Jon Speed: The Mauser Man

AT THE CLOSE of WWII, the victorious Allied For es divided a defeated Germanyino tow countries, theEastern (communist) bloc and Western Germany. The Mauser arms factory at Oberndorffellinto French-occupied sector of West Germany. The French allowed the factory to continue production for two to three years, during which time they removed a good deal of the machinery and hundreds of firearms to France. Among those packing and crating these items was a young German named Walter Schmid who, as a teenager, had spent his school holidays assisting his grandfather in his work at the factory. After distinguishing himself in the Panzer Division, young Walter now worked there full time. Sadly, in 1948, at Russia’s continued insistence, the French finally destroyed the factory and its remaining contents.

For the next half century, rifle-lovers the world over mourned this terrible loss. The Mauser Model 98, universally regarded as the finest bolt action design in history, remains the action by which all others are judged. Original Oberndorf Mauser rifles became sought-after collector’s items, especially as various different lengths of this action surfaced over the decades. Apart from the known standard length,readers will shortly learn. The most frustrating aspect of Mauser collecting was the absence of factory archival records, and many a collector has quietly cursed the post-war Russian and French authorities for their sacrilegious destruction of the Mauser factory. All we knew of Mauser products was gleaned from examples of surviving firearms and a few sales catalogues.