12 GA Mauser????

[Bearcat]

A friend of mine came accrossa 12 ga Bolt action shotgun the other day.The gun is in pretty rough shape as the stock has been taped up and is dinged up pretty badly but it is complete.It has a small brass button about an in or so in dia on either side of the stock and it has Geha in raised letters on it if I remember right. When he called to have it transferred the varifier told him it is a Mauser Shotgun. Has anyone ever heard of, or seen one like this and how rare are they and what would it be worth if it was in better shape .

Thanks
Bearcat

 

[Killer Kanuck]

They're not worth much. I used to have one - bought it cheap, and sold it cheap. Never fired it either. IIRC they aren't safe with any of the hotter modern loads.

 

[dan belisle]

Yes, they imported a lot of these in years past. Basically a 98 Mauser modified to use 12 gauge shells. Not a particularly desirable firearm for most folks, and I wouldn't feed it any high power ammunition. - dan

 

[H4831]

The Mauser shotgun

My brother had one, back in the days when we all wrote to Jack O'connor if we needed information on a firearm. Jack told my brother not to shoot it, as it wasn't safe.

 

[Calum]

Methinks for the same price these are going for these days one would be better off finding one of the old Mossberg bolt action shotguns with the C-lect-choke.

http://home.epix.net/~damguy/index-shotgun.html

 

[Turkeyslayer 1300]

Don't knock the mossbergs they are the ideal truck gun.

 

[tootall]

Years ago, someone I knew had one.
He thought it was some sort of Prisoner of War guard gun.
I recently heard somewhere that after WW1, Germany was prevented from making rifles, so converted old Mausers into shotguns.

Any other rumours?

 

[MD]

Just a tidbit off the Internt.

The gun had Nothing to do with wartime use.

(from the archives) "I would STRONGLY advise against doing anything with that shotgun other than just hanging it on the wall. As I understand it, these were made in the years after WWI from surplus Mausers, in an attempt to "jump-start" the German firearms industry under the Versailles military arms restrictions. They hogged away the whole front locking lug system, riveted a (loose) new bolt face in place, and relied on the safety lug for locking. Even though "Nitro" marked, they probably have the older short chambers and are NOT for use with contemporary cases or loads.. "

 

[tiriaq]

During the financial crisis that existed in Germany after WWI, any work to keep the doors open was desirable. There were restrictions on what could and could not be made. Sporting shotguns weren't a problem. There were thousands upon thousands of salvaged G98 rifles. If you study a GeHa or Remo Mauser conversion, you will note that the design is quite clever, and functional. The shotguns were proofed according to the nitro standards of the day, so I don't think that it can be generically stated that they are unsafe. Obviously the ones that regularly turn up have been used, and perhaps used a lot. They are all 80 odd years old, and in who knows what condition. Up to you if you want to shoot one. You decide, and take responsibility. In a 12ga gun, it is the Mauser third safety lug that locks the breech. The locking area isn't much different than the root of the bolt handle lock used on most of the BA shotguns of the 50s and 60s. MD's point about chamber length is well taken; they could be 65mm, not 70mm.