2 Attachment(s)
Argentine M1891 Mauser, Spanish American War?
Most imported M91 Argentine Mausers are in pretty decent condition, so when I spied this rifle which was showing every one of its 121 years, I knew something was different. So I bought it and began my research.
The first discovery was the original rear sight (same as 88 Commission rifle), which is nearly unheard of, as nearly all of them were replaced with a different leaf for the introduction of the spitzer bullet in 1910. there are only a handful of these sights noted in collections today.
Next, I examined the receiver ring from every angle with high magnification. It simply showed no evidence of having the Argentine Crest ground off.
Then I hit the archives and found a passage by John W.D. Ball in the appendix of Military Mauser Rifles of the World.
Quote:
From p.436 APPENDIX, Spanish Model 1891-1893 Mausers:
4. M1891 Long Rifle
ex-Argentina
(ARMY)
7.65 m/m
Collin Webster reports that in October 1893, Spain purchased 5,000-10,000 long rifles from Argentina which (were) in storage at the Loewe factory in Berlin. At that, Spain needed to quickly arm troops deploying to Africa to put down a rebellion in the region of... the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco. After the crisis was over in March, 1894, all Argentine rifles were sent to Cuba in June, 1894. In 1898, a number were captured in the surrender of Santiago de Cuba and returned to Springfield Armory, Massachusetts where they were auctioned off to the public on January 5, 1899. At the conclusion of the auction, 2,047 Argentine pattern rifles were still unsold. These were later acquired by Bannerman... Argentine M1891 Rifles used by Spain will have the pre-1910 sights for round nose munitions (same slide leaf as the German M.1888 Commission Rifle), the early extractor, short handguard, and a magazine without the large locking screw. There is one report that Spanish purchased M1891s were made with blank receivers without the Argentine National Crest, but this cannot be validated at this time.
So, after speaking at length last evening with a long-time Mauser collector, Jack Carnahan of West Virginia, who also had one of these crest-less Argentine Mausers pass through his hands a few decades ago, it is possible that this gun is the validation which Colin Webster is seeking for the Argentine Mausers (without crest) which were used by Spain in Cuba during the Spanish American War.
Maybe it's one of those which were auctioned off at Springfield Armory? Maybe not? Regardless, it's a complete matching original Argentine M1891 Infantry Rifle. A dandy, and a super-rare find, for sure.
My regular pic hosting site is having fits, so I am hoping this link to an imgur album will suffice. Thanks for looking.
http://imgur.com/a/oL5ce#0
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