Portugese Princess - Mauser Vegeriuro

[Tedly]

I had two of these , now down to one. Great shooter , will shoot well with any ammo. Only thing I noticed is that you can not drop a round in the chamber and close the bolt. MUST be fed thru magazine

[Ballistics in Scotland]

It isn't even a Mannlicher bolt really. The German Commission copied Mannlicher's clip-loading central magazine for their 1888 rifle, and were sued for it. Part of the settlement was that Steyr got a contract as one of their manufacturers, and got to use Schlegelmilch's bolt design, developed for that rifle, on their own products. It is best known on the 6.5mm box-magazine Dutch and Romanian Mannlichers, and on the rotary-magazineut Mannlicher-Schoenauer.

In fact it is possible that you will find a Steyr-made Mannlicher of the Dutch and Romanian design. These were in 6.5x53R, and might be quite valuable as it was a much smaller purchase, made in 1896. A conversion for the Mauser-Vergueiro cartridge may have been feasible, but I have never heard that it was done.

[frnkeore]

I just bought one of these "type" rifles today, at a estate auction. It was listed as a 1896 Mauser. Now I started collecting 1888 GEW Commision rifles about 16 years ago so, I new right away that it wasn't a real Mauser. Since I know a bit about how the Commision rifle came to be, I believe Paul Mauser would be extremely upset, knowing his name was connected to any 1888. So, I'm very surprised they are called Mausers.

I have a suspicion that mine is some kind of a commerial sporter. The receiver ring, has no markings and I can not see where they could have been ground off, like the Turks did to the 88. It also has commerial type German proof markings, to the left of the DWM stamp. The wood is very nice and has some figuring. The butt plate, is also different than the 1904.

I haven't taken it out of the wood yet but, it doesn't have the cross bolt, at least, it isn't visible. It doesn't have a full length stock, as the 1904 does but, I found a similarly shaped variant that I'll include a link to. It's in a foreign language so, I don't know what it says but, it has a different crest. It's called a Espingarda M/1904 F.P.D.F. Anyone know anything about it? My trigger guard is different than this one. My barrel looks original and is also 7x57, nice and shiny, inside.

http://myvimu.com/exhibit/54665936-e...ro-f-p-d-f-7mm

I'll post pictures of mine tomorrow.

Frank

[frnkeore]

Here are the pictures of my new rifle. Please feel free to comment on it, especially Ballistics in Scotland. I'd like to learn as much as possible about mine and these rifles, in general.

I fire formed a Norma 7x57 case last night, with a 140 gr cast bullet and it looks good for a 7x57. So, the chambering is correct for that caliber. I measured the groove to groove, last night also, using calipers. It 4 groove and measured about .285 but, I will slug it in the next day or two. The barrel is 750mm long or ~29.5".

One more thing, the receiver to barrel area, is under cut, like it would be for a hand guard on a military rifle. If it weren't for that, I would definitely call it a real commercial rifle, it's the civilian proof marks that call to me and say that it might be.

Frank

[Larry Gibson]

Frank

Very nice find! Someone did a nice job "sporterizing her as given the undercut receiver, the sights and the length of barrel she was, no doubt, a military rifle at one time. From the site you posted ; "W 1906 roku 5,000 sztuk tych karabinów zostało sprzedanych do Brazylii dla Policji Federalnej w Rio de Janeiro i São Paulo." basically says that in 1906 5,000 rebuilt/rebarreled rifles were shipped to the Brazilian Federal Police in Rio De Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

That would explain the 7x57 instead of 6.5 Portuguese. Also how she found her way here as thousands of Brazilian surplus rifles, many in 7x57, have been imported here over the last 50+ years. Again, nice find....hopefully, and she should, shoot very well.

[frnkeore]

There are 3 areas of difference, between the Espingarda model and mine:

1. Civilian proof marks

2. No crest stamping and no sign that it has have been removed

3. The trigger guard and hinged floor plate. Mine has a standard type 98 floor plate and release. The Espingarda, has in my opinion, a better release type.

All the 1904's have protective wings on the front sight with flat top , mine has a pointed front sight, much like a 1888 Commission rifle. But, I can't see the Espingarda front sight, well enough to tell what it has. It doesn't seem like they would change that out just for a police model. Hopefully I can find more pictures of the Espingarda.

LG, thank you for interpreting that web site. Do you know what it says about the 1888 and 98?

Frank

[frnkeore]

A little more info with the same proof marks as mine.

http://www.hoosiergunworks.com/mauser_1904.html

More info on the standard 1904.

http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/...S0610/?Page=29

A 1907 variant. It looks like it has my front sight and butt plate.

https://www.libertytreecollectors.co...idproduct=6205

Frank

[Larry Gibson]

Frank

LG, thank you for interpreting that web site. Do you know what it says about the 1888 and 98?


Was tied up with an extensive 500 yard test yesterday. I'll see what I can do and post back.

[Larry Gibson]

Frank

My Polish isn't that good but it says its a gun modeled after the German Gewehr M98 with the bolt of the Mannlicher-Schonaur infantry Gewehr M88.

Best I can do. Not sure that description is correct but that's pretty much what it says.

[frnkeore]

Thank you.

I guess that means it's a M88 with a M98, Mauser magazine.

That is a great improvement!

Frank

[Larry Gibson]

Yes, that word I interpreted as "bolt" may also refer to the action in Polish milspeak. Glad I could help. Let us know how she shoots?