The First Mauser, The Mauser Norris Model 67/69In the mid 1800’s, two brothers, Paul and Wilhe
The First Mauser, The Mauser Norris Model 67/69In the mid 1800’s, two brothers, Paul and Wilhelm Mauser, had the idea of creating a new bolt action rifle that would use the newly invented self contained metallic cartridge. At the time bolt action rifles had been invented, the most popular being the Dreyse needle gun, a single shot rifle which used a paper cartridge.Paul Mauser had the idea of adapting the Dreyse design to use metallic rimmed cartridges. His improvements included the addition of an extractor for removal of spent cartridge casings, and the replacement of Dreyse’s fragile needle with a proper firing pin, and a system where to firing pin cocked when the bolt was turned.Paul Mauser teamed up with his brother, Wilhelm Mauser, Paul being the designer and Wilhelm being the businessman, and founded a company in their hometown of Oberndorff, Germany. They tried to form a company but they needed outside funding. The turned to an American; Samuel Norris, Remington Company’s European business representative. With funding from Norris, and patents in the United States and Austria, production of the new rifle began, called the Model 67/69 Mauser Norris rifle. Unfortunatly nobody wanted to buy the rifle. The Mauser’s primary client, the Prussian Military, didn’t want to give up their trusty Dreyse Needle Rifles, the French could not buy due to economic reasons, and in the civilian market American lever action rifle were all the rage. It is unknown how many Mauser Norris rifles were produced, but they are very rare.The failure of the first Mauser design did not mean the failure of the Mauser brothers. Within a few decades the Mauser name would become the foremost name in German firearms design. In the future they would create revolutionary designs such a the M93 “Spanish” Mauser, the Gewehr 98 or World War I, and Karabiner 98K of World War II. Today most bolt action designs are a copy of, or related to one of Mauser’s action designs. -- source link
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