Spandau 71/84 value

Ganderite

Ganderite

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Farm south of North Bay
I put together a collection of the evolution of military firearms.

Tower musket - muzzle loader

Snider - modification of muzzle loader to breach loader

Martini Enfield - purpose designed breach loader, single shot, black powder

Spandau 71/84 black powder, repeater

1888 Commission - repeater, smokeless powder

I am selling these off now. The only 71/84 I ever found has intact metal but cut down wood. I have never seen another, so have no idea of value.

Your opinion please?

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The poor bugger was sporterized and heavily sanded as well.
How is the bore's condition?
Value, ~$250-300 as a shooter.

BTW the Spandaus are the more common ones, and most of them were manufactured in 1888.
 
Sporterized, as Polaris mentioned, albeit with some taste as I have seen worse sporter examples.

.43 Mauser is not a commonly loaded caliber anymore, though some older moose hunters in my area still use it.

Any unit markings on the butt plate tang ?
 
Thanks for the stock info. I will look into that. I have no doubt this was used as a hunting rifle. It handles and shoots very well. I remember when ammo was readily available from Dominion for it.
 
yea = I might backpedal on that a little, maybe the barrel has been cut, as I remember the stacking rod/hook extended to about the length of the barrel. Double check that before you think of a stock. ~however~ the magazine tube itself could be worth more than the gun to someone trying to do a restoration, I've had a couple & that part simply does not exist. [the follower is hard to find too!]
 
If that is the original magazine tube, it has lost some metal in the front. Also, the ladder sight and spring is missing. There is no use getting a replacement stock unless.you can also get the front barrel band, cross pin and screw to finish it off. It's not a bad looking sporter. It would be fun to shoot. The Bulletbarn.com sells bullets and brass can be made from 45/90. A Weaver base can be fitted to the rear sight to mount a red dot scope, but the standing and folding leaf that are on the gun is all you would need if you have young eyes. A selling price of $150 to $200 as suggested above is reasonable.
 
Sorry to kind of hijack this thread, but I just got my very first Mauser and was cruising around here for more info on her, what the bayonet looks like, etc, etc..

Anyways...as usual... I obviously ended up with somebodies weirdo half-Bubba'd rifle, but I like her just fine, and I'll keep her... all the numbers match, but obviously she's missing some stuff.

Soooo.... a few questions for our Mauser experts here on CGN.... ( she is an 1887 Spandau if I am correct)

1) Why doesn't my 71/84 have the cleaning rod like I see in every photo of other peoples rifles?? The nose cap doesn't even have a hole for it!! What gives??


2) It also appears that my rear sling attachment is WAY back compared to other rifles... (theirs are almost mid-way up the buttstock , or don't exist at all). Yet this one looks original... is it possible? Or bubba'd onto the rifle at one point? ( No evidence of a mid-way sling at all... virgin wood with stampings).




3) I realize the sling attachment is missing on the front of the trigger guard... I'll order one from Numrich. The question is.... WTF does the little lever do? Sure as hell doesn't let me remove the bolt... I know... I've monkeyed around with it for 45 minutes and gave up. Launches a missle? Plays God Save The Queen? Who knows?



4) Could anyone decipher the numbers on the butt plate? (Hope it's the Kaiser's personal WC guard... )


Anyways... that's about it. The rifle certainly LOOKED original, but I never seem to notice these things when I buy a rifle... seriously...don't even really know what I'm looking for most of the time, especially an old German relic like this.

Anyways, all input/info is always appreciated! ( I see Buffalo Arms sells cartridges, but lordy lordy sweet geezu$$$)
 
I can help a little bit...

- the cleaning rod you are seeing is actually a stacking hook, looks like your magazine cap has been replaced with something else. [no cleaning rods for 71/84s - used a pull through]
- the sling attachment is in the right place for a 'short' model. *
- that little lever is your magazine cutoff AND bolt release, you have to fiddle with it a little to find the sweet spot, somewhere in the middle of the travel.
- no idea on the markings... sorry.

* do you know if you have a short or long rifle? how about some photos - that rear swivel looks like someone may have added it, it does not look like it has been inlet. Hopefully it is has not been shortened to fit in a short stock!

-sean
 
Well there you go... I took off the rear swivel... what do you think? And no, it doesn't look inletted at all... just the wood kind of crushed flat a bit underneath.
Looks like maybe Bubba improved the old girl? ( Just my luck...)



Here is the full length photo of her...


Another few of the nose cap... I see the correct number... 36... but it looks like the cap itself is separate from the numbered part??



Some of the other stamps...





Still... all in all a very cool rifle. And thanks for setting me right on the Stacking Swivel... how could it be a cleaning rod? It has a tube magazine!! ( I should have figured that out myself...).
The little lever still frustrating me... maybe tomorrow.
 
Your 71.84 was made by Spandau in 1887 and proofed for Kaiser Wilhelm I. She is unit marked to a line infantry regiment, you can read the unit marking as follows: 37th Infantry regiment 4th company, 157th weapon. I do not know where this regiment was stationed or from what German state they hailed.

The rear sling swivel mount was added by someone, it was not done by an arsenal. My best guess is someone added this because the original swivel on the trigger guard was missing or inconvenient. It is not the first time I have seen this on a 71.84 and it doesn't surprise me as I can say the original sling position is not the most comfortable.

The tube magazine cap has had the stacking hook ground off along with the serial number on the front face or it is a later replacement. The even patina with the rest of the front end shows this was done a long time ago.

If by "little lever" you are referring to the magazine selector, having it all the way forward makes the rifle into a single shot with the magazine in reserve while all the way back has the rifle use the magazine.

Give her some TLC and she will really appreciate it :). These rifles can be accurate, my former 1887 Danzig proved herself and I had no trouble picking my hits out on a used target paper.
 
Chofo.

My old 1886 Danzig 71/84 has the same style magazine tube cap as yours. Though mine still had the serial number (last 2 digits of the rest of the gun), but it had no stacking rod... It looked like it had never had one at all?? Though mine had the rear sling swivel in the trigger guard.

I have heard that the magazine tube caps may have been replacements after the original had the stacking rod broken off?

Enjoy it!
 
Your rifle was issued to the

20th brigade of infantry, Posen; 37th regiment of fusiliers

stationed in Posen, Prussia (today Poland)

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Here are my 3 Prussian girls: Spandau, Erfurt and Danzig (three more to go)

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As I saw so often, the Danzig rifle has the stacking rod removed as well as the bayonet lug.
I believe that it was done between the wars to demilitarize the rifles and issue them for " police" or border guard" duty. (Your magazine cap looks more like a complete replacement)

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Here is a 1871/84 bayonet:

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Gentlemen... my sincere thanks for all this great info.

( Good lord.... Polaris' rifles are absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!!! )

I had heard that some Mauser models had the receivers "in the white" , so obviously my old girl was FTR'd at one point... reblued and maybe even had the stacking swivel ground off for police use.

At any rate, I will certainly try and get the proper cap along with the trigger-sling part. OH YEAH... and one of those WICKED bayonets!

( and that's what makes milsurps so much fun... trying to find 125 year old parts! )

Anyways... guess I'll leave the rear swivel even though it doesn't belong... it would look like crap if I plugged the holes with plastic wood... so to hell with it... I'll tell people it was a top-secret factory mod authorized by the Kaiser himself sometimes in the darkest hours of the Weimar Republic so the Sturm-troopies could carry them muzzle down so they could board the choppers and not get #### from the RSM and then go to Edmonton on charge and then ( slaps himself...)

Thanks again lads!!
 
Thanks for sharing your 71/84 with us. Those are fine photos.
The reference given in #14 above is the one I used when I took my 71/84 apart. I suggest you take yours apart completely and check on the condition of the internals for rust and/or missing pieces.

You can buy bullets from the Bullet Barn and make brass out of 45/90 cases. Have you looked at the rifling? Keep us informed on your progress, especially with those fine photos.
 
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