From the January, 1971 issue of American RiflemanCoats of Arms and other markings on Mauser turnbolt rifles and carbines are extremely varied. While they undoubtedly proved a headache for arms manufacturers who had to maintain an extensive assortment of marking dies, they now provide considerable fascination and delight for arms students and collectors. The first successful Mauser rifle was the Model 1871 made principally for Germany. Developed by Paul Mauser and his brother, Wilhelm, this single-shot blackpowder arm was superseded by a tubular-magazine repeater, the German Model 71/84. These early Mausers were produced by the Mauser factory at Oberndorf a./N., Germany, Austria, and German government arsenals. Blackpowder Mausers were also produced for China, Serbia, and Turkey.France adopted the Lebel smokeless-powder magazine rifle in 1886, and Germany kept pace with this important development by adopting a 7.9 mm.
Smokeless-powder magazine rifle was developed by a government commission, and incorporated several action features of Mauser blackpowder rifles along with a modified version of the Austrian Mannlicher box magazine and the cartridge clip. Paul Mauser was disappointed that Germany had adopted the Model 1888 without consulting him, but a 7.65 mm.
Smokeless-powder rifle that he developed was adopted by Belgium in 1889.Featuring a box magazine and a one-piece bolt with dual forward locking lugs, the Belgian Model 1889 rifle served as a basis for further Mauser turnbolt rifle developments. Improved models adopted by Turkey, Spain, and various South American nations were introduced in the early 1890’s.
Most important of these was the Spanish Model 1893, the first Mauser with a staggered-column box magazine.Produced by Many FirmsIn addition to the Mauser firm, leading producers of Mausers during the early 1890’s were Fabrique Nationale in Herstal, Belgium, and Ludwig Loewe & Co., Berlin, Germany. Loewe owned a controlling interest in the Mauser Co. And also had a partial financial control of Fabrique Nationale which was founded for the purpose of producing Belgian Model 1889 military rifles. In 1896, both Loewe and Mauser came under the control of Deutsche Waffen-und Munitionsfabriken, A.-G. (German Arms and Ammunition Co., Inc.) abbreviated DWM.Sweden adopted a Mauser carbine in 1894 and a Mauser rifle in 1896, both chambered for the 6.5x55 cartridge. Also in 1896, Germany experimented with Mausers of various calibers.
As a result of these experiments, Germany adopted an improved 7.9 mm. Mauser rifle in 1898.Produced in large quantity by the Mauser Co., DWM, other commercial firms, and several German government arsenals, the Mauser 98 in various rifle and carbine versions was the standard German shoulder arm for almost half a century. It was adopted also in slightly modified form and in various calibers by many other nations, particularly in Central and South America.Sporting versions with actions of Model 98 design were produced by the Mauser Co. And several other firms.
The Mauser Co. Called its rifles and carbines original Mausers to distinguish them from those offered by other makers.Military arms business of the Mauser firm was curtailed greatly after World War I by restrictions of the Versailles Treaty, and the principal suppliers of military Mausers during the 1920’s and early 1930’s were Fabrique Nationale in Belgium and Ceskoslovenska Zbrojovka (Czechoslovakian Arms Factory), Brno, Czechoslovakia. Arms factories in Spain, Poland, Yugoslavia, and China also turned out Mausers in large quantity.Production of military Mausers was resumed in Germany during the mid 1930’s when Hitler disregarded the Versailles Treaty. During this period, Mauser produced a large quantity of Model 98k carbines for Germany and Standard-Modell Mauser short rifles for export.Many other firms also produced the 98k and various other Mausers for the German military machine during the rearmament period and World War II.
In an attempt to conceal the identity of the producers, these arms were stamped with manufacturers’ code markings instead of firm names. Number codes with a letter prefix were used first, but the letter prefix later was dropped.
Gun Serial Number Lookup
In 1941, the number codes were replaced by letter codes, and a further change was made in the last part of the war when a new system of letter codes was adopted. Meanings of most letter codes are given in captured German code books, but reliable records on number codes are not available and apparently were destroyed. Meanings of only a few number codes have been satisfactorily determined, and there has been considerable misinformation on the subject. The same is true of later letter codes.Military Mausers were produced in limited quantity following World War II, but are now obsolete for military purposes. Mauser sporting rifles, however, remain highly popular.
Improved sporter versions are now produced in several countries, particularly Germany, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Sweden.Manufacturers Codes on German Military Mausers.S/42 Mauser-Werke, A.-G.,42 Obendorf a./N.660 Steyr-Daimler-Puch, A.-G., Steyr, Austria945 Waffenwerke Bruenn, A.-G., Brno, Czechoslovakiaar Mauser-Werke, A.-G., Werk Borsigwalde, Berlin-Borsigwalde, Eichborndammax Feinmechanische Werke, G.m.b.H., Erfurt, Altonaerstr. 25bcd Gustloff Werke, Werk Weimar, Weimarbnz Steyr-Daimler –Puch, A.-G., Werk Steyr, Steyr, Austrabyf Mauser-Werke, A.-G., Oberndorf a./N.ce J.P. Sauer & Sohn, Suhldot Waffenwerke Bruenn, A.-G., Brno, Czechoslovakiadou Waffenwerke Bruenn, A.-G., Werk Bystricaduv Berlin-Luebecker Maschinenfabriken, Werk Luebecksvw Mauser-Werke, A.-G., (late code) Oberndorf a./N.Several number codes and a few letter codes are not shown since their meanings are unknown or uncertain.About the AuthorLudwig E. Olson is a retired Army Warrant Officer who served chiefly with the Ordnance Corps. A member of The American Rifleman staff since 1957 he has written many articles on arms and ammunition and is the author of the book Mauser Bolt Rifles.
HOW OLD IS MY BICYCLE?‘How old is my bicycle?’ is a question I get asked a lot, nearly as much as: ‘I have a bicycle that looks like one of yours; if I send you pictures please can you identify it for me?’The answer, in short, is that I do not have time to tell you either. I’m not being callous about this. With an estimated 15,000 bicycle manufacturers, the odds are stacked against me recognizing yours; in any case, I do not claim to be an expert, just an assiduous recorder of information. To sift through information to try and find similar pictures to your unidentified bicycle would take me months, and I’m already doing similar research on my own bikes.
Not only do I have a full-time job (I run my own business restoring and selling vintage vehicles) and am a hands-on parent of a young child, but I spend a minimum 30 hours every week building, updating and maintaining these free websites to help you do your own research. My hobby usually takes a backseat. Insomnia is my saving grace, otherwise there would be no time for any of this.My purpose for creating these databases is simple. In the ‘old days’ (a time which seems to have ended in the past twenty five years or so), a youngster became an apprentice in a chosen field and learned its history from the older employees. Thus, for example, an apprentice mechanic was handed down an invaluable unwritten guide to repairing vehicles that could not be learned at college nor from books, because, as well as specific information about various models, it helped a youngster understand the way they were designed and built.Similarly, to learn about vintage bicycles, we ask questions of our elders in the hobby.
The key point here is that the elders who were around while our favourite vintage machines were still on the road are no longer with us, the last of them having passed on in the past thirty years or so. Now we must depend on those who gleaned that first-hand knowledge from them; these chaps were the ‘youngsters’ then, but now they’re getting older themselves, most in their seventies and eighties. They don’t usually use computers, so much of their knowledge is stored in their heads. By the time we learn from them, it’s second-generation information. My contemporaries and I are in a younger age group – forties to sixties – and we’re busy learning and recording what we can before it’s lost forever. We study 100-year-old magazines to see when certain new innovations were first reviewed (it helps us date bicycles with similar features), read correspondence of the time to try to understand contemporary views and opinions, research old catalogues, meet fellow enthusiasts, help each other with restorations, ride our old bikes as much as possible, and work with our elders to pick up tips and wisdom.If you can help in any way by contributing to this research, please get in touch. My email is embedded in the picture below.By recording and sharing this knowledge while it’s still as fresh as possible, our fabulous vintage hobbies will continue for centuries to come.TO FIND OUT HOW OLD YOUR BIKE IS – JOIN THE VETERAN CYCLE CLUB!Although we are in the so-called ‘Information Age’ and the internet provides a surplus of it – some of it accurate, much of it misleading – there is nowhere near enough information on vintage bicycles.
Puch Serial Number Lookup For Guns
This surprises many people. Sometimes, folks with no experience of the vintage hobby who may have recently unearthed an old bicycle contact me and demand that I immediately tell them what it is, how old it is and what it’s worth. I try to explain as politely as possible that such a service does not exist, and they are often abusive as a result. Usually they want me to identify it so they can sell it on ebay.
Luckily, I remembered an old Sufi saying, ‘Only explain things to people in a language they understand.’ So now I answer that such a service, which will obviously increase the value of their unidentified machine, will cost them £50 + VAT. It’s still not a service I actually offer – but at least they are less abusive.The question remains: ‘How old is my bicycle?’ Also, ‘I have a bicycle that looks like one of yours; if I send you pictures please can you identify it for me?’The answer is simple. The Veteran Cycle Club (V-CC) has a system of ‘marque enthusiasts’ – volunteers who compile what information they can about particular manufacturers. By joining the V-CC you can access whatever information is available.
If that doesn’t help, if it is interesting enough, you might be able to send pictures of it to the the V-CC magazine, or take it to vintage shows and ask exhibitors, or keep an eye on ebay to see if something similar ever comes up. Identifying an unknown bicycle is hard work. You may be lucky, but more than likely it will remain a mystery.As I have stated before, the V-CC archives and Ray Miller’s Encyclopaedia are invaluable resources: these ongoing projects are becoming the world’s primary source of information on vintage bicycles. The V-CC’s system of marque specialists is unrivalled throughout the world. I recommend every vintage bicycle enthusiast to join the V-CC to access these (and many other) excellent facilities.FRAME NUMBER DATINGBicycles that can be dated with 100% accuracy are the exception. Marque enthusiasts use records of shop ledgers that recorded dates sold and frame numbers, and then calculate the ages of other bicycles by comparing them with known frame numbers.
Sometimes the date sold does not reflect when a bicycle was actually manufactured (for example, Dursley Pedersens were very expensive, badly marketed and often took a long time to sell). Only certain manufacturers’ frame number sequencing is known.
Many did not use chronoligical sequences.Many manufacturers used ‘bought-in’ bikes at different times, ie made by a different company. This happened in particular in the 1890s when frame styles changed every few years. Frames made by top companies with the old designs were sold off through the trade, so smaller companies then sold bicycles using the old frames with different parts years after!The records of the majority of the smaller companies no longer exist: you’d be surprised how fast the entire history of a company disappears once the factory closes. There were also a lot of ‘dodgy practices’ within the bicycle trade, with companies regularly liquidating and starting up again and spurious production claims often made for advertising purposes and to inflate a company’s worth. Few published their true production figures. It’s a nightmare trying to make sense of it a hundred years later.A catalogue description is a good guide, though we rarely have a manufacturer’s catalogue for every year, so may not know for how many years a model was current.