Hear is a Mauser granddad brought back. He was with able company, 2nd infantry regiment, 5th infantry division, from Ireland to occupation in Bavaria Don't know much about it really, I remember him bringing it along on a camping trip to Colorado once. Would a german officer have carried this? cheers
looks like the parts are ''simple'', straight edged, etc from a machining view......which, if it works, you can't beat it....I would like to hear from the gun experts...thanks
That's a Mauser Model 1910 "Pocket Pistol" made for commercial use. The caliber should be 6.35 (.25 acp). They also made a Model 1914 that came in both .25 and .32 acp calibers. The 1914 had curved backstrap on the grip - an easy way to tell the difference between the 1910 and 1914. In 1934 they used the 1914 design (with a few changes) in .32 for issue to the Kriegsmarine - the Model 1934. Those pistols would be marked on the frame right above the grip in your pistol. So, this Model 1910 is not a military pistol. The Nazi party had strict gun control laws so this pistol might have been confiscated and used by a railroad guard, woman's auxiliary, something like that.
It was not, as Keith says, an as-issued military pistol and he is likely right in that it was used by non-combatant personnel. The Germans issued an incredibly wide variety of firearms in WW2 -- everything from French Gras rifles to M1928A1 Thompsons -- and as a result there isn't a list saying that "x weapon" was used by "y". It is very likely impossible to trace the provenance. But to play devil's advocate; correct me if I'm wrong, but in WW1 didn't many German officers purchase their own pistols? I seem to have a vague recollection of this carrying into WW2 as well in a limited capacity. Conversely, is it concievable that the pistol was purchased as a WW1 sidearm and then subsequently carried by the same individual in WW2?
I can't imagine a soldier buying a .25 as a military sidearm, especially when a very similar model was available in .32. The Germans were thorough about rounding up handguns in the 30's and punishments were draconian. It could have belonged to somebody in the exempt class - a minor party official perhaps? Or it was just issued to some non-combatant guard of some kind after being confiscated from a civilian owner. It seems like an awful lot of these oddball pistols (when they can be traced) belonged to railroad officials and guards. Apparently, the Germans took rail security very seriously and they ended up with a lot of handguns that the military had no use for. A friend of mine many years ago had a small Czech pistol in .25 that his father had taken from a female auxiliary of some kind. I *think* he said she was in charge of one of those big aircraft spotlight crews. Why she'd need a pistol, I don't know. Badge of Office, probably.
Am I the only one to notice the "Cal 7.65" in the first picture? Although photo quality is poor, can anyone see the serial number in the second photo, or has it been purposely obscured? Well...No, not necessarily. 8,000 were procured by the Wehrmacht, some good info & photos can be found here: http://www.tague.at/pistolen/index.htm?/pistolen/pages/en_mauser1934.htm They were also issued to the German police, but again, the better quality photos are needed.
You are correct. I didn't pay much attention to it because I figured the photo was too blurred to see any detail. 7.65mm would make it a Model 1914 (note that the 1934 model had a very curved backstrap, while the 1914 was straight like on the 1910).
Sorry on the quality, took the photo 10 years ago during a visit to grandma. Like any family I suppose, estate items seem to 'disappear' , anticipating this I wanted a photo record of granddads war prize. To help solve the mystery (or not) he also brought back a 2nd Luft officer dagger, and some binoculars that were for anti- aircraft, I believe. Of course these items could have come from 3 different men, I will never know.
Good catch! I sure didn't see it. It would still be a Model 1914 because of the shape of the grip. I thought the 1914 already had the curved grip, like the 1934 - obviously wrong about that - I just googled pix.
I want to say it is a 1914/34 transitional, but would need a serial for the confirm. Likely an earlier model before the cut-out was added for the serial number.
