Found a Mauser Model '96 & Enfield No. 2 Mk IV waiting for me after work

[threeseven]

I arrived home from an utterly terrible day at work to find a very pleasant surprise - a large, heavy, white, rectangular box. Needless to say, the box and it's packing content was quickly reduced to this...

... and from the wreckage emerged two beautiful new milsurps.

Mauser Model 1896
Calibre: 7mm Mauser

Has Orange Free State (OVS) markings - this rifle served in the Boer War. It has a straight carbine bolt, I presume the original bolt was replaced with the carbine bolt by a Boer as this practice was very common. The soldiers of the Boer commandos generally preferred the straight bolt.

Lee Enfield No. 2 Mk IV
Calibre: .22LR

This is a British No. 1 Mk III rifle converted to fire .22, a training aid that allowed soldiers to learn the basics of shooting and rifle handling without the recoil of the .303 British.

This picture shows the barrel and chamber sleeving that converts this weapon from .303 to .22 - awww, bibby!

 

[cracked butt]

Neat guns!

 

[Chipperman]

Cool.
Is the Enfield a single-shot in that configuration?

 

[threeseven]

Yeah, the Enfield is now a single shot. The magazine has had the spring and plate removed so it can act like a receptacle for spent casings.

 

[Eskimo Jim]

Three Seven,
You have some very good finds there. I've got two of those enfields and they are a joy. I have kept one in the cosmoline and one I cleaned up for use.

Have you checked out Ian Skennerton's "The Lee Enfield Story" or any of the books by Stratton (U of Idaho professor I believe)?

I hope you enjoy both of your new rifles!!

-Jim

 

[threeseven]

Eskimo Jim, I managed to find a copy of the Lee Enfield Story last year and it's a fantastic resource. I also have Skennerton's Small Arms Identification Series for the No.1, No. 4, No. 5 and P'14 rifles.

I've never read any of Statton's work, but I have a hard time believing it could be as thorough or well-researched as Skennerton's.

Here are my other Enfields:

Enfields are my main area of interest, as you can see

 

[homeka45]

Nice surprise and a nice collection. Was that mauser from a vendor or private individual?

 

[threeseven]

Private individual. All my Enfields so far have been from private sales, actually.

 

[jobu07]

Very beautiful collection, and two superb pieces you just picked up as well.

 

[SapperLeader]

Two awesome pieces, I particulary like the .22 enfield. Sounds like it would be a fun piece at the range.

 

[SMLE]

Nice score mate!

The #2 MkIV* is such a polite little rifle, it collects its own brass. It's the only rifle you shoot until the magazine gets FULL.

I have one and it is a tack driver to boot. I wish I could find an OVS marked Mauser as a counter point to a MLE MkI.

 

[Eskimo Jim]

Three Seven,
Stratton's books go through each type of SMLE and provides information on all the variations of each piece of a particular model SMLE.

http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~stratton/en-page.html

That's his website.

Great collection by the way!!!

SMLE filling up a magazine with .22lr on a SMLE sure is fun!!!!

-Jim

 

[Gewehr98]

Correct me if I'm wrong...

But isn't the Mauser '96 also known as a Swedish Mauser, usually in 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser chamberings? A 7mm Mauser, in a pre-'98 small ring configuration, is typically either a '93 or '95 Mauser, right?

Noted: Some Boer Mausers do have 1896 manufacturing dates stamped on their receivers. They're still essentially a '93/'95 Mauser in design and function, as seen on this website:

http://library.thinkquest.org/26852/logistics/mauser.htm

Still a very impressive couple of pieces of history you got there, ThreeSeven!

 

[rbernie]

As far as I know, the Boers were almost all using '93 Mausers. It's easy to tell which - if the bolt face has a flat bottom, it's a '93. If not, it's a '95.

 

[Trebor]

Would you mind sharing your fishing spots where you are finding such nice mil-surps? I know where to look for modern stuff, here for one place, but that's quite a find you have there. Just wondering where else to look.

 

[threeseven]

Gewehr98 & rbernie: Not sure, Enfields are more my thing. My knowledge on Mausers is pretty slim. It has 1896 stamped on it, but it has OVS markings and a flat bottom on the bolt face. The colour is terrible on the photos, I had to adjust the contrast to make the text readable, but I'm sure you get the idea.

Trebor: I tend to keep my eyes open on the milsurp forums and I've also come to know a few milsurp collectors in Australia. Certain types of milsurps, such as Lee Enfields, are easy enough to get hold of in Australia, other types, like Springfields, are very hard to get hold of.

I tend to just be on the look out for good buys and I'm not afraid of paying a little bit more to get a good quality example. Also I've just been lucky a few times - found my No. 5 Jungle Carbine sitting in a rack in a little gunsmith's

 

[rbernie]

Interesting. I am not a Mauser expert by any means (learned what I know from either buying 'em and taking them apart or from reading Frank de Haas's books) but this is the first time I've seen a OVS Mauser that was produced by Loewe and marked '96. I can only presume that Loewe made 'em under a separate contract and marked 'em as such. As best I can tell, 1890-1900 saw a lot of contracts going thru Mauser and there were a LOT of minor design alterations being made from contract to contract to satsfy the needs of a paticular customer (the Turkish '93 and Spanish '93 being a glaring example).

The bolt is a '93 design. I presume that the handle is straight and doesn't have any curve to it. (All the Spanish '93 I've seen had 'em bent, but the Boers were reputed to favor the straight handle bolt.) The receiver is also a 93/94/95 design - it doesn't have the thumb cutout on the left wall a la the Swedish '96. It would be interesting to see the rear cocking piece and bolt handle to try and determine what the rest of the design characteristics are. Does the floorplate hinge, or does it wiggle to the rear and drop out?

Edited: Great reference, Gewehr98 - I hadn't seen that one. It explains a lot...

 

[swingset]

Regarding Stratton's Enfield books - if you have the Skennerton LE story, don't bother with Stratton. It's a pale comparison, and has been shown to be very WRONG on many issues including manufacturing dates and production of variants.

It's a good guide, but not a techincal reference, IMHO.