. These are inspection stamps noting the weapon has been serviced by an official army gunsmith. “S” means it has been with Stockholm’s “Tygstation”, which is Swedish for an armory.

A very interesting aspect of many weapons is the small brass counter that was attached to the buttstock of most m/94 carbines and m/96 rifles up until the Second World War. These disks, attached with two small screws, provide information on which unit and regiment used a particular weapon. For example, if it says, “I 3”, it indicates that the weapon has been field with infantry regiment number 3. The letter indicates the branch within the force where, for example, K = cavalry, A = artillery, T = supply troops, and L stands for “Landstormen”, which was the home guard or territorial defense of this time. Furthermore, there can be a number above “I 3”, for example 5, to indicate the company of the regiment in question. Finally, you can also see for instance “No 2136”, which indicates the number of the weapon, i.e., rifle number 2136, of the company, 3 of the infantry branch.  

The Navy had its own disks where the letter “M” means the Navy and “MDN” means the North Coast Marine District. Some funny letter combinations on rifles could indicate “VO” which stands for “velociped ordonnans”, which means bicycle orderly or “BF” which was of the military police in the town of Boden and “KKS” which was the Royal Military school. More recently, the disks were put upside down on the stock and provided information to the soldier on how much he would adjust the point of aim with different cartridges and at different distances. The reason why they are upside down is that it would be easy for the shooter to be able to quickly tilt the rifle and read how much he should adjust. There is a plethora of information to be had about these disks and there is a lot of material to read. The interesting thing is that together with all the stamps and engravings on the weapon, you may be able to tell the entire military history of a certain rifle.

OWNING AND HANDLING A MAUSER RIFLE OR CARBINE

The Mausers are a piece of living Swedish military history and the possibility of owning one of these venerable rifles or carbines is very real. The author’s rifle is a Mauser m/96 rifle, manufactured by the factory in Eskilstuna in 1918, so the rifle is reaching an age of 105 years, but the rifle’s accuracy is still solid, and the action is still very good. The rifle was won by a relative of the author in a shooting competition in 1955. An even older one is a carbine m/94 with serial number 147 from Mauser’s manufacturing year 1895, a 123-year-old rifle that has been handled and controlled by the very Captain Hyltén-Cavalius himself. The stock on the carbine had however seen better days and the owner of it replaced it with a newly made one.

These rifles are a dream to handle and shoot. The actions are still as smooth as ever and the accuracy with proper 6.5x55mm ammunition is still very good. With good concentration and support, there is no problem to keep a group of 5 rounds inside 4 inches (10 cm) with the open sights at 109 yards (100 m). The stripper clip is placed in the holder on the rifle, the cartridges are pushed down, and as you close the action, the clip is sent flying. With good practice, you can reload and fire this rifle quite fast, and the obvious advantage to the one-shot rolling block rifle is evident. If it comes down to a close standoff between soldiers, the bayonets of these rifles are sturdy, and the long w/1994 bayonet of the carbine is more of a sword. The trigger of these rifles is crisp, but heavy.

The sights are graded out to 1,000 meters and the accuracy has been tested by Henry and Josh of the well-known 9-holereview YouTube channel. They took the rifle to 600 yards and managed to acquire two hits each on a total of eight steel targets at 100-yard increments with a record-breaking total of 19 rounds, thus beating the Finnish m/39 Mosin-Nagant by two rounds. They pushed it to 1,000 yards using only iron sights and managed a hit after 4 rounds, thus proving the very good accuracy of the rifle and cartridge combination.

MAUSERS IN THE FINNISH WINTER WAR OF 1939

An interesting story about the Swedish Mausers is their involvement in the Finnish Winter War. In 1939, the Swedish voluntary corps was formed, which consisted of Swedish soldiers and officers who fought on Finland’s side against the Soviets during World War II. The weapons they used were, for the most part, self-bought Swedish m/96 rifles and some m/94 carbines. At the same time, the Finnish government bought a large amount of m/96 rifles and ammunition from Sweden for their own soldiers. Altogether there were over 50,000 Swedish Mauser rifles in the Finnish Army around 1944, including about 900 m/94 carbines, all of which probably came from the Swedish volunteer corps. A Swedish “Finnish gun” can easily be recognized by the fact that it is stamped “SA” on the box, which stands for “Suomen Armeija” which means “Finnish Army”.

CONCLUSION

The Swedish Mausers, in all their forms, were, for a long time, the main weapon of the Swedish armed forces for the individual soldier. In 1942, the AG m/42 semi-automatic rifle was adopted and in 1964 the AK4 or HK G3 in 7.62×51 was adopted by the Swedish Armed Forces and the Mauser was phased out. Mausers remained with the home guard and were used in the voluntary shooting community for a long time for target shooting out to 300 m and remains to this day, a somewhat popular hunting rifle.

In celebration of its 125^th anniversary, Mauser is pleased to introduce a limited-edition series of the original Mauser 98 bolt-action rifle. 

Built by Mauser’s master gunsmiths in the style of classic safari rifles from times past, the Mauser 98 125^th Anniversary Rifles are a milestone of modern firearms technology.  Only 25 of these masterpieces are available worldwide and each in the series is numbered. 

“The Mauser 98 action is regarded as the forefather of all modern bolt-action rifles. Built in the millions, copied by the thousands, but never matched,” said Jason Evans, CEO, Blaser Group. “We will have the first 125^th anniversary rifle, marked #1 in the series, for sale at the upcoming SCI Convention in Nashville, and it is truly a work of art.”

The action, bolt handle ball, trigger guard, pistol grip cap and magazine base of these limited-edition rifles are color case hardened and, together with gold damascening, English ornaments and an exquisite wood grade 8 stock with a red recoil pad, give these masterpieces a unique and elegant look.

Features:

• Bolt handle ball with color case hardening, fish scale checkering and gold inlay
• Color case hardening with English scroll
• Engraved Original Mauser logo, inlaid in gold
• Color case hardened trigger guard with serial number of the anniversary model
• Wood grade 8 (walnut)
• Red recoil pad
• Versions and caliber options:

Mauser 98 Magnum – .375 H&H / .416 Rigby
Mauser 98 Standard – .30-06 Springfield / 8×57 IS

MSRP: $35,000.00

Most firearms of the early 20th Century have worn faint, but discernable trails through history. However, there are some mysterious guns that history all but forgets, save for a mention in the odd contract proposal, trial report, or journal of the day. These guns are the subject of this series of articles. Hopefully, with a little research and the help of our curious readers, we can learn about and solve some of history’s firearm mysteries.

Today’s topic is the Faletans semi-automatic rifle and its inventor. This is one of the very rare cases where no other articles or books have been written on this subject. What I was able to gather for this article was from reports I have read through and a very helpful and in-depth look into the Faletans family, courtesy of one of its living members.

The Who

The roots of the De Faletans family can be traced back to the year 1269. Being of a lower class of nobility, they took part in most conflicts that France got involved in. In 1871, Charles Constant dit Nicolas de Thierry de Faletans would become the new patriarch after his father, also named Constant, passed away. In the same year, he would marry Olga Aleksandrovna Naryshkina, giving us an important clue to his future inventions and deals with Imperial Russia.

Charles de Faletans is very likely the inventor of our mystery rifle. Being named the Marquis, he would be the only one in the family who could title his inventions and investments with his full title, which he did very often. He would invest in the Ouro Preto Gold Mines in 1884 and is only named in the certificate as “Marquis.” He was also nicknamed Balle-aur-couer (Bullseye) de Faletans, as he would frequent exhibitions of marksmanship on a regular basis.

Nicolas’s clear interest in firearms helps us understand how he began working on one of his first inventions in the field of gunsmithing. This was a small caliber conversion for the Berdan and Gras rifles, patented in the early 1890s. According to some sources, the Berdan conversion was allegedly adopted by Russia. So, it’s not hard to presume that his connections to Russian nobility helped his invention along the trial process, as his wife Olga was highly connected with the Tsarina of Russia.

The What

In the early 1900s, Britain would test a couple of semi-automatic rifles, including the Mondrágon, the Kjellman rifle (presented by Captain P. Möller), and the Cei-Rigotti. Another, mentioned in the Small Arms Committee (SAC) files is the Marquis de Faletan’s rifle and carbine, tested on the 4th of July of 1903. The SAC describes the rifle as follows:

“The thin barrel of a Mauser M1888 rifle, capable of sliding ½-inch to the rear within its steel barrel casing. Round the barrel was a spiral spring which forced the barrel to the front. Underneath the barrel was a projection slotted out longitudinally, in which were two pivoted levers; the front one retains the barrel in its rearmost position while the bolt is traveling to and fro. The bottom of the rear lever strikes a projection on the magazine, and the top of this lever throws the bolt with considerable additional velocity to the rear” 

“The bolt is locked by lugs on the front end engaging in recesses in the barrel immediately in the rear of the chamber. On the left side of the bolt is a longitudinal groove which is curved at the rear end. A stud pinned into the body works in this groove and unlocks the bolt on recoil taking place. The bolt is operated by hand by means of a slide on the right side provided with a handle.”

The rifle described seems to operate with a recoil system that pivots two levers when the action is operated. The Marquis continues by specifying that the rifle, in .311 caliber (described as being a short cartridge for Mauser rifles) was still in its early experimental stage while the short carbine, in 7.63x25mm Mauser, was more refined. In tests, the SAC did determine that, while the rifle version of the firearm did not perform well, the carbine version was remarked as working fairly well. He also offered to modify the current service rifle of the time, the M.L.E., to function with his system.

The Marquis would contact the SAC one more time to offer a full-sized caliber rifle for further testing by the committee, presumably in .303. But, following this letter, there was no further correspondence between the committee and Mr. De Faletans.

There are, however, reports of the Faletans rifle being tested by Switzerland in 1904. One year after that, Faletans’ rifle was submitted for testing in the United Kingdom. Even though I have seen some of the results of the Swiss trials, there is no mention of the rifle in the files I have gone through.

Where Does This Leave Us?

After this, the trail runs cold. To recap, the only mentions of this mystery rifle were found in the files of semi-automatic firearm evaluation conducted by the Small Arms Committee and on two old magazines which give no sources for the information they share. Even Faletans’ own patents don’t confirm the identity of our mystery designer, despite this, it can be presumed that only the current ruling member of the family could title himself as the “Marquis” which narrows down our choice to one member, Mr. Charles de Thierry de Faletans.

Nonetheless, I do have a few theories that I have discussed with other friends interested in this mystery;

Theory One: The Unknown Royal Armouries Example

There is a rifle in the Royal Armouries that somewhat fits with the description given to us by the Small Arms Committee. It’s in a very rough shape, like the rifle caliber version described in the documents, and it’s also a recoil-operated gun that uses two levers in a toggle position to operate the action. Despite this, the rifle might be the work of one Herbert Woodgate, more notable for his part in the Griffiths & Woodgate rifle. He took out a patent in 1906 which does resemble, although not perfectly, the gun in question.

Theory Two: The Mauser Connection

Mr. Rupert Willoughby, one of Faletans’s descendants, provided me with a chapter of the book he wrote about the Faletans family in which he mentions Charles Constant dit Nicolas’s inventions. He writes that in the summer of 1896, Nicolas was at Oberndorf am Neckar having two prototype rifles made by the Mauser company. This would explain the fact that the caliber of the two rifles were directly influenced by Mauser, as a reminder, one in 7.63x25mm and the other in what the inventor described as a “short cartridge for Mauser rifles.”

At the same time, this would mean that the first semi-automatic rifles ever made by the Mauser company were not even designed by Paul Mauser himself, predating the C98 flapper locking self-loader by two years. However, as far as I am aware, there is also no mention of Faletans in the Mauser literature.

How You Can Help

As mentioned before, I know of some sources that mention the Faletans, such as the Swiss trials reports of this rifle, but I have not been able to get a hold of these reports or any other comparable documents. I would also be very interested if anyone has a picture of something that might possibly be the Faletans.

I propose to you, the reader, that together we can solve these firearm mysteries. If you have any leads or additional information that I did not mention in this article, I urge you to send me an email at sircoutin@gmail.com.