GUN SPRING 2017
The live portion of this session begins on Tuesday, April 11, 2017.
UNIQUE MAUSER PRE-STEPBARREL CARBINE. MAUSER C96 CARBINE 9 9MM MAUSER Serial number 9 on firing pin, bolt, subframe, follower and floor-plate. With later correct type hollow wooden stock and attaching iron numbered 9 to match. Bears crown U proof mark. This is the only known Mauser factory prototype carbine identical to and possibly the very pistol illustrated on the frontispiece of SYSTEM MAUSER by Breathed and Schroeder as well as in THE BROOMHANDLE PISTOL 1896-1936. The photograph in black and white is credited to Herr August Weiss and the Mauser factory in Oberndorf. This is the only Mauser carbine known with a rectangular trigger guard with the pinhole through it, the same unique feature as the carbine in the Weiss photo. Another prototype carbine finished in the white is illustrated in the archives of the late Fred Datig which also has the square trigger guard with the pinhole. A similar ultra-rare Mauser carbine was sold in this room from the renowned Dr. Geoff Sturgess Collection however Dr. Sturgess' carbine featured a later half round trigger guard. Serial number 9 is without doubt one of the very first Mauser carbines and the only example with these features known. A prize for the most advanced collector of C96's or early shoulder stocked pistols. PROVENANCE: The Friedrich-Wilhelm Dauphin Collection - Germany. CONDITION: The bbl and action retains about 50% orig blue with considerable fading around the bbl and rails. The extractor is a replacement and most of the fire blue has faded from the small parts, excepting the safety whose fire blue has been enhanced. The attaching stock, recently manufactured, is in near new condition with only a few minuscule scuffs on wood and no appreciable wear on the lug. Dull bore with shallow rifling and considerable oxidation. Perfect manual mechanics. A very rare and unusual carbine. This conforms to the earliest pattern guns shown in most of the Broomhandle Mauser texts notably Breathed and Schroeder which illustrates a similar carbine in its end paper. Possibly the only opportunity the Mauser C96 collector will have to acquire an example of this type. The only other known sale also by James D. Julia was lot #3034 from the Sturgess Collection sold in March of 2014. 49828-194 LMA (50,000-75,000)