4 more arrived yesterday. It was a good day.
First was a Boer Mauser M1896 in 7 x 57mm Mauser made by Ludwig Loewe. This is one of the one's made for the ZAR (South Africa Republic, aka the Transvaal), one of the two Boer Republics which had a militia system where farmers were issued a rifle by the government, but provided their own horse and formed commandos where they elected their own officers. As they were natural bushmen and marksman, they proved very effective during the Boer War, espescially as the Mausers shot further and flatter than the British Lee-Enfields. As the rifles were an individual Boer's personal property, many of them carved their names into the butt with varying degrees of skill, this one just has the owner's initials.
Next was a Canadian-issued Snider-Enfield Mk.I* in .577 Snider, which was coverted from a P53 Enfield made in 1960. The Canada was actually one of the first users of Snider rifles, buying 30,000 in 1867 in response to the Fenian Raids of 1866. And then, in true Canadian fasion, the government decided they had to much invested in the Sniders and refused to purchase enough Martini-Henrys to arm the militia when it came out 1873, and we ended using them until the turn of the century.
I also got a 5-shot 2nd Model Gasser Montenegrin revolver in 11.75 x 36mm Gasser. In 1874, the king of Montenegro, which also had a militia system, decreed that each of his subjects would own a Gasser-pattern revolver (coincidentally, he owned stock in the Gasser factory). The original Gasser Montenegrin was solid-frame with a loading gate and pivoting ejector rod (so it could be carried stuck through the belt in the Balkan fasion), but the second model was a Pryse-stye break-action. However, Gassers were expensive, so alot of Belgian companies made copies to undercut the price as the decree only said Gasser-
pattern. The 11.75 x 36mm was the most powerful revolver round of its era, and the case is actually both longer and fatter than a .44 Magnum.
Lastly I got an Austrian-army Steyr 1912 in 9 x 23mm Steyr, made at Steyr in 1918. This one also has post-WW1 Czech reissue marks and unit marks, so it's a pretty neat gun. Unfortunately it's in somewhat rough shape - the pitting I can live with, but someone cut off the ends of the slide-locking wedge so I'll definately need to find a replacement for that.
06-02-2010, 11:32 PM
Hybrid Mode
