[RAY1946]

Went to the OGCA show a few weeks ago carrying around an old Sharps replica I had planned to use in the cowboy matches. About half way thru the show an older bearded gentleman approached and asked to look at my rifle. He really liked it and I kind of thought he would buy it; we agreed on a price and he walked off with a nice rifle. I looked around for a while and saw several 09' Argentines; a few of them looked as though they were mint. The price on most of these was in the $600.00-$800.00 range.

I was heading into the last 5 or 6 rows of tables when I spotted a row of 6 old militaries in an upright rack. It was about 3:15 and most of the show was thinning out pretty good. As I approached the tables there was a large display case with a large number of Lugers and other "high-end" collector pistols. At the end of the one table was the rack with the old Mausers. One of them in particular caught my eye because it had that wonderful old Lange rear sight. I eased over and looked at the tag in the trigger guard and it read" 7mm Peruvian Mauser". I asked and was granted permission to examine the rifle. I looked it over with a rather stern eye pointed out that the bore appeared to be pitted and apparently none of the numbers on the rest of the rifle matched. He explained that the rifle had been taken in trade for a pistol and that he wasn't quite certain about the overall condition. He was asking $850.00 and after nodding my head several times and grimacing I offered $700.00.

I usually don't buy a rifle without first examining the bore, because besides collecting, I also like shooting cast bullets in these beautiful old rifles. The first thing I done when I got it home was to push a patch thru the bore. The patch slid thru easily and came out with an inch long gob of grease on it. The bore and rifling is PERFECT. I was so tickled to get this rifle I am still walking around with a smile.

I really haven't kept up with the current price on these rifles, so I am asking, did I do all right for $700.00?..................

 

[geladen]

$700 is on the high end for a mismatched M1909 Peruvian, but you did get an MAUSER ORIGINAL. It says so right on the receiver ring.

Regards,
Bill

 

[RAY1946]

Thanks so much. I am going to post some fotos in a few days. Question: Does anyone on this forum ever shoot their Mausers?

 

[geladen]

Many do. Personally, the older I get the more I collect and the less I shoot.

Regards,
Bill

 

[mrniceguy]

These are some of the most beautiful Mausers, and you are right, there is something special with the "lange vizier" sight.
I think you did well.
Here is mine, I acquired last year for ~$700 CAD:

 

[lornedavis]

I have never seen one of these with a matched bolt that was 'as new' (as pictured above) I have owned two, still have one and both are m/m. Seems the whole batch of new rifles were imported by one outfit back in the 60's, my first one came from there. They all had m/m bolts. The bayo's cost extra, still have that.

 

[ADCC]

Congratulations for your purchase; you've got a very nice rifle despite of its "flaws".

As I've explained before, mismatching bolts is very, very common, since there was never the military gunsmiths' procedures to keep the guns with their original parts. When cleaned, bolts were mixed and when stored outside the military installations, bolts and rifles were kept in different locations to avoid theft so that's why they were later assembled without caring about the serial numbers. Those still matching were almost for sure seldom, if ever, used and/or deployed; according to an old collector, 1/3 of the whole lot were kept in their original factory packing until they were sold as surplus in the early '60s.

Cast bullets will be no issue in those. With a "handgun load" and 175gr. Spitzer bullets with no gas check they should hit dead center in a pistol target with the rear sight set @ 600 meters and aiming 6:00 of the black disk @ 110 yards. 1" 3-shot groups aren't unusual if rifle is placed in a sandbag rest and bore is fine.