1945-46 Mauser P-08's manufactured under French control
 

Dear Experts

Approximately 100 of these 1945-46 French/Mauser P.08's were given to the reconstituted Austrian Bundesheer in 1955 by the French, and the Austrians apparently reworked them to some extent before putting them into storage. Does anyone know what this rework involved?

Thanks,
Jeff

This is covered in Mauro and Vim's new book.

So, sorry, I know they reworked and put guns together, but know little to help you with specifics.


Ed

Ed is correct, wait for the book :D

The French didn't rework them. There are several theories about what happened, but the most plausible one seems to be that France forwarded a number of pistols to the Austrian Bundesheer when they pulled out of parts of French occupied Germany. The pistols were all assembled at Mauser under French control after WW2 using available parts. These were originally issued to French Gendarmerie (police) units, and we believe (no solid evidenc yet) that it were pistols from Gendarmerie stock that were sent to Austria.