Mauser Rifles
Introduction:
The Mauser rifle action is widely regarded as the apex of what a bolt-action combat rifle can be. It's smooth bolt throw, combined with a reliable extraction system and a cock-on-open action leaves very little to be desired beyond a clear line of sight and a target. But this has not always been the case. Like any solid piece of engineering, there have been iterations and lesson learned. The Mauser action went through three distinct phases: the 89 pattern, the 93/95 pattern, ultimately leading to the 98 pattern. Each iteration has its own unique features and drawbacks that lead Mauser to continue development. I'm going to take a brief look at each variant, what is different about each one, and then conclude by looking at rifles that are built based on Mauser designs that are still in use today.
The rifle saw some solid success on the world market. Argentina adopted the rifle as the model of 1891, and Belgium was an early adopter, purchasing the Mauser as their standard-issue rifle in 1889. Belgium, in an effort to maintain a lack of reliance on foreign entities for is arms procurement, was licensed to produce the 1889 rifle in Belgium. It was actually the first rifle to be produced in significant quantity by what we know today as FN Herstal.
The 1889 pattern of Mauser was a very good design for the time. It's five-round box magazine, combined with the fact that it could be fed via stripper clip, lead to a fairly reliable, easy to feed rifle. There were some drawbacks though. The extraction was not as reliable as on other Mauser models, and it is a cock-on-close design. The 5 round magazine was also single-stack, leading to the magazine jutting out of the bottom of the rifle.
The 1893/95 pattern of Mauser rifle had more of the aesthetics of what we think of as a traditional bolt-action rifle. 1893 and 95 pattern rifles saw widespread use throughout the world, and were even used against the US during the Spanish American War. They were an improvement on the 89 pattern, utilizing better extraction and a 5-round flush-fitting magazine. The 93 patter rifle was designed by Mauser specifically for the Spanish army, this has led to the rifle being commonly referred to as the Spanish Mauser.
The Spanish Mauser was known as a reliable one. With the improved claw extractor, the risk of double-feeds was reduced and there wasn't much to go wrong when chambering a round in the 93 pattern rifle. The rifle was effective enough against the US during the Spanish-American war, that the US actually adopted a Mauser-derived rifle not long after the war. The 93 pattern still was a cock-on-open design, so there was room for improvement, but it was a solid rifle for use against the US's Krag rifles.
The 1895 pattern was a slight improvement over the 93. It was essentially an improvement in efficiency and safety. The bolt was improved by making the bolt face circular rather than having a squared bottom. This was not a major improvement, but the change was made just because the extra material wasn't necessary. The second improvement was in terms of safety. On the 1895, a metal shoulder was added in the receiver, so that when the bolt was locked, the bolt handle acted as an extra locking lug just in case the primary locking lugs failed.
The 1898 pattern of rifle is the Mauser that everyone knows, and is the basis of just about every bolt-action rifle seen since. The 1898 pattern is known for it's smooth-as-glass action, and it's fast cock-on-open design. Originally adopted as the Gewehr 98 in German service, it served through both World Wars in various configurations. The action is a notoriously strong one, and 98 pattern rifles have been chambered in 6.8mm all the way up to .30-06 and 8mm Mauser.
The 98 pattern of rifle was so prolific, variants of it were used against eachother in WWI. The Springfield 1903 was so similar to Mauser's action, that the US was paying royalties to Mauser during WWI. The rifle lived past WWI in the form of the famous K98k. The standard WWII German rifle, the K98k was essentially just a shortened Gewehr 98 with better sights. After the war, the rifles went on to be distributed far and wide as military aid, and continue to show up in conflicts today. With over 14,000,000 built, their numbers rival even the most prolific rifles, such as the AKM.
The 98 pattern represents not only the pinnacle of Mauser's designs, but also bolt-actions in general. Just about every major bolt-action rifle in production today is built around Mauser concepts. It's hard to make a bolt action rifle better than a 98 pattern Mauser rifle action.
Mauser actions have also been the basis of some interesting modifications, including, but definitely not limited to, this rifle that has been modified with an M16 barrel in order to be chambered in 5.56. On top of it all, it takes STANAG magazines:
Details:
The 1889 pattern of Mauser rifle was one of the first patterns of Mauser to see widespread use around the world. It was also the first Mauser variant to utilize smokeless powder. Moving away from the tube magazines that were common on other rifle designs previously, the 1889 Mauser utilized a 5 round box magazine. It was a goal for the 1889 pattern rifle to use a smaller caliber bullet, so the vast majority of rifles were chambered in a 7.65mm cartridge, with limited numbers being made in 8mm Mauser.
The rifle saw some solid success on the world market. Argentina adopted the rifle as the model of 1891, and Belgium was an early adopter, purchasing the Mauser as their standard-issue rifle in 1889. Belgium, in an effort to maintain a lack of reliance on foreign entities for is arms procurement, was licensed to produce the 1889 rifle in Belgium. It was actually the first rifle to be produced in significant quantity by what we know today as FN Herstal.
The 1889 pattern of Mauser was a very good design for the time. It's five-round box magazine, combined with the fact that it could be fed via stripper clip, lead to a fairly reliable, easy to feed rifle. There were some drawbacks though. The extraction was not as reliable as on other Mauser models, and it is a cock-on-close design. The 5 round magazine was also single-stack, leading to the magazine jutting out of the bottom of the rifle.
The 1893/95 pattern of Mauser rifle had more of the aesthetics of what we think of as a traditional bolt-action rifle. 1893 and 95 pattern rifles saw widespread use throughout the world, and were even used against the US during the Spanish American War. They were an improvement on the 89 pattern, utilizing better extraction and a 5-round flush-fitting magazine. The 93 patter rifle was designed by Mauser specifically for the Spanish army, this has led to the rifle being commonly referred to as the Spanish Mauser.
The Spanish Mauser was known as a reliable one. With the improved claw extractor, the risk of double-feeds was reduced and there wasn't much to go wrong when chambering a round in the 93 pattern rifle. The rifle was effective enough against the US during the Spanish-American war, that the US actually adopted a Mauser-derived rifle not long after the war. The 93 pattern still was a cock-on-open design, so there was room for improvement, but it was a solid rifle for use against the US's Krag rifles.
The 1895 pattern was a slight improvement over the 93. It was essentially an improvement in efficiency and safety. The bolt was improved by making the bolt face circular rather than having a squared bottom. This was not a major improvement, but the change was made just because the extra material wasn't necessary. The second improvement was in terms of safety. On the 1895, a metal shoulder was added in the receiver, so that when the bolt was locked, the bolt handle acted as an extra locking lug just in case the primary locking lugs failed.
The 1898 pattern of rifle is the Mauser that everyone knows, and is the basis of just about every bolt-action rifle seen since. The 1898 pattern is known for it's smooth-as-glass action, and it's fast cock-on-open design. Originally adopted as the Gewehr 98 in German service, it served through both World Wars in various configurations. The action is a notoriously strong one, and 98 pattern rifles have been chambered in 6.8mm all the way up to .30-06 and 8mm Mauser.
The 98 pattern of rifle was so prolific, variants of it were used against eachother in WWI. The Springfield 1903 was so similar to Mauser's action, that the US was paying royalties to Mauser during WWI. The rifle lived past WWI in the form of the famous K98k. The standard WWII German rifle, the K98k was essentially just a shortened Gewehr 98 with better sights. After the war, the rifles went on to be distributed far and wide as military aid, and continue to show up in conflicts today. With over 14,000,000 built, their numbers rival even the most prolific rifles, such as the AKM.
The 98 pattern represents not only the pinnacle of Mauser's designs, but also bolt-actions in general. Just about every major bolt-action rifle in production today is built around Mauser concepts. It's hard to make a bolt action rifle better than a 98 pattern Mauser rifle action.
Use Today:
Many modern bolt actions are generally based on Mauser actions. Rifle's such as the Remington 700 borrow heavily from Mausers. However, original-pattern Mausers continue to see modified and unmodified use by rebel and insurgent groups around the world. |
| Source: Calibre Obscura |
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| Source: Calibre Obscura |
Conclusion:
The Mauser rifle is a rifle with a rich history. I barely even scrated the surface in terms of all the different variants that exist. In my opinion, the rifle represents how far you can take bolt-action rifles. The interesting thing to me is that even with all the iterative development that went into the Mauser, it can still be outclassed by most decent-quality semi-automatic rifles.
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