If you have ever picked up a bolt-action rifle made in the past century or so, odds are, at least a few of its features owe a hat tip to a gun that dates back to an age when men were men and mustaches were waxed. That’s right, we are talking about the Mauser M71, and it launched a gun-making empire.
In 1870, the most advanced rifles in the world were arguably the tubular-magazine repeaters of Mr. Winchester and Mr. Spencer, both residents of the United States. The lever action Spencer had accounted well for itself during the just-ended U.S. Civil War, while the Winchester carbines, also lever guns, were selling like hotcakes.
Meanwhile, Imperial Germany had just become its own unified country, defeating the French in the Franco-Prussian War. And during this conflict, the German Army had been saddled with their obsolete Dreyse zundnadelgewehr (needle-gun).
This single-shot breech-loader was better than muzzle loading muskets, and could fire 4-5 rounds per minutes but its paper cartridges were easily damaged. The Germans learned harsh lessons from French infantry who were equipped with the more rapidly fired Chassepot rifle, which could easily double the firepower of the Teutonic hordes. Had the Germans not used superior tactics as well as enjoyed a good bit of martial luck, the war would have likely ended with a French victory.
This left the newly minted German Kaiser crawfishing for better rifles, and a set of hungry brothers by the name of Mauser were ready…
Read the rest in my column at Guns.com
