Swiss Sunburst and a Mauser Banner

[ithacaartist]

Numbers matching.

https://www.proxibid.com/Firearms-Mi...99457#topoflot

[DonVoigt]

Pretty strange; the description says it has a "DWM scroll" on the toggle, yet the picture shows the Mauser Banner.

I didn't think/know Mauser made or had any "long frames" until they made them again in the '70s.

Curious for sure, especially the chisel cut serial numbers on the front of the frame; I do believe this one is a "hoax" !

[Vlim]

I've seen them before. Serial in the Mauser v-block, Eagle N commercial proof. I think it's correct and quite rare.

[tomaustin]

internet premium---26 %...........

[Jim_R]

This Luger is listed in "The Mauser Parabellum 1930-1946" on page 471, Table 25.05. Jim

[ithacaartist]

Originally Posted by Vlim

I've seen them before. Serial in the Mauser v-block, Eagle N commercial proof. I think it's correct and quite rare.

Thanks, Gerben. My Spidey sense tingled at this one. I knew Mauser had built some pistols for contracts, but am surprised that they made some for the Swiss.

[DonVoigt]

Originally Posted by Vlim

I've seen them before. Serial in the Mauser v-block, Eagle N commercial proof. I think it's correct and quite rare.

Did you look at the close up of the serial number?
No way those are original numbers; they look like they were chased with a dull chisel . You can click on the picture for an even closer look.

JMHO.

[Vlim]

Mauser also used to assemble pistols from parts they had left over. These were used for local purposes, like gifts to staff, local farmers for self protection, etc. So its not a surprise to find things that are not up to contract specifications, although the guns were functionally sound and proofed.

What you see is a serial that has been struck too hard and deep. Difficult to make out what exactly went wrong due to the whiting.

[joncon]

There are a few listed on the Simpson web site. Seen to run higher than the Bern models.

[Proofed]

If you register with Morphy;s direct and go thru them instead of proxy the bp is 18%

[CptCurl]

Note that the sear bar is pre-1916. That means the sear bar was made by DWM.



Compare the sear bar on my 1920 DWM Swiss:



If this was commercial production, why the military configuration numbers on the sideplate and the takedown latch?

If the Morphy pistol were a true Mauser it would have the "Mauser bump" on the rear of the frame. I don't see that feature.

I would like to see the stamps inside the front receiver well.

Smells like fish to me, but I am no expert. Perhaps it's made with leftover DWM parts that Mauser acquired when it acquired DWM. Some of you more knowledgeable guys can educate me.

Curl

[mrerick]

Well, Don't assume that all the parts were newly made by Mauser at the time the pistol was assembled and tested for their Swiss contract.

There was likely quite a bit assembled out of sequence for commercial contracts during the war as "special" work that took second priority behind the huge government military contracts.

It's quite possible that a pre-1938 frame was used which had no "ears"... and a long frame originally from DWM would not be expected to have them either.

When master gunsmith August Weiss transported the tooling and gauges from DWM Berlin to Mauser in Oberndorf, the trains also carried a number of spare parts and incomplete firearms. IIRC an inventory was discovered documenting some of this. These parts could have come from that cache.

[Vlim]

The artillery barrels, for example, were never made by Mauser, they used DWM stock from the WW1 era for the Mauser LP08 builds.

[Yakman]

All the way up to 1946.

I doubt they used up all the arty barrels at that time and wonder what became of those still remaining. Probably went to France, but what then? Subject for another thread.

Jack

[Vlim]

Gun parts have an extremely long shelve life.

The time span between 1918 and 1948 was only 30 years.
We still find post war Mauser bits from 1968 to 1977. 52 to 43 years later (but no major war).

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by Vlim

Mauser also used to assemble pistols from parts they had left over. These were used for local purposes, like gifts to staff, local farmers for self protection,etc.

OK, I'll bite. What do farmers need protection from??? Bandits??? Critters??? Roving bands of lesbians???

A 9mm isn't all that much protection from critters...Anything big enough to threaten a farmer won't be stopped by a 9mm...

Tax collectors??? Census takers??? German Jehovah's Witnesses???

[Kiwi]

Farmers are far from police. Normally the farmer relies on a shotgun.
Try reading Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood"
Someone looks at the farm acreage, and buildings and think that the farmer is wealthy.
He/she probably is but has no ready cash

Post Weimar Germany was full of wealth envy, much like a lot of America today.
Due to remote location the farmer is mostly on his own.
One of my cousins on a farm in NZ got a shotgun for his 9th birthday.
Teaching Hunter Safety in New Jersey, 10 year olds, testing for a hunting licence were very competant with a shotgun.

I think a farmer with a handgun is prudent. Hope they never need it.

[Vlim]

During the second world war, Mauser, as well as all major industries worked with forced labor workers. Mauser mainly employed workers from France, Belgium and Holland, with additional forced labor from Russian and Polish women.

The Russian and Polish workers were housed behind barbed wire in dedicated, guarded camps.

The French, Belgian and Dutch workers were housed in barracks with little or no supervision. They were allowed to move freely in the surroundings and even to keep and work patches of land for growing crops. They were also allowed to purchase supplies directly from local farmers.

The local farmers were given pistols by Mauser so they could protect themselves against unwanted attention by free roaming workers, or escapees.

[mrerick]

Here's the memorial to Mauser's workers. One page shows a map of the location of the camps.