Research Request on Austrian Model 1912 Rifles
While a number of books discuss the various models of these rifles under the countries they were made for, e.g., the Mexican Model 1912, the Chilean Model 1912, the Columbian Model 1912, etc., there is no generally available reference on these rifles. We (John Wall and Stan Zielinski) would like to assemble information on these rifles - how were they marked, who used them and when, how many were used by Austria in World War 1, what happened to these rifles after World War 1, etc. While some facts have been discovered (see below), many more remain unknown. We are asking for your assistance in assembling any information you may have, either from the rifles themselves or from any other source of information. Any information collected will be published in The Military Rifle Journal.
As a first focus, we would like to try to establish how the rifles retained and used by Austria in World War I are marked. Here are a few points that have been asserted (mostly drawn fron Tuco's Mauser Collector's Forum).
1. Walter's book says that the rifles the Austrians used were refitted with wide sling swivels to accommodate the Austrian issue sling. Several owners of these rifles have noted that their rifles have been fitted with extremely wide sling swivels, measuring internally about 1 3/8 to 1 1/2 inches wide (outside approximately 240 x 400 mm).
2. The receivers of the contract rifles apparently were not blued. Some collectors have noted rifles with blued receivers. Are blued receivers an indication of Austrian use in World War 1? Or are these later reworks?
3. Austrian used rifles may have had unit markings stamped on the top tang of the buttplate. Does anyone have Model 1912 rifles with such buttplate markings?
4. Another possible indicator of Austro-Hungarian M1912 use is the presence of the Wien "W", the Hapsburg eagle and the 2 digit year date stamped on the barrel between the rear sight and the receiver. Only one such rifle has been reported.
We would also like to ask if there are readers who have Yugoslav or Serbian Mauser short rifles which are marked "M24b" on their receivers which may have legible remnants of previous Steyr markings on the receiver itself or on the siderails, or remnants of the "RM" (Republica de Mexico) on the receiver or small parts. The German Army's "Kennblatter Fremden Gerat" manual on foreign ordnance contains a supplement on Yugoslav arms captured after their invasion of the Balkans in 1941 in which they list the model "M24b" and describe it as being composed of three types of early long Mauser rifles, which had been rebuilt at Kragujevac as short rifles. One of the three sources of "M24b" short rifles is the Steyr Mexican M1912.
Please send any information you have on Steyr M1912 long rifles or short rifles (with 55 cm or 21.5 inch barrels) which have one or more of the above characteristics to:
John Wall
20 Yale Avenue
Wakefield MA 01880
E-mail: JohnJWall@aol.com