Mauser early sporter Type A ?? Pictures added MORE
My friend recently aquired a rifle I beleive to be an early Mauser type A rifle in 7x57 cal. On the bottom side of the bbl. is the following info. Kal 7x57, W. Fehringer, Zella Mehlis, #1000 , Krupp Laufs Laufstahl. There also is a proof mark that looks like and upside down heart with a pine tree in it and the letters 440 above it. The bbl is 23.5 inches long with a solid rib and iron sights, the stock has a schnable style forend, checkering, a cheek piece, and what appears to be a buffalo grip cap and butt plate. I know you guys like detailed pictures but that's not possible now. Any info and/or referrals for further info will be appreciated. I beleive it was made prior to WW 2.
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W. Fehringer is listed in my reference, as being a master gunsmith in Zella-mehlis during the late 30's. There should be additional proof marks on the rifle. Perhaps below the wood line. It seems very unlikely, but the numerals 440 might actually be the date of proof, i.e. April 1940. 0 -
Additional info. It has the double set trigger, spoon style bolt and we beleive the grip cap and butt plate were made with buffalo horn materiel(all black) . It also has two eagles with straight wings and letter designations under each. We rate it in good condition with a lot of blueing left and the stock without any major dings or scratches. Ball park value wed beleive to be $2000.+ ?? 0 -
If the two eagles look like this with the letter "N" beneath them.
They are German commercial Proof Marks, first used in 1940. This makes the rifle very unusual. As this was during the first year of the Second World War. Few commercial sporting rifles were made during the war, and actually survived.0 -
The proof marks are an eagle with the letter N under. I was hoping No nonsense would reply since the rifle looks like his posting photo. It does not have a lever under the magazine well but it does have a solid rib and no scope attached. 0 -
freddbear4,
I would like to help you but simply owning and studying Mauser variations will not guarantee any better information.
We really need photographs in order to establish that you have a Type 'A' to begin with. Your description, while adequate for other rifles, lacks the support of visual clues that can only come from having pictures. I know this sounds hard but it's the truth. You have described several thousands of standard Mausers without being able nail down the specifics. The Type 'A', if that's what you have, was the most prolifically produced model and they are very common. The rare versions are the .250-3000 Savage on the Kurz action and the .404 Jeffery on the Magnum action.
Mauser produced 32 variations of the Type 'A' Mauser and if you add in the options, the list grows exponentially. The factory designation for the Type 'A' was Normal Hunting Rifle Type E with the 'E' standing for English. The obvious and correct deduction is that these rifles were produced specifically for the British and American markets.
The basic rifle included but was not limited to:
The stock was usually the best grade walnut with checkering commensurate with the grade of wood. The barrel was a tapered round with a sleeved front sight, hence my hesitation to acknowledge the rib, although this solid rib was not unusual for Mauser on other models. The trigger was a single 2-stage in a hinged magazine trigger guard using either the lever on the bottom or in the trigger guard. Horn could have been used on the grip cap, butt plate and forend tip but it could just as well have been metal or plastic. Shine a strong light through it and you should see the layers.
Please note that there are also similarities to the Mauser Type 'B' rifles as well. The 7x57 chamber was available in virtually every variation that Mauser produced.
I don't recognize the 'upside down heart with a pine tree in it' at all. My guess would be that it's a maker's mark and not a proof mark. rufe-snow covered the other information.
If you want to dig into this even more, I suggest that you buy Jon Speed's book on Oberndorf Sporting Rifles.
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Thanks to both of you for your responses. I'll see what I can do to provide the pictures for your analysis. A mystery that begs solving!!
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With the fixed rear sight and the "Eagle J" proof, ( which denotes rework ). I doubt very seriously that your friends rifle is any kind of Mauser made commercial sporter. I believe it was originally a military 98 reworked by a German gunsmith into a basic sporter during the early years of the Second World War, ( which makes it quite an unusual rifle ). I have run across very few German commercial rifles that were made, after the start of the war in September 1940. 1939 0 -
Be Glad it is your friends NOT yours in my opinion this is not a high grade Sporter but rather a crud rifle made up of some military parts and a Civilian barrel that was reblued and black smith modified to fit the action and have the sight indexed to be facing UP the top shoulder of the barrel was deformed to keep from screwing to far into the receiver ring. $200.00 IF it does not have head-space problems. 0 -
I feel that you have a ordinary military mauser that has been worked over to resemble a true sporting mauser. Sorry my opinion, hope for your sake you prove us wrong. 0
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