Mauser Galore

FN 30-11

A very rare bolt-action sniper rifle from Belgium, the FN 30-11 is chambered in 7.62x51/.308. It uses a Mauser action for its base but also incorporates the FN MAG (M240) flash hider and bipod. There were two models imported into the U.S; one with a fixed internal 5 round magazine, and one that would accept FN FAL magazines. The exact number brought into the U.S in unclear; GSI, one of the importers mentions bringing in only 51 of the rifles, although Sarco also imported the FN 30-11 but from Chile. (GRH)

Weird Chinese copy pistols from the 1920’s and 30’s.

The Karabiner 98B,

After being defeated in World War I Germany was forced to except a wide array of arms and military limitations designed to reduce the Germany military into a small defensive force that could be controlled by the Allied Powers.  For example, the German Navy could have only a handful of small battleships and submarines were forbidden, the German Army could have no tanks, airplanes, or large artillery, and was limited to 100,000 men.  While these were strict regulations, often the Germany government found loopholes or used outright deceit to circumvent the provisions of the treaty.  One result of this was the German Karabiner 98B bolt action rifle.  

One provision of the treaty was that Germany was forbidden from producing any full length rifles. At the time, the length of military rifles were about as long as military muskets from the 18th and 19th century.  Carbines were seen as inferior, as rigid old military officers still believed in an outdated view of warfare that emphasized long range marksmanship.  Thus, the Allied Powers sought to restrict rifle length in the Germany Army.  The Germans, however, conducted a simple deception to circumvent the rules by producing the Karabiner 98B.  The Karabiner (carbine) 98B was not a carbine, even though it was labelled so.  Rather it was a full sized Gewehr 98 bolt action rifle with a few minor modifications.  It was labeled as a carbine merely to confuse Versailles Treaty arms inspectors.  The K98B differed from the Gew 98 only in that it  had a tangent rear sight as opposed to the original “Lange” ramp sight, a wider lower band with side sling attachment bar, a side butt attachment point for a sling, and a turned down bolt handle. Most were merely re-arsenals of older Gewehr 98 rifles, or produced surplus parts.

P51-D Mustangs captured by the Germans in flight, ca., 1944.

The Spanish Destroyer Carbine,

In Spain there has been a long tradition of issuing police forces a short, light carbine chambered in a pistol caliber. Up until 1930, that was typically a Winchester lever action rifle or Spanish made copy known as the “El Tigre”, which was chambered for .44-40.  In 1930, the Spanish Government decided to modernize by adopting a bolt action carbine.  The Spanish Destroyer Carbine was invented by the Gaztanage Company of Eibar Spain, the new carbine was essentially a shrunken down version of the Mauser Model 1893, then the standard arm of the Spanish military.  It was chambered for 9x23mm Largo, and used the same 6 and 10 round magazines as the Bergmann pistols which were also issued to the police.  In all the carbine was 40 inches long and weighed 6 pounds.  While it could not compete with high power rifles, the Destroyer Carbine offered the average cop a weapon that had better range, accuracy, and power than his sidearm, yet was light enough to carry on the beat.

The Soviet capture K98k Mauser,

The Soviet Union by far was the largest player in World War II, taking the largest brunt of the German military and playing the largest role in ensuring that the Third Reich crumbled into ashes and rubble.  The Eastern Front alone was a war of epic proportions.  In the Western Front, the total number of men from both sides that were engaged in military operations (United States, Germany, Britain, Free France, Free Poland, Italy) from 1944 to 1945 amounted to around 7 million men.  Around that same time the Soviet Red Army alone comprised of 7 million men engaged in active combat.

To the victor goes the spoils, for the Soviet Union, such spoils typically consisted of arms, of which they would receive the lion’s share.  The main arm of the German military, the famed K98k Mauser was the most extensive weapon captured by Soviet forces.  After massive battles such as Stalingrad, Leningrad, Kursk, Konigsberg, and Berlin, the Soviets found themselves in possession of untold millions of K98 rifles.  I, peashooter, would go far as to say that by 1945, the Soviet Union was in possession of more K98 rifles than the German Army itself!

Soviet captured K98’s are little different than other K98 Mauser rifles except for one thing: serial numbers.  Rather than store the rifles whole the Soviets found that it was much easier to store them disassembled, the parts coated in cosmoline (grease used to prevent rust) and piled in large crates.  When taken out of storage, they were were unconcerned with matching parts, after all they did not care about future collectors value decades down the road.  Thus all Soviet capture K98’s have mismatched parts.  The only added markings that identifies them as Soviet capture is an “X” crudely stamped above the side of the chamber’s serial number, next to the swastika eagle, and typically brief electropenciled numbers on the bolt or reciever.

 Soviet capture K98’s also have other typical features.  The cleaning rod, sight hood, and locking screws are often missing, considered unnecessary by Soviet ordnance officials and thus removed and melted down as scrap metal.  When re-arsenalled the bolt was commonly blued with a dull, thick black compound.