1893 dwm s/n 380

[jmoore]

I'm 99% sure the centerpiece of the carving was removed. Looking at other carvings it looks like the owner's name may have been in the middle of the vine work. Definitely a low spot in that area.

[butlersrangers]

'henryR' - Yes, the 'smoking farmers' look more formidable than the 'city slickers'.

[butlersrangers]

'jmoore' - Too bad about the name being removed. You might try doing a 'Rubbing' with paper & pencil or crayon of that area of the Stock. Some detail may be revealed.

A friend once had a Boer Mauser with a nicely carved stock. It bore the name "Piet Fouche", IIRC, "Geborden 18_ _". It was really cool.

A French Huguenot name, I believe. Some Boers were descended from French Protestant refugees that fled to South Africa in the 1600s (Religious Wars).

[Patrick Chadwick]

JM, just to encourage you to shoot your newest discovery, here's the link to the thread and photos on my Boer carbine.

https://www.milsurps.com/showthread....highlight=Boer

I found that it shoots best with Sellier & Bellot ammo with the SPCE bullet. Makes very clean holes in the target!

As to the name being erased, in an earlier thread I seem to remember that RobD wrote that the Boers found it prudent not to inscribe their names on their rifles, in case they fell into British hands with consequent baaad trouble** for the owner! So in a curious way, the fact that a name seems to have been inscribed and then removed speaks for the work having been an original Boer decoration!


**Here's the thread with RobD's comments on names:
https://www.milsurps.com/showthread....highlight=Boer

[butlersrangers]

A friend, knowledgeable about Mausers, recalls seeing a photo (or photos) of British soldiers burning huge piles of captured/surrendered Boer arms, upon the conclusion of the South African War.

I remember reading about Boers throwing their rifle bolts into rivers and breaking their rifle stocks against trees, before surrendering their arms.

It was a bitter war with destruction of farms and concentration camps. Some Boers would not accept the peace agreement and were forced into exile.

[jmoore]

Have been away from computers for almost a week, trying to bag a deer on public land. But have also been slowly cleaning the Mauser as well. The metal is coming along well, the worse annoyance being the scrubbing it received before the treacle finish was applied. Scrubbed enough to remove some bluing! But it's not extensive, fortunately. Appears to have been done mostly with the rifle assembled....

Bore may have a wee bit of corrosion, but I've shot much worse. May not take well to cast bullets though.

The stock resisted all attempts to remove the "treacle" until some Citristrip was used. Saw the thread regarding it and decided to give it a try. Not displeased!

Having some dramas getting photos uploaded, so pictures may be delayed a bit.

[jmoore]

Some photos, finally! Kinda hastily uploaded, but album is public so those saavy folk can snoop about freely.















Pre-cleanup photos. Still all in pieces, but looking rather better.

[jmoore]

Having chemically removed as much of the Bubba treacle finish as I feel comfortable doing, and having examined a number of pristine South American contract Mausers (mostly DWM mfg.) last week, I have questions.

Firstly, did Mauser/DWM utilize any stain on their stocks? Those crispy fresh late 1800s to early 1900s examples had wood that ranged from a very light orange to rather dark. But no sign of artificial hue manipulation. Looked more like the cause was the wood itself combined with natural darkening of the protective oil finish.

Second, is there any documentation as to what oil would have been factory applied? If it was linseed oil, it must have been very lightly applied and likely boiled as RLO seems to darken rather more over time. But it could be the example rifles were crated for most of their existence.

[jmoore]

Looks like old BLO gives the best results. Tried several different approaches. ETA: By "old" I do mean OLD. Can label predates not only bar codes but US ZIP codes as well.

Big thanks to Patrick Chadwick and butlersrangers!

[jmoore]

Finally back together. Spent all weekend cleaning small parts. Getting the treacle off the trigger was an all day deal as even paint stripper took hours to just loosen it a little. Some fire blue left, but it just doesn't show well in the photos. Happily, the back side of the rear sight elevator also turned out to have some fire blue left as well.










Don't know if "L.R." did the carving or if it was a first go at the owner's ID of his rifle. It appears to predate the vinework.



Lots more photos here:

Cleaned And Oiled Boer Mauser 93 Slideshow by dave4201 | Photobucket

Some ok, others not yet culled. Have another album with the "precleaned" conditions like so:


"Treacle" so thick the rear swivel would only seat about halfway down at the rear!


Hard brown non protective but almost chemically impervious coating on lower trigger.

There's more photos to upload to P'bucket, yet! Seem to have missed some.

Quite happy how it is coming around, even though the stock seems unnaturally light colored under the flash. In person, it's not too "off".