Lookie what my uncle gave me

[jjr]

Was at my uncles place placing some grave markers for some relatives who died a bit over a year ago, which got my uncle who's health hasn't been fantastic pretty much giving anything he can away.

He told me about this, and it's been in our family for about 60+ years. Guess it belonged to my great grandfather.

If I'm correct from my research it's a Mauser M71? I've never had a milsurp before. Told me it's black powder in the cartridges.























My uncle said he shot it when he was a teenager like 40 years ago, then it's been in the basement ever since. He said when he shot it he could hear the bullet tumbling as soon as it left the bore, so I'm assuming either the rifling is shot out, or the ammo sucks. I've read that paper patching your bullets is necessary for some of these so I'm hoping that's it.

That's my show and tell, I'll be looking for a guide to do a full disassembly and cleaning on this thing to see if it's in good enough shape to shoot.

 

[jasonf]

It is a model 71/84 Mauser. The cartridge is a 11.15 x 60R but commonly called the 43 Mauser. If the bullets are tumbling you may have measure the bore and handload with the proper size bullets as the bore diameters vary quite a bit.

 

[reddog9x19]

Very nice gift. Clean it up & enjoy!

 

[jjr]

I just shined a flashlight in the bore and looked and there's a decent amount of rust. Going to clean it and see what it looks like after, but I'm assuming firing it with a crappy bore is a no no? Don't want to explode a piece of family history.

 

[35Wailin]

I inherited a family heirloom in the winter of '15, a Karabiner 71. I have loaded amo for it and it seems to shoot accutrately, but the sights are way off. I'll have to play with that.

That being said, the 71s and 71/84s have factory bore diameters ranging from .446" for the 71/84 to .451" for the 71. Being that they were manufactured up to 145 years ago, and factoring in wear and corrosion, those diameters could 1/100" or more larger in diameter.

I have paper patched a few .446" bullets up to .452", but havent loaded or shot them yet. My bore slugs out to .4515"

Since my old girl was made in 1876, I dont feel comfortable shooting smokeless through it, sticking to black powder. Others have done it successfully, but I don't feel right about it. Besides, half the fun of shooting it is the cloud of smoke.

 

[catnip]

Nice rifle....originally black powder of course ,as you know... but those dominion cartridges, in that type of sleeve will be smokeless in all probability. As for hearing a bullet " tumble", his ears must have been a lot better than mine, all I ever hear is BOOOOOM. Have fun with it,very nice gift.

 

[jjr]

I just tried scrubbing out the bore, it's very clean ex eat for about 3 inches from the muzzle there's a big patch of rough rust that I've tried to scrub out with rem oil then a bunch of frog lube, still there. I have some hoppes #9 I'll try later. Going to take a lot of elbow grease to try and get that off methinks.

 

[jjr]

Also was made in 1888 if the date on it is accurate.

 

[CanadianBaconPancakes]

Very nice mauser! I love mine.

 

[flying pig]

Can you get your hands on a small bottle of RB-17 from PJs Supply? That stuff is your best bet for dissolving and removing rust from the bore.

 

[Robert Nicholson]

Great thread! Looking forwards to reading more about this.

 

[jjr]

Can you get your hands on a small bottle of RB-17 from PJs Supply? That stuff is your best bet for dissolving and removing rust from the bore.

I'll see what I can find.

As far as the outside, should I try to shine it up, or leave it as is, aside from oiling it, etc. Do people generally leave them with that patina on them?

 

[flying pig]

I sure wouldn't do anything to the outside of that one. Light cleaning and oiling and it'll be good for a long time. That's a nice rifle!

 

[jasonf]

I'll see what I can find.

As far as the outside, should I try to shine it up, or leave it as is, aside from oiling it, etc. Do people generally leave them with that patina on them?

It looks good as is. I would give it light cleaning and oil. I would not try to remove the patina.
Clean the bore, shoot it and enjoy.

 

[Robert Nicholson]

I'll see what I can find.

As far as the outside, should I try to shine it up, or leave it as is, aside from oiling it, etc. Do people generally leave them with that patina on them?

Clean it gently, then leave it as is, the patina adds to the value. I don't think this is going to become a "shooter" for you, but it is a family heirloom.

 

[577/450]

I just shined a flashlight in the bore and looked and there's a decent amount of rust. Going to clean it and see what it looks like after, but I'm assuming firing it with a crappy bore is a no no? Don't want to explode a piece of family history.

I had one like that a few years ago, bore looked smooth. I started cleaning the bore and found it was leaded beyond belief Once the lead was out found a strong rifling rough but strong and it shot well. could get 15-20 rounds before any lead started showing. Good luck.

 

[LawrenceN]

Personally, I'd take it apart to check for rust or flaws under the wood. With old rifles, I clean the exterior metal work with three or four zero steel wool and a light oil. That will clean off any dirt and/or corrosion without damaging the patina. Use a strong magnet wrapped in linen to remove the fine steel wool particles, and it should look lovely. As to the stock, I'd clean it with linseed oil, both to remove crud or dirt and to revitalize the wood, but as I said, that's a personal preference. No matter how you slice it, that's a lovely gift you've got. Enjoy.

 

[bearhunter]

It's actually a 71/84 which means it's a repeater and there should be a tubular magazine under the barrel.

It's highly unlikely that the cartridges you have are loaded with black powder.

The original military loads were black powder though.

If your rifle were the model 1871 it would be a single shot.

Those rifles chamber a round we call a 43 Mauser. I have only seen commercial and surplus ammo loaded with lead bullets that were paper patched and had velocities around 1500 feet per second.

They were very accurate if you learned how to judge distance correctly. The bullets had trajectories like rainbows.

When those rifles came into North America around 50 years ago their condition ranged from pristine unissued to heavily used. Some rear echelon troops/ police were issued with those in WWI and WWII. I saw many still in use by civilians in Africa in the late sixties.

Your rifle is in what appears to be Very Good condition. Nice piece. To bad it can't talk.

 

[jjr]

Very good condition? I'd hate to see poor, haha.

 

[polaris]

That's how the mauser71/84 looks like when in excellent condition: