Austro-Hungarian Army ex-Mexican M1912 unit marked to Landsturm Battalion 91

mosin46 said:

great find,again. are these around at all from a sizable previous import? never seen a mexican outside of pics and only 2 columbians.

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Hi Mosin46,
No, these rifles have never be available or imported in quantity anywhere, even out of Mexico...if any were ever delivered. I have only seen two in the past 40 years and own both of them. It hard to track down what happened to them after WW I. The Czechoslovaks ended up with around 5,000 and they sold these to Yugoslavia, who later converted them to M24b's. The Steyr production line for these rifles was sold to a Chinese warlord who installed it at Mukden (Arsenal of the Three Eastern Provinces) and used it to make the Manchurian Mauser known as the Type or Model 13.

The few Mexican M1912 around I suspect were brought back by US troops who picked them up in the offensives of the fall of 1918, or they were part of the 72,000 Central Powers rifles brought back from Europe in 1919-1920 by the US War Departrment for distribution to American Legion and VFW posts. (Of the 72,000 trophy rifles, 5,000 were cataloged as "Other", in other words, Not German M71's, 71/84's, Gew 88's, Gew 98's, Kar 98's, A/h M.88's, or A/H M.95's.) Both rifles that I have are in original circa 1918 Austro-Hungarian condition.
Regards,
John

keithreid said:

my google-fu came up with a couple of links, hope they help.

http://www.austro-hungarian-army.co.uk/troophis.htm
http://www.militaerpass.net/mp_inf.htm


if you google austrian landsturm, it comes up with several books that might have more information. it even called up NYT articles from 1914 that talked about the landsturm.

y'all have a good day, Keith

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Hi Keith,
Thanks for the URL's. In the year between now and when I originally posted this rifle, I have spent alot of time periodcially searching for information on this battalion. So far, nothing at all. However, I soon started refining the search terms I was using and also tried a number of other search engines besides Google and made some progress. Early on, I realized that most A/H Landsturm battalions were used as "etappen" or Lines of Communications guards, who did not do front line service. Since this profile did not explain readily how these Mexican M1912's got to the USA in 1918 "frozen in time" condition, I began looking for evidence that an A/H Landsturm unit had served on the Western Front in the fall of 1918 where a rifle like this might have been acquired as a battlefield pick-up or surrendered weapon.

It was a big help owning a Austro-Hungarian M1895 long rifle which is battlefield pick-up from the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. Previously, I was able to trace this rifle (through a plaque on its butt stock) to the US Army's 29th Infantry Division. In reading the 29th's unit history, I learned that the 29th ID attacked and defeated the Austro-Hungarian Army's 1st Infantry Division in late October of 1918 in the Meuse Argonne. I realized that there might have been other A/H units in the area, perhaps a Landsturm battalion in a support role, so I began using variations in German and English of "1st Austro-Hungarian Infantry Divsion" in various search engines. It didn't take long to find out the the A/H 6th Corps was being moved to the Meuse Argonne in late summer and fall of 1918, and that one of the four divisions in the 6th Corps was the only front line A/H Landsturm Divsion, the 106th Landsturm Infantry Division. Based on the post-1917 table of organization for A/H infantry divsions, the 106th should have had been composed of two brigades with two regiments each, and each regiment could be expected to have had two to three infantry battalions each. At this point, I have no idea what Landsturm infantry battalion numbers were part of the 106th, but there should have been 8 to 12 battalions in the unit. Maybe one was the 91st? Time will tell!
Regards,
John

Betonfahrer said:

John, Great pictures.Is or was the receiver blued by the Austrians instead of in the white for Mexico? or was that normal for this rifle.It is great to actually see one and the close up or the markings.Too bad they were converted to 24b rifles.

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Hi Keith,
Sorry I missed your question. The receivers for the Mexican rifles in Austro-Hungarian service, as far as we know, based on 4 or 5 observed examples, were blued. I'm not sure that we can extrapolate anything reliable from this and say, for example, that all or even most Mexican receivers were blued...but that could be that case. Both of my Mexican M.1912's are blued and the few that John Sheehan observed, IIRC, were also blued. What we don't know is whether this was an original requirement of the 1912 DWM-Mexican contract (DWM controlled Mauser production at Steyr at that time) or whether the A/H Army had them blued after they acquired the rifles. Other Mexican 12's that came out of Mexico, like TP's noted above, were very worn and abused as I recall, so I'm not sure what their receiver finish was. TP, can you help here? If you unstock your Mexican rifle, is the receiver blued or in the white?
Regards,
John

Hi Keith,
Yes, of the three South and Central American M.1912 contracts that DWM sent to Steyr in the 1912-1914 period (Mexico, Colombia and Chile) some or most of each of these contracts were in Steyr warehouses awaiting shipment or in production in August of 1914. If you check the sticky on Steyr factory production records in our Steyr Mannlicher Forum, you can find the M.1912 production numbers for each country, which all in all, up to mid-1914, total around 94,700 rifles, which breakdown as the following totals:
1. From the Mexican contract: 33,002 rifles
2. From the Colombian contract: 12,160 rifles
3. From the Chilean contract, 43,107 rifles

It may well be that these rifles were the ones that were actually delivered to their clients. It's hard to tell, especially when you match these up to M1912 rifle figures which John Walter lists in his book "Central Powers Small Arms of World War One". He lists Steyr M.1912 production which was (apparently?) on hand in the warehouses awaiting shipment in 1914, which was sequestered in 1914 and gradually taken into A/H Army service. The Chilean contract for 43,107 rifles appears to have been completed early, in the 1912-1913 fiscal year, which may be why we see so many of these on the US collector market. Most were likely delivered and little used.) More may have been made in Steyr's 1914-1915 fiscal year. Production figures for M1912's after August 1914 do not appear to have been published

Walter's book provides these details on quanitities of rifles per country which were in production or storage at Steyr in August, 1914 which were purchased for Austro-Hungarian service:
1. From the Mexican contract, 67,000 rifles in 1914 (p. 153)
2. From the Colombian contract, 5,000 rifles in 1915 (p. 160)
3. From the Chilean contract, 3,000 rifles in 1916 (p. ??)

It would seem that the reason that so few Chilean rifles saw A/H service during WW I was that they were the first order completed and most may have been shipped before the outbreak of the war.

I would also add that there is a fourth variety of the M1912. In A/H service, as was noted above, these Steyr Mausers were known as the "M. 14 Repeating Rifle". There is a version of this rifle in the US Army Ordnance Museum collection at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, which was made at Steyr in 1914, but which lacks any national crest. It is just marked "MOD. 1912" on its receiver ring. I have a photo or two of this rifle which I'll post below. It has a very low serial number so it's an open question as to how many of these may have been produced.
Regards,
John