This article, written by Ludwig Olson, appeared originally in the March 1975 issue of The American Rifleman. To subscribe to the monthly magazine, visit NRA’s membership page.
Though many men have contributed to the design of the bolt-action centerfire rifle, none have done as much as Paul and Wilhelm Mauser to make this rifle a success.
Paul (officially Peter Paul) and his brother Wilhelm were of humble origin. They were born in Oberndorf on the Neckar River in the German state of Wuerttemberg, and were the youngest of 13 children. Although Paul Mauser, born June 27, 1838, was four years younger than Wilhelm, it was Paul who performed the bulk of the small arms development work and to whom most Mauser inventions are credited. This was due partly to the early death of Wilhelm after serving chiefly as sales and business manager.
While employed in the Wuerttemberg Royal Armory, Paul developed an improved needle gun, chiefly by developing a firing mechanism that cocked automatically as the bolt was operated. A slightly later version of this gun had a firing pin instead of a firing needle and fired rear-ignition cartridges. The turning-bolt principle used by the Dreyse needle gun and this first Mauser found its way into all subsequent Mauser bolt-action rifles.
The first Mauser rifle did not find ready acceptance. The Wuerttemberg War Ministry was satisfied with its Minie muzzleloading rifle, and therefore wouldn't favorably consider the new Mauser gun. In like fashion, the Prussian War Ministry felt that the Dreyse needle gun was so good that adoption of a new rifle was unnecessary.
The Mauser rifle was considered more favorably by the Austrian War Ministry, but Austria had just adopted the Wänzl system of converting its muzzleloaders to breechloaders. When the Austrian War Minister showed this Mauser rifle to Samuel Norris, a European agent for the American firm of Remington, Norris believed that its features could be used in converting the French Chassepot needle gun to a metallic-cartridge rifle. He therefore formed a partnership with the Mausers.
In 1867, the partnership of Norris and the Mauser brothers moved to the arms center of Liege, Belgium, where Paul and Wilhelm further developed their rifle. But the partnership was a failure. Norris was unable to interest the French government in conversion of the Chassepot to a metallic- cartridge rifle on the Mauser system, and therefore broke his partnership contract. This left the Mauser brothers in financial distress, and they returned to Oberndorf, where they set up shop in the home of Paul's father-in-law and continued development of their rifle. Wilhelm went to Munich and showed the rifle to the Bavarian War Minister, but Bavaria had already adopted the Werder breechloader.
In the meantime, the Royal Prussian Military Shooting School had been testing a Mauser rifle which Norris had furnished while the three partners were still in Liege. This rifle performed so well that the brothers were requested to come to Spandau, near Berlin, to work out further improvements to satisfy requirements of the Royal Prussian Rifle Testing Commission. On Dec. 2, 1871, the cal. 11 mm. Mauser rifle was selected as replacement for the Prussian needle gun. The testing commission, however, was not completely satisfied with the Mauser and recommended that its safety lock be improved. By Feb. 14, 1872, Paul Mauser had made the improvements, and Prussia adopted the Mauser with the designation Infantry Rifle Model 71.
It seemed that acceptance of the Mauser rifle by Prussia would mean big business and success for the Mauser brothers. However, Prussia wanted to have the rifle produced by government arsenals and large, well-established firms. Also, instead of the 60,000 thalers which Prussia had agreed to pay for the right to use the Mauser design, the brothers received only 8,000 thalers.
In April 1872, the Mauser brothers received a contract from Prussia to produce 3,000 sights for the Model 1871 rifle. An order for sights was also received in 1872 from the Bavarian Rifle Factory at Amberg, and to handle their growing business the Mauser brothers sought a larger factory. They tried to purchase the Wuerttemberg Royal Armory, but the sale was delayed. The brothers then purchased property in Oberndorf on the heights overlooking the Neckar River Valley and built a factory there in 1872. This later became known as the Upper Works.
On Dec. 23, 1872, the Mauser firm was listed in the Oberndorf trade register as "Gebrueder Wilhelm and Paul Mauser" (Brothers Wilhelm and Paul Mauser).
Wuerttemberg needed 100,000 Model 71 rifles, and negotiated with the Mauser firm to produce them. The Mauser brothers were offered the contract if they would purchase the Wuerttemberg Royal Armory for 200,000 gulden. To raise the capital needed for the purchase, the Mausers formed a partnership with the Wuerttemberg Vereinsbank of Stuttgart.
With the acquisition of the Wuerttemberg Royal Armory on Mar. 23, 1874, Mauser Brothers and Co. now owned three factories: the Central Works (formerly the Royal Armory), the Lower Works near the Central Works, and the Upper Works. On Aug. 20, 1874, the Upper Works was partly destroyed by fire. Machines in the damaged portion were back in operation after several days, and the damaged part was rebuilt in eight weeks.
The order for 100,000 Model 71 rifles for Wuerttemberg was completed in 1878. Mauser Brothers and Co. also produced a large number of rifle sights for Bavaria and 26,000 Model 71 rifles for China. The Prussian War Dept. tried to keep the Mauser rifle secret, and prohibited the Mausers from having features of their rifle patented in countries outside Germany.
The brothers learned that the Serbian Army planned to adopt new weapons, so Wilhelm traveled to Belgrade in June 1879. Despite sharp competition during the trials, the Mauser eventually won out, and the Mauser firm obtained a contract for 120,000 cal. 10.15 mm. single-shot rifles on Feb. 14, 1881. Wilhelm returned to Oberndorf in triumph a few days later.
In 1880 Paul Mauser began working on a bolt-action repeating rifle. In one attempt he fitted a box magazine to the Model 71, converting it from a single-shot. Later, he developed a repeater with a tubular magazine in the forearm. On Sept. 27, 1881, he and Wilhelm demonstrated two versions of this repeater for Kaiser Wilhelm I at Stuttgart. It was the last important act of Wilhelm Mauser's career. Health shattered by travel and strenuous activity, Wilhelm Mauser died on Jan. 13, 1882.
The Stuttgart demonstration was a success. By order of the Kaiser, four battalions of the German Army were equipped with the new rifle for a troop test in 1882. The tests were successful, and the rifle was adopted Jan. 31, 1884, with the designation Infantry Rifle Model 71/84. The term repeating was omitted from the designation for security reasons.
The Mauser firm produced only 19,000 Model 71/84 rifles for Wuerttemberg. Other rifles of this model were turned out by government arsenals of other German states under a royalty arrangement with Mauser. During the mid-1880's, Mauser also produced 1,500 revolvers for Wuerttemberg, 8,000 repeating rifles and carbines for Serbia, and 6,000 single-shot rifles for China.
On April 1, 1884, the Mauser firm became a stock company with the name Waffenfabrik Mauser (Mauser Arms Co.). After this reorganization, Paul developed a cal. 9.5 mm. cartridge which he considered to be the optimum blackpowder rifle round, and brought out a new repeating rifle chambered for it. He made an unsuccessful trip to London to try to interest the British in it, then went to Constantinople where he tried to get his rifle adopted by the Turkish army. He was joined in this attempt by Isidor Loewe of the Berlin firm Ludwig Loewe & Co. After hard competition with other arms firms, the Mauser rifle won and the Turkish government granted a contract for 500,000 cal. 9.5 mm. bolt-action magazine rifles and 50,000 carbines in February, 1887.
There were two important provisions in this contract: (1) Turkey was to be informed of any rifle improvements patented by Paul Mauser during the contract period and could require that these improvements be incorporated in the rifles still to be delivered. (2) If Germany were to adopt a new rifle during the course of the Turkish contract, Turkey could require Mauser to complete the contract with the new German model.
The huge Turkish contract provided several years' work for the Mauser Co. Since Mauser was equipped to produce only 200 to 250 rifles per day and the Turkish contract called for 500 per day, the plant had to be expanded. One of the structures erected as a result of this contract was the so-called "Turkish Building" used as a headquarters by Turkish officials.
On Dec. 28, 1887, the Wuerttemberg Vereinsbank sold all of its stock in the Mauser Co. to Ludwig Loewe & Co. of Berlin. Shares owned by Paul Mauser were also sold to Loewe, with Paul Mauser remaining with the firm as technical leader. Why the stock was sold when the business outlook for the Mauser firm was so favorable is unknown to this day.
Adoption of the Lebel rifle by France in 1886 marked one of the most important steps in military rifle history. This 8 mm. bolt-action magazine rifle not only featured a small caliber but fired cartridges loaded with smokeless powder and metal-jacketed bullets. Other nations soon followed the French lead, with Germany adopting a cal. 7.9 mm., smokeless-powder magazine rifle Nov. 12, 1888.
Developed by the Rifle Testing Commission in Spandau, the new German rifle was designated Infantry Rifle 88. In developing this rifle, the commission used the same general type of trigger mechanism, firing mechanism, and safety lock as in the Model 71/84 Mauser, and combined these with a front-locking bolt and Mannlicher-type box magazine.
Paul Mauser was busy with the huge Turkish contract while the Model 88 was being developed and was not consulted in the project. It was a great disappointment for him that he had been passed over by his own government in the development of a new German service rifle. Also, no Commission Model 88 rifles and carbines were produced at Oberndorf. Mauser could have been forced to produce the Model 88 for Turkey through a provision in the Turkish contract, but was not required to do so.
Mauser introduced a cal. 7.65 mm., smokeless powder magazine rifle in 1888 for the Belgian rifle tests. Although only experimental, this rifle represented an important development because it was the first small-caliber Mauser and the first to fire smokeless powder ammunition.
The box magazine of this rifle held nine rimmed rounds in a single column and was loaded by inserting loose rounds. The bolt had dual-opposed rear locking lugs, and the bolt handle was at the back of the receiver bridge within easy grasp of the user's hand.
The need for a faster means of magazine loading led to development of a Mauser clip-loading rifle chambered for a cal. 7.65 mm., smokeless powder rimless cartridge. Five rounds in a Mauser-designed strip clip (also called a charger) were pushed into the single-column box magazine, and the clip was ejected automatically when the bolt was closed. It was also possible to load the magazine singly with loose rounds. The receiver was cut away extensively to permit such loading, and this resulted in the rear of the receiver being quite weak. Paul Mauser therefore designed this rifle with a front-locking bolt in which dual-opposed lugs engaged shoulders in the receiver ring. Unlike earlier Mausers and the Commission Model 88, the bolt head was integral with the bolt. This helped make the rifle foolproof since there was no possibility of removing the bolt head and firing the rifle without it. Another feature of this rifle was a sheet steel tubular handguard similar to that of the German Commission Model 88.
Belgium adopted this rifle in 1889, and it became known as the Belgian Model 89. Many Model 89 rifles and carbines were produced, but none was made by Mauser. Most were produced by Fabrique Nationale d'Armes de Guerre, in Herstal near Liege, Belgium. This firm, which was owned partly by Ludwig Loewe & Co., produced approximately 275,000 Model 89s. Another Model 89 producer was Manufacture d'Armes de L'Etat (Belgian Government Manufactory) in Liege. During World War I, the Model 89 was also manufactured by the Hopkins & Allen Arms Co., Norwich, Conn., U.S.A., and by a firm in Birmingham, England. The Birmingham firm was operated by a group of Belgian refugee patriots.
In 1890, Turkey took advantage of a feature in the contract for the Model 87 rifle by requiring Mauser to halt production of this model and complete the contract with a cal. 7.65 mm. rifle generally similar to the Belgian Model 89. Designated Model 90, the new Turkish rifle featured a short wooden handguard instead of a metal tube around the barrel. The Mauser Co. produced 280,000 of this new model.
The year 1891 marked the introduction of the Mauser to South American nations. Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru adopted cal. 7.65 mm. Mausers which varied only in minor detail from the Turkish Model 90, and these rifles were designated Model 91. The large Argentine contract for 180,000 rifles and 30,000 carbines was handled by Ludwig Loewe & Co. since Mauser was busy producing rifles for Turkey.
But Mauser was not too busy to accept a small order from Spain. Paul Mauser's attempts to obtain business from Spain dated back to 1887 when he tried unsuccessfully to interest the Spanish government in his blackpowder rifles. In 1891, Mauser succeeded in securing a contract from the authorities in Madrid for 1,840 Model 91 cal. 7.65 mm. troop test rifles almost identical to the Turkish Model 90. An improvement in this Spanish rifle was an arrangement to prevent double loading (feeding a round from magazine to chamber, failing to lock the bolt, and working the bolt again to feed a second round). This arrangement consisted of an undercut on the bolt face and a spring-loaded plunger in the right locking lug.
In 1892, Paul Mauser introduced several rifle improvements, the most important of them being a long, non-rotary extractor that prevented double loading and improved smoothness of operation.
These improvements were included in a Model 92/93 cal. 7.65 mm carbine for the Spanish Navy. This was a test gun, and the Mauser Co. had a contract to supply 400. These improvements were also present in a Model 92 Spanish rifle and carbine which introduced a new Mauser smokeless powder caliber, the world-famous 7 mm. The Model 92 had a single-column box magazine, and was produced in very limited quantity.
Five versions of the Mauser rifle were tested extensively by the U.S. Army in the magazine rifle test of 1892:
(1) Belgian Model 89.
(2) Cal. 7.65 mm. test rifle only slightly different from the Belgian Model 89 (called Mauser No. 2 by the testing board).
(3) Special test model with magazine cutoff, long non-rotary extractor, and bolt guide rib in receiver. This rifle fired the U.S. experimental cal. .30 rimmed cartridge (called Mauser No. 3).
(4) Special test model featuring a fixed magazine and several improvements introduced in 1892. This rifle also fired the U.S. experimental cal. .30 rimmed cartridge (Mauser No. 4).
(5) Special test model similar to No. 4, but equipped with a cutoff and chambered for a special cal. .30 rimless cartridge (Mauser No. 5).
The Belgian Model 89 and Mauser No. 2 did only fairly well. There were misfires with both rifles, and many failures to extract with the Model 89. The Model 89 also gave difficulty during magazine loading because of great force required to push cartridges out of the clips.
Mausers No. 3, 4 and 5 were among the most satisfactory rifles in the test. No. 5 gave exceptionally good performance. Though it did not pass the defective cartridge and dust tests quite as well as Krag-Jorgensen No. 5, the rifle recommended by the board for adoption, it did as well in most other respects. Mauser No. 5 was somewhat better in the rapidity-with-accuracy test than the Krag-Jorgensen No. 5 and Lee No. 3, but the latter two showed some superiority over the Mauser No. 5 in the rapidity-at-will test where accuracy was not considered.
Failure of the U.S. Army to adopt the Mauser rifle in 1892 appears to have been based on the great importance placed on the operation of a rifle as a single-loader and on good functioning with rimmed cartridges, points in which the Krag-Jorgensen was better than the Mauser.
