Mexican Mauser
Alright to all u mauser fans. I found this supposed 1905 Mexican Mauser in an antique store today. The asking price was $1275.00. Thats not a mistake. Its a short carbine. All of the markings are worn away. You can barely read Waffenbrik or however its spelled. The stock is in poor shape, the barrel is frosted. Bluing is 50% or worse. Unknown on the caliber or if its able to shoot. Now it may be me but I think $1275.00 is extreme for any mauser rifle! Or am I mistaking. sorry couldnt get any pics of it.
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Proprieters and venders often have stock in their stores and boothes that are for window dressing and not really for sale. To keep these items one ploy is to place a very high price tag on the item and make up a good, unprovable, story to go with it. As PT Barnum observed many years ago: there is a sucker born every minute. Should one be taken in by the story and high price, well, most sellers will tearfully let said item go. If I do a dis-service to that seller then I appologise. Still that is way too much money for any old beat up worn out Mauser, unless it has some outragous provonance/history. Like the guns that belonged to Jesse James, oh yeah now we are back to PT Barnum for most of those..... 0 -
Some Mausers are worth that much; that one isn't. A few that come to mind... 1893 Turk in pristine shape in original 7.65 caliber; G.33/40 in pristine shape matching with proper bolt sight hood and rod; pristine 71/84....... a few others I'm sure but for that price, condition is everything. Of course ultra rare trials rifles too could be that pricey. 0 -
magicmanml2......perhaps if it was Pancho Villa's personal rifle, maybe. Run of the mill Mexican mauser? Hardly. Of course the vendor has the right to offer the goods at any price he wants. I have the right to snicker and walk away. In this case, plenty of snicker. But, as pointed out, some mausers are worth that kind of money and more, for example, sniper rifles, mausers with low production numbers and such. But mauser contract rifles, unless there is something special attached to the rifle and can be proven, are not. 0 -
magicmanml2,
That sounds like an 1895 carbine. Not as common as the 1895 but not rare either. Nice rifles, but as the one you are looking at seems well worn I would say at best in the $200 range. Now, if you were to find a 1907 or 1912, then you've got a rare(r) bird.
I can't remember which exact model it was but I did watch an auction go for $1700 for a Mexican Mauser. so some of them can bring a lot of money. My two favorites are the model 1910's made in the thirties and the model 1936 in both 7mm and 30-06 (model 1954).
Believe it or not Hecho in Mexico is a good thing for these. The ones made in Mexico are considered top notch. The tooling to build them was originally assisted by German then Austrian Engineers. Not to mention they sent their engineers abroad to learn how to build them too.
{edit:}They should have the 'Fabrica Nacional De Armas over the top of the crest and Mexico D.F. under the crest. (Eagle with snake in it's beak perched in a prickley pear cactus) Later that got changed to 'Fabrica De Armas Mexico'. Czech, Belgian and Austrian imports mostly have 'Republica Mexicana' over a reduced version of the crest.0 -
In my experience buying antiques is often a "haggling" proposition.
Just because the owner is asking $1275, does NOT mean you can't make a lower offer and end up walking out of the store with it for $275 or even less than that. If you know a fair offer is "X" you can offer that, and then if the seller refuses, leave your contact info for the seller to reach you, if they change their mind after they've done their homework.
Forgetting about pawn shop shenanigans for the moment, in an antique store (as opposed to a gun store), there is a real chance that the seller of this antique gun doesn't exactly know what its fair market value is. He may have bought it for pennies, or gotten it as part of an estate sale, then not really being knowledgeable about guns, slapped an arbitrarily high price on it figuring its a "no lose" if someone comes along and actually pays that.
Alternatively, he may have a rough idea what its worth, but knows that his usual client base (which are probably not gun-savvy) doesn't. He never knows when that guy with more cash than brains will walk in and buy it.0 -
Thanks for input. I was going to go back and get the seller's info and haggle with him. I got my turk mauser for $80. I dont think i would get it for that but worth the shot. I do know its a 98 action but couldnt tell if small or large ring. What caliber did those era rifles come in? I know its probly not 8mm 0 -
magicmanml2,
That should be in 7x57 Mauser if it's the one I'm thinking of. There is a much later version of a different model (1954) which would be in 30-06.0 -
There's no way I'd put that piece in my safe unless I was saving it for an ugly contest.
There are too many nice ones around not to mention Czech 1922's,1924's and others.
OleDuk[:)]0 -
quote:Originally posted by OleDuk
There's no way I'd put that piece in my safe unless I was saving it for an ugly contest.
There are too many nice ones around not to mention Czech 1922's,1924's and others.
OleDuk[:)]
I agree that its pointless to put a worn-out gun of dubious function into the "shooter" rotation. Its equally silly to put a gun of negligible value that probably can't even be safely shot into a safe.
Is that to protect the gun from thieves or to protect the thieves from blowing themselves up by shooting the gun? [;)]
A gun like that. . you almost WANT it to be stolen, so that it acts as a "decoy" away from the REAL gun collection! [}:)]
A little more seriously, ugly guns make good "wall hangers" for over the fireplace. Sight unseen, I'd pay $75 (NOT $1275!) for it just for that purpose, and as a beater piece just to practice polishing, bluing, refinishing, etc.
Also, I could maybe see someone having some sort of personal connection to an old Mexican Mauser (ie their great-grandaddy was in the Mexican army, etc) and wanting one for that reason.0 -
Hi BTS-- there's another reason too. Navy Arms had a clearance sale some years back when they closed their local store. I went in to make a purchase of some ammo whan I noticed this Mexican Mauser (1910) in the rack dated 1932. Decided hell, come on with me little Mauser, we were born in the same year. (1932)
Regards,
OleDuk[:D][:D]0
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