Hello from down under!

hi all

Tim here from Australia.

hoping to find some good stuff, knowledge and like minded individuals to share Mauser related talks with.

being in Australia, mausers are nigh on impossible to find, unless it was imported to Australia.

it wasn't as prolific for 'vet bring backs' as we had a smaller Standing army in ww2 compared to the US.

but heres hoping!

timmy_tam said:

hi all

Tim here from Australia.

hoping to find some good stuff, knowledge and like minded individuals to share Mauser related talks with.

being in Australia, mausers are nigh on impossible to find, unless it was imported to Australia.

it wasn't as prolific for 'vet bring backs' as we had a smaller Standing army in ww2 compared to the US.

but heres hoping!

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Welcome Tim. Hey what the story on private firearm ownership down under, I was under the impression (maybe incorrectly) that you folks were made to give them up years ago. Hope that more reasonable heads have prevailed.

Welcome abaord.

k98dave said:

Welcome Tim. Hey what the story on private firearm ownership down under, I was under the impression (maybe incorrectly) that you folks were made to give them up years ago. Hope that more reasonable heads have prevailed.

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Just semi-auto centre-fire rifles, as well as semi-auto shotguns and pump shotguns were banned in Aus IIRC .

Just like here in the UK in 1988 after the Hungerford mass shooting (although they didn't ban semi-auto and pump shotguns here in UK, just mag restricted to 3 rounds on a shotgun licence) and more recently in NZ after the mass shooting there.

I can imagine Mauser's are indeed quite rare down under. They aren't that common here in the UK, given the millions of them that were around just the other side of the English Channel/North Sea....!!

Hi Tim, welcome to the forum.

GeeRam said:

I can imagine Mauser's are indeed quite rare down under. They aren't that common here in the UK, given the millions of them that were around just the other side of the English Channel/North Sea....!!

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Geeram, I imagine the "bring-back" policy for Commonwealth soldiers was strict after WWII (or simply no duffel bag for the rifles), you may have probably more Gew98/Kar 98a than K98k.

Guillaume d'Orange said:

Geeram, I imagine the "bring-back" policy for Commonwealth soldiers was strict after WWII (or simply no duffel bag for the rifles), you may have probably more Gew98/Kar 98a than K98k.

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Correct after WW2.
My father tried to bring back a P08 and a MP40 when he returned to UK from Kiel on a troopship in early 1946, but the Military Police onboard went through the ship and all the troops possessions very carefully, and all firearms/grenades etc found were thrown overboard as they crossed the North Sea. The only German military items they were allowed to keep were things like bayonets/daggers/insignia/medals etc.

Very few if any, Gew98/Kar 98a were brought back after WW1 either, although P08 Lugers as bring back by officers was indeed quite common after WW1. Many of these were turning up in the hands of criminals in the 1950's to 1970's era after being found in attics etc when houses were cleared from WW1 vets as they passed away.

GeeRam said:

Correct after WW2.
My father tried to bring back a P08 and a MP40 when he returned to UK from Kiel on a troopship in early 1946, but the Military Police onboard went through the ship and all the troops possessions very carefully, and all firearms/grenades etc found were thrown overboard as they crossed the North Sea. The only German military items they were allowed to keep were things like bayonets/daggers/insignia/medals etc.

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Interesting!

There may be some WWI Mauser or older ones in Ireland (Germany supporting independists), but that's a different kettle of fish.