A very well used Mauser 1871 Jägerbüchse

[Teku]

Just came in today: A very well used Mauser 1871 Jägerbüchse.
I kinda like how its been sticked together to keep in use for as long as possible given the nature of the fighting that occurred in Africa where this one more than likely saw service with the Askari.

it does need some love given that it has issues with the stock looking like it was chewed on by wood worms, the action is very stiff and needs some grease. Otherwise, it feels good, and the bore has very strong rifling with minimal wear on it.

I did has a question though. Is the trigger supposed to have a little give to it? I don't know the term atm for what its like, but unlike on my original 1871, I can actually pull it some before it gets to the stage where I fire it. Just something I was wondering is normal for this gun

Big Shoutout to Chrisftk for finding this gun for sale for me and helping me add it to my collection

 

[chrisftk]

Just came in today: A very well used Mauser 1871 Jägerbüchse.
I kinda like how its been sticked together to keep in use for as long as possible given the nature of the fighting that occurred in Africa where this one more than likely saw service with the Askari.

it does need some love given that it has issues with the stock looking like it was chewed on by wood worms, the action is very stiff and needs some grease. Otherwise, it feels good, and the bore has very strong rifling with minimal wear on it.

I did has a question though. Is the trigger supposed to have a little give to it? I don't know the term atm for what its like, but unlike on my original 1871, I can actually pull it some before it gets to the stage where I fire it. Just something I was wondering is normal for this gun

Big Shoutout to Chrisftk for finding this gun for sale for me and helping me add it to my collection

Glad you got it! It's got some history to it... The stock repair is very interesting. I am wondering why you are thinking it served in Africa? The ones issued in the colonies were generally stamped with a property mark on the stock, which I don't see here. My money would be on European wartime service with a support unit or it's possible it was sold to another country on the surplus market.

The increased slack in the trigger pull is normal for these rifles compared with the line infantry version-- it is the same on all three of my B71.

 

[MichaelWC]

Great looking 1871 Jägerbüchse by ÖWG. I'm going to agree with Chris and say the rifle was used more in Europe instead of being used in the African colonies. The Schutztruppe used Jägerbüchse would normally have a unit mark on the buttplate.
Here is three examples
1875/ÖWG/2687f/Sch.K (This rifle is part of a private collection in Germany) (This Jägerbüchse was also used by the Schutztruppe of Kamerun.)


1875/ÖWG/840c/Sch.D.O.A.430
1.R.I.2.81. (This Jägerbüchse was used by the Schutztruppe of German East Africa.) Old unit mark has been ex-out.


The Polizeitruppe and Landespolizei we're marked with Polizei District marks or an inventory mark.
1880/Danzig/2343/This rifle is marked "ORTSPolizeibehörde Bethanien 359" (This would indicate that it was used by a Kaiserliches Gouvernement Polizei unit at Bethanien in SouthWest Africa, prior to the formation of the Landespolizei in 1905. 359 would be the weapon issue number.)

 

[Teku]

Glad you got it! It's got some history to it... The stock repair is very interesting. I am wondering why you are thinking it served in Africa? The ones issued in the colonies were generally stamped with a property mark on the stock, which I don't see here. My money would be on European wartime service with a support unit or it's possible it was sold to another country on the surplus market.

The increased slack in the trigger pull is normal for these rifles compared with the line infantry version-- it is the same on all three of my B71.

You're both probably right about that. I wasn't aware of the markings that Africa issued ones had. I just made my assumption based on that a lot of them were sent to Africa due to it being the main place where it was still seeing use.

Then again I don't know if there truly is a way to know anymore since the stock had a repair done over where the markings may have been since the bottom half of the buttstock was splinted, which from the looks of it, was the stock of a Standard 1871 rifle.

Edit: here's the other side of the splint. Im not sure why it has that darkened effect. One of my friends commented that was shot there which gave me a laugh.