Questions regarding 1887 dated Belgian made 1893 Spanish Mauser........Pics are up

4694 Views 17 Replies 10 Participants Last post by VDB, Mar 10, 2012

ARG

Discussion Starter · Mar 6, 2012 (Edited)

Greetings to all. I just recently purchased a somewhat strange looking 1893 Spanish Mauser. It is completely non-matching, but all the parts have the same strange proof marks: a letter "N" inside a square box.

On the receiver is stamped "Fabrique Nationale Herstal Liege 1887". On the side rail is the four digit serial number. The bolt exhibits the same odd proof marks, plus the bolt face is flat on the bottom, and the bolt face is smaller in diameter than the actual bolt body. Something I have never seen before.

On the plus side, the bore is very nice and shiny, and the stock has no evidence of cracks or repairs. I will post pics when I have a chance......

I have searched the Internet for references regarding the Belgian 1887 Mauser and have found none.

Many thanks, ARG

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Nyles

· #10 · Mar 7, 2012

DocAV said:
Look at the Type Font of the "1887" and you will see it is "serifed" style; THis style fell out of use Before WW II, because it was difficult to generate the stamps, and they were subject to fractures of the serifs ( "tails") on letters and Numbers.

SO, the Marking was NOT a "fraud" to help US soldiers import it from Ganistan...more likely a Rack number or store number for internal inventory of some small user. The chances of Serifed stamps existing in good condition in either Iraq or Afghanistan is like winning the El Gordo Lottery in Spain.

Interesting question, now..which user?

Doc AV

I have to respectfully disagree.. during my time in Kandahar in 2009/2010 I saw alot of stuff in the market with serif stamps - fake WW1-dated British surveying instruments being an espescially popular item. I think Afghan fakery has evolved alot over the last 10 years or so as they start dealing with a more and more educated consumer base.

Not that that stopped a certain young Captain from battlegroup headquarters from buying about $2000 worth of ``diamonds`` at the KAF market...

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