Need help identifying this old girl.

[dorm]

Went to a friend's for a BBQ last night and he showed me this. He said his grandfather brought it back from "the war" but he could not say which war nor tell me anything about the rifle.

The bolt looks like a Mauser type but the receiver, rear sight and barrel bands look very much like they came off a Mosin nagant. It is tube fed with a trap-door feed mechanism. Also, there is a lever on the left side of the action which prevents the trap door from falling which converts the rifle to "load and fire one at a time". Interesting. I had no way of measuring the bore and, as a result of a bunch of guys hanging around the BBQ for a few hours, the pics might be a little fuzzy as well, if you get my drift!

Here are the markings:
Left side of action -DG Mod.71/84, then there is a crown with the word Spandau under it and then another crown with the letters FW under it.

Right side of action - four very small crown with numbers or letters too faded to read and then there is what I assume to be a date , 1888.

There are some other tiny markings but we could not make them out as they are quite faded. Here are the pics. Any help is appreciated guys. I don't have a full length pic as the barrel had obviously been cut (crappy job).

 

[Pblatzz]

You have a Mauser Model 1871/1884 in 11mm Mauser of 43 Mauser.
Spandau is the arsenal it was made at and FW is the King Fredrick Wilhelm.

Here's a link that will show you more.

http://www.militaryrifles.com/Germany/71-84Mau.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/nh/milarm/7184.html

 

[Andy]

It's as said, a Mauser 71/84, but how about a full length view? Many were sporterized, and as far as "Grandfather bringing it back from the war" a very common story that is possible but not likely. Many thousands were imported between the wars and sold for peanuts as hunting rifles, hence the large number that are sporterized.

 

[englishman_ca]

The 71/84 was Germany's first issue repeating rifle in 1884. Basicley it was the model 1871 single shot bolt action design modified to accept a Winchester tube style magazine. It put Britian into a spin as at that time they were still using the Martini single shot.

The 71/84 was only a stop gap rifle until the Germans introduced another repeater, the Model 88 Mauser in 1888 (go figure!) which then made the 71/84 obscolete. Many were put directly into war stores brand new and were never used. These as mentioned, were surplused years later and were sold off in North America for use as cheap hunting guns.

Consequently, many of the sporters that you find have mint barrels as they were unissued when sold.

 

[ben hunchak]

It is/was an excellent rifle, still is, in a very good cartridge, that can be used on our largest game. Very similar in knockdown power to the 45/70. The .43 Mauser(11mm) used a .446" bullet of around 370grs.

 

[Calum]

That's a neat rifle, I hope your friend takes good care of it.

 

[John Sukey]

Nice thing is brass, dies and bulet moulds are available, so you can shoot it.

 

[m39a2]

And to top it off, since it it mag fed it is a firearm and must be registered, if it was the single shot it does not!!!

Scott

 

[BadgerDog]

Went to a friend's for a BBQ last night and he showed me this. He said his grandfather brought it back from "the war" but he could not say which war nor tell me anything about the rifle.

You'lll find a 125 pic photo montage of an "all correct" with clear detailed markings 1887 I.G. (Infanterie-Gewehr) Model 71/84 (11mm) Mauser (click here)http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?t=71, displayed in the Germany - Milsurp Knowledge Library (click here) http://www.milsurps.com/forumdisplay.php?f=15

1887 I.G. (Infanterie-Gewehr) Model 71/84 (11mm) Mauser
(Manufactured at Amberg Arsenal in 1887)

(Click PIC to Enlarge)

Personally, I love shooting this vintage of old milsurps.

Hope that helps ...

Regards,
Badger

 

[stevebc]

The last edition of the Canadian Firearms Journal (NFA) had an article on the 11mm mauser.

 

[dorm]

A big thank-you to all you guys who answered my post. I have a lot more info to pass on than I thought I would. It's too bad the barrel got cut down, otherwise the rifle is in very good condition, and it has an excellent bore.
To answer the big question; no, he won't sell it. Believe me, I tried.

 

[smellie]

And they are a BALL to shoot.
SR4659 is a perfect 38% powder for smokeless loads: calculate blackpowder load times point three-eight and it gives you your SR4759 load.

Original load for the .43 Mauser was .433-77-386 with a .446 slug