Post your serial numbers here or e-mail me privately. I am starting this out using serial numbers from a study published in the August, 1997 KCN (KCN Database). In addition to the KCN study, I have included serial numbers from my collection as well as serial numbers I have observed. If you know details like import marked or not, type of metal finish, Kriegsmodell or not, French features or not, or anything unusual, please include this information and I will post it also.
Concerning the numbers listed, unless a rifle is noted as 'French' it is thought to have no French features (i.e. Thought to be a German WWII production rifle). Obviously, studies like this are limited by the knowledge and experience of the individuals collecting and submitting the information. Still, I believe it is worthwhile and believe that it will help explain more about late Mauser Oberndorf production.(2/14/06) I am expanding this study to include Mauser Oberndorf assembled rifles from 1944.
As with the 1945 dated rifles, I'm starting this using the serial numbers from the August, 1997 KCN. Notice that many more serial numbers are listed in the no letter block category. I am suspicious that this is due to individuals submitting their serial numbers who did not have an appreciation for the use of letter blocks. For similar reasons I am suspicious of the 'i' and 'l' block rifles listed. I have included the 'o' block and 'r' block rifles from that study;however, understand that their existence is controversial.
It is possible that these rifles had letter suffixes which were poorly struck and mistaken to be 'o' and 'r'. byf44/ar44 serial numbers: first series no suffix 'hand stamp' block second series no suffix 'hand stamp' block 45 (ar44) NIM, matching, #ed E/WaA135 stock marked '2 28 44' under gqm 43 CBP, #ed SUB/SLB, #ed STGWLS/SFP, FN bolt, 'i' marked cleaning rod 115 (ar44) RC 285 (ar44) receiver only 602 (ar44) matching, blued, E/WaA135 white glue lam. Non-Km, no# byf 135 135 STGWLS, '602' #ed lengthwise byf 135 SFP, 44N123 bbl code, #ed SUB/SLB, no# ejector box 669 (ar44) 4067 (ar44) NIM, matching, blued, #ed red glue lam. Non-Km, gqm 43 CBP, #ed (lengthwise) byf 135 SFP, no# byf 135 135 STGWLS, #ed SUB/SLB 4358 (ar44) 5270 (ar44) 7342 (ar44) RC, GunBroker 7453 (ar44) RC 7668 (byf 44) NIM, m/m bolt, white glue lam. Non-Km, #ed SUB/MLB, STG, #ed (lengthwise) '7668' byf SFP, late type stock lug 9552 (ar44) NIM, matching metal, m/m stock/bands, '44D893' barrel ring markings 9881 (ar44) 10022 (ar44) humped/renumbered bolt 12601 byf 44 NIM, matching, lam.
Non-Km, #ed SUB/SLB, no# byf 135 135 STGWLS, byf 135 SFP #ed lengthwise '12601' no suffix regular production block 15 heavily sporterized 159 NIM, matching 961 NIM, GunBroker, blued, matching bolt body, SpSt, #ed MTG, e/135 #ed MFP, #ed matching rear sight leaf, slider, ejector box, safety, bolt sleeve;missing bands, foreend, and HG. 1942 NIM, GunBroker, blued, matching metal, m/m replacement stock w/unnumbered bands, #ed STGWLS (4 digits), #ed SFP (2 digits perpendicular to bore) 1263 2043 2096 2530 2875 3277 3342 7579 NIM, GunBroker, SpSt, complete mismatch, blued 7978 NIM, matching, #ed red glue lam. Non-Km, gqm 44 BP, SFP, STG, #ed SUB/MLB 8113 8171 10726 RC 12453 Import marked, GunBroker 13171 RC, Empire 14045 RC, Empire 14531 NIM, GunBroker, matching except no# byf STG/SFP, blued, walnut non-Km, #ed SMUB, #ed MLB 18972 NIM, GunBroker, matching except bolt, #ed white glue lam. Non-Km, #ed red glue lam. HG, #ed SUB/MLB, 135 135 STGWLS #ed '8972', 135 SFP #ed '72' 2 NIM, AA, described as matching except bolt, #ed SUB/MLB, #ed STGWLS 23584 NIM, lam. Bought a sporterized k98 @ auction last weekend.
Matching serial no. 2935 on bolt, bolt handle and barrel side. Barrel code of 44D980. Sporterized stock appears to be off an original k98 and has 716 stamped in channel of stock. Byf 45 and MOD 98 are stamped on top of barrel and no serial # on safety has lead searches to conclude this was a 'Kriegsmodell' made by Mauser in Obendorf, Germany. Person who 'sporterized' replaced original sights with a Lyman rear peep sight and a Redfield front.
Rifle will no longer accept stripper clips due to overhang of rear sight base. Hope this info is useful and any additional info someone may have would be appreciated. Last edited by mdavison; at 05:09 PM.
Reason: additional information.
‘Mauser’ is the common name of German arms manufacturer ‘Mauser-Werke Oberndorf Waffensysteme GmbH’, as well as the line of bolt action rifles they built for the German armed forces. Their designs were widely popular and have been exported to a number of countries, and their design remains the model on which almost every successful bolt action rifle has been built. What was to become Mauser started on July 31, 1811, when Friedrich I of Wurttemberg established a royal weapons factory in Oberndorf, a small town in the German Black Forest.
The factory opened for business the next year, employing 133 workers. In 1867 Wilhelm and Paul Mauser invented a rotating bolt system for breechloaders that was simpler and quicker to operate than systems currently in service. It didn’t take very long for the advantages of the weapon to make themselves clear, and in 1871 the most recent version of their design became the standard German infantry rifle, known in service as the ‘Gewehr 71’ (infantry weapon model 1871), ‘Gew 71’ or ‘G71’ for short. Production started at the Oberndorf factory for the infantry version firing a 11x60mm round from a long 85cm barrel, and shorter versions were introduced with the 70cm barreled jaeger and 50cm cavalry carbine. A number of slightly modified versions were widely sold to other countries, with rounds that would today be considered very large, typically 9.5 to 11.5mm in caliber. In 1887 Vetterli-Vitali introduced the box magazine to rifle design, and the Germans introduced this into their own service with the Mannlicher Model 1888, better known as the 1888 Commission Rifle, which was chambered for a round designated “7.92x57J”.
This classic round, with minor modifications, became the standard round for the vast majority of all subsequent Mauser designs, and is known to this day, in common parlance, as the 8mm Mauser. Paul started work on his own designs using box magazines, but had trouble with the design and instead used a long spring-loaded tube in the buttstock for several models. In 1892 Paul designed a new extractor, the small claw that pulls the empty cartridges out of the barrel after firing, that did not rotate with the bolt and helped prevent “double feeding” of rounds from a box magazine he had been struggling with. Four hundred of a shorter carbine version known as the ‘Model 92’ were sold to the Spanish Navy using a new smokeless powder in a 7.65mm caliber round.
The next major innovation was the ‘Model 93’, which introduced a short staggered-column box magazine holding five 7x57mm rounds flush with the bottom of the rifle, which could be quickly reloaded by pushing a strip of rounds down from the top of the open bolt. The new 7×57 round became the standard round for the Spanish armed forces, as well as for the militaries of several Latin American nations, and is dubbed, in common usage, the 7mm Mauser. This model was widely employed by the Spanish Army, and was used to temendous effect during the Battle of San Juan Hill in Cuba where 700 Spanish regulars held off an attack by 15,000 US troops armed with.30-40 Krag rifles for twelve hours. This led the US to develop their own version of the Mauser design, which would become the Springfield Model 1903. The results of this battle were seen around the world, and orders soon poured in for Mauser rifles. Turkey purchased the Model 93, Brazil and Sweden the ‘Model 94’. The ‘Model 95’ was very similar to the Model 93, and was sold to Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, the South African Republic (Boer Transvaal and Orange Free State ), China and Iran.
The South African versions faced the British during the Boer War and proved deadly at long ranges, forcing the British to design their own rifle on the Mauser pattern, eventually delivering the SMLE which would remain the standard British infantry weapon until the 1950s. In 1896 Mauser also branched out into pistol design, producing the design of another team of brothers, Fidel, Friedrich, and Josef Feederle as the C96. This design was rather impractical due to the forward mounting of the magazine making it so nose heavy that many were equipped with a small stock to keep it under control. Nevertheless its distinct “broomhandle” shape remains well known to this day. Over a million C96’s were produced between 1896 and 1936 when production ended. In 1897 the Mausers were given control of the factory, forming ‘Waffenfabrik Mauser AG’. In 1898 the German army also purchased a Mauser design, which would become the most famous of them all.
The ‘Model 98’ incorporated all of the improvements of earlier models, and entered German service as the ‘Gew. Movie outline 3 1 keygengurus. Like the newer models the 98 used a rear-mounted bolt handle that was easier to access than the more common designs that placed the handle directly over the bolt, forward of the trigger.
In 1905 the “spitzer” round was introduced which used a modern pointed tip instead of the older rounded nose profile, and most existing Model 98’s were rechambered for this new round, designated “7.92x57JS”. A slightly shorter carbine version known as the ‘Kar 98’ was introduced in World War I but appears to have seen very little production and remains rare. An even shorter version, the ‘Karabiner Kurz’ (carbine, short) was later introduced and served as the primary German infantry weapon from 1935 until the end of World War II, known in service as the ‘K98k’ or ‘KAR 98’. In 1940 Mauser was invited to take place in a competition to re-equip the German army with a semi-automatic rifle, the Gewehr 41. The requirements specified that the design should not drill holes into the barrel, thereby requiring “odd” mechanisms that proved unreliable. Two designs were submitted, and the Mauser version, the ‘G 41(M)’ failed miserably in testing and was cancelled after a short production run.
The Walter version didn’t do much better, but was later improved with the addition of a simpler gas-actuated system. With the fall of Germany at the end of the war, Oberndorf came under French control, and the entire factory was dismantled by the occupying forces.
All records in the factory were destroyed on orders of the local US Army commander. Edmund Heckler, Theodor Koch and Alex Seidel, former Mauser engineers, saved what they could and used it to start Heckler and Koch. The Allies held control of the Mauser company and its resources until 1952 when some former managers were allowed to resume gun manufacture under the Mauser name. Some light arms were made but the company eventually began to focus on large automatic heavy weaponry used by NATO, such as cannons on ships. Today, they only make one rifle used for snipers which is still based on the Gewehr 98 bolt design. Along the way, the patent for many of the Mauser gun designs had expired, prompting Mauser to patent a new logo/name of “The Original Mauser” which became the brand of the sporting rifle division of the company.
Sigarms’ parent company, SIG (Swiss Industrial Co.), acquired part of Mauser in 1999. This civil arms division was split off from the Mauser group, forming the, which roughly translates to Mauser Hunting Rifles Ltd.
SigArms recently made a Mauser branded M2 Pistol in 2000. Let’s hope they continue to make fine Mauser guns. Larry buckneberg I have a mauser rifle from the early WWII era I think. I’ll put up all the information I have and hopefully the year and model can be determined. The rifle has all war markings removed and a serial number #7603 was stamped on the reciever.
And trigger guard. It is 48.5 inches long, the slide bolt is 7″ long with a straight handle marked 3865. The stock is a smooth one piece with no bolts going thru. The bottom part of the forehand is around 10 inches longer than the top with one ring at where the top and bottom meet. The bayonet is 9.5″ inches #2899s 41cof the Handel is the dark baked finish. The inspection mark is there and the serial number is above that and it also checks out. The leather sling looks real.
I have just inherited a single bolt action bolt rifle and i no idea of the caliber it might be 8mm but i am not sure, it has a 19 inch barrel the from the tip of the barrel to the breach and from top of barrel to the end of the stock it is 41 inches long and the serial#M8650 it is on the Breach and under neath the breach in front of the trigger guard. The bolt is 7 inches long all so on the end of the bolt it has a enlarge lever mechanism with a serrated lever at the back and it has the numbers 751 stamp on it,also it has the number 877 stamped on the large cylinder in which the firing pin bolt slides thru. There are more letters and numbers stamp on the top of the breach 2 letters RE and the numbers S 9258 i hope this helps you to identify this rifle. Thank you LT Waite.
August327, You have an Original Oberndorf Sporting Rifle made by Mauser, not a remodeled military rifle. Commercial proof marks Crowns over BUGN.
Looks like Sporting Carbine Type M pattern 720 (pg. 126 Jon Speed Original Oberndorf Sporting Rifles). Serial # 118197 places it pre-war 1936-37. There were only 127,000 Commercial Mausers produced and many have been altered or destroyed. Mr Speed evaluates the Model M carbine between $1000.
Depending on condition and extras. Its a pretty keeper for people who like fine commercial mausers, but if you must sell get Mr Speeds book and educate yourself on what you have and not get cheated on price.
![]() Mauser Rifle Serial Number Search
Good luck, wish it were mine. August327, You have an Original Oberndorf Sporting Rifle made by Mauser, not a remodeled military rifle. Commercial proof marks Crowns over BUGN. Looks like Sporting Carbine Type M pattern 720 (pg. 126 Jon Speed Original Oberndorf Sporting Rifles). Serial # 118197 places it pre-war 1936-37.
There were only 127,000 Commercial Mausers produced and many have been altered or destroyed. Mr Speed evaluates the Model M carbine between $1000. Depending on condition and extras.
Its a pretty keeper for people who like fine commercial mausers, but if you must sell get Mr Speeds book and educate yourself on what you have and not get cheated on price. Good luck, wish it were mine. Bob So when did they quit using the full crowns over BUGN? And everything I've read said serial numbers are generally meaningless in Mausers. Is this not the case with commercial sporters? August, A little more info on the proof marks, 1924 German commercial proof laws changed and in addition to Crown over B (rifle proofed in assembled form), Crown over U(final inspection proof), sporting arms were stamped with a Crown over G (indicating a weapon with a rifled bbl).
Mauser Serial Number Search
The BUG proofs were applied from 1924-1934, a fourth mark, Crown over N was applied from 1933-34 to late 1939 (to signify the rifle was proofed with nitro-based powder, Crown N was also used on military contract guns for export.) The BGN marks on your rifle look washed out from being polished, with a distinct Crown over U. Maybe it was reblued at the Mauser factory? Your barrel does not snap on/off its most likely the scope is removeable with quick detatchable mounts. Bob - 06/04/11 Re: how to identify model and age of Mauser Rifle Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 3,101 Campfire Guide Campfire Guide Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 3,101. I sold a well used but all original model M 30-06 a few years ago for $1000. It was not in as good of condition as the one you have. I visited Fred Wells in Prescott ( his son Rube has one of the best Mauser sporter collections in the US) later that year and told him.
At that time he said I had sold if for less than half of it's worth! This past year I picked up another model B in 30-06 here in Alaska and I don't plan on letting it go. Rifle magazine will have a seperate magazine out this October specificly on Mauser sporters.
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The script on the side of the action matches my commercial Mauser 98, and it is dated to mid 30s production. I was not aware of any post war production of Mausers in the 50s (German arms companies were disbanded, the machines and tooling sold or confiscated).
The Brevex Mauser was reportedly manufactured in France on machinery confiscated/bought from the German arms industry closure. 06/05/11 Re: how to identify model and age of Mauser Rifle Joined: Feb 2001 Posts: 398 Campfire Regular Campfire Regular Joined: Feb 2001 Posts: 398.
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