1877 Spandau M71 IG w/ WWI Service

[chrisftk]

Hi All,

Here is another one-- this is a nice matching Spandau M71 IG. This is in great condition by M71 standards with a crisp stock and a good bit of finish left on a barrel. The bands are, as usual, pretty worn, but I believe that is a function of the fragility of the finish used on them. This one does not have a unit mark and likely was pulled from a depot into rear line service during WWI. SN is 2714 with a manufacture date of 1877. There are not a lot of reported Spandaus out there (or of non-Amberg M71s in general)

A couple of cool features that give pretty conclusive WWI provenance--

1) A dufflecut behind the rear band-- not often seen on these.
2) Wartime steel triggerguard-- as outlined in Storz, brass was needed for shell casings and the brass guards removed from a number of M71 rifles to be melted down. They were replaced by a steel guard that was painted (not blued) with a black enamel. The triggerguard screws are m/m, which leads me to believe the replacement process was done as an expedient and effort was not made to match or renumber screws. My Erfurt M71 also has a steel guard and m/m screws, so that's at least another data point for the practice.

All and all a cool example that illustrates some neat WWI traits.

Thanks for looking-

 

[chrisftk]

More pics

 

[chrisftk]

Last pics

 

[MichaelWC]

Chris this is probably my favorite M1871 of yours. I am happy you got it. That stock looks great for its age. Like I said before. I actually didn't even notice the steel triggerguard on the GB photos.

 

[CLG]

Very nice! Pardon my ignorance, but tell me about the date marking, clearly two fonts, did they build batches of receivers dated 18__and then fill in the year at assembly? Seems unlikely.

 

[chrisftk]

Very nice! Pardon my ignorance, but tell me about the date marking, clearly two fonts, did they build batches of receivers dated 18__and then fill in the year at assembly? Seems unlikely.

Hi Charles-- that's a great observation and I think they actually did stamp the last 2 digits later... See my Spandau Kar71 as another example. Maybe something the Prussian arsenals did? I'll check my Erfurt and Danzig M71 rifles later to see.

 

[CLG]

Interesting. I wonder if there are ways to identify batches by other markings (serial numbers or proofs?) before the final date numbers were applied.

 

[PrayingMantis]

Great 71, Chris, and first 71 Spandau in the reference!

 

[Loewe]

Good observation on the date! These are pretty elusive, outside of Steyr and Amberg these are pretty rare... I think I had this one in the trends but added a few details, the cypher and the link to this thread.

 

[chrisftk]

Good observation on the date! These are pretty elusive, outside of Steyr and Amberg these are pretty rare... I think I had this one in the trends but added a few details, the cypher and the link to this thread.

Thanks Paul- I'm assuming that the scarcity of these is tied to the fact that many were dumped on the surplus market once repeaters became available. Beyond the scarcity, most I see are pretty rough with little finish.

There have been some nice ones popping up of late though. This completed the arsenal set for me. I also nailed down Mauser, Steyr and NAA. My stretch goal is to get the full set like I did with carbines. I need the Sommerda and Suhl Consortium to make that happen (not holding my breath)

 

[mauser1908]

Great 71 Chris! I must say these are growing on me.

 

[Loewe]

I too think more of these than the 71/84's, especially when speaking of Spandau; the 71's just have so much character and in Spandau's case I really dislike the serialing method, - for instance compared to Danzig in the same modell, you can get a grasp of production patterns and numbers made per year, a progression of their involvement.

Anyway, there is a lot more challenges to 71 production (interpretations) than 71/84 and I like the character the 71's carry, they were used and have some history, not sure the same is true of most 71/84's one encounters.

 

[chrisftk]

I too think more of these than the 71/84's, especially when speaking of Spandau; the 71's just have so much character and in Spandau's case I really dislike the serialing method, - for instance compared to Danzig in the same modell, you can get a grasp of production patterns and numbers made per year, a progression of their involvement.

Anyway, there is a lot more challenges to 71 production (interpretations) than 71/84 and I like the character the 71's carry, they were used and have some history, not sure the same is true of most 71/84's one encounters.

I agree 100% on the Spandau serialization method. Doing blocks of 10,000 and not giving any sort of indication on roll over sequence just seems odd to me and atypical of what you'd expect.