Chilean Mauser Short Rifle ?

[Patrick Chadwick]

Dear Contributors,

I sense a certain tenseness in this conversation. Stay calm and look at the photos. May I suggest comparing them with the photos of Chilean rifles, short rifles, and carbines, in Ball, "Mauser Military Rifles of the World"?

- In which it may be seen that both the 1895 short rifle AND the 1895 carbine had protective "ears" around the foresight. That item is missing on the rifle we are examining.

- In which it may also be seen that the bolt handle was turned down on both types, but NOT scalloped out as on the on the rifle we are examining. It does indeed look lke a bolt handle fitted to clear a scope.

As the "ears" are missing, the foresight blade and block are exposed. The BLOCK appears to be correctly mounted, with the slope to the rear, but the BLADE is indeed reversed. The slope of the BLADE must be to the front, and the sharp vertical face towards the rear, i.e. the shooter's eye.

Furthermore: on the full-length rifle, the distance from middle band to front band is about 3 times the distance from front band to muzzle. ON the short rifle the ration is roughly 2 to 1. But on the carbines the ratio is approximately 1 to 1. These proportions are shown clearly on pp.74-76 of Ball (5th Ed.)
The ratios shown on the object under discussion appear to be closer to those of the carbine than the short rifle.

On the short rifle (p.75) the ratio of the distances: bolt handle to middle band / buttplate heel to bolt handle is about
65/61=1.065
On the carbine (p.76) the ratio is 74/71=1.042
On the object under discussion the ratio is 79/58=1.362, way off the ratios for carbine or short rifle, but the same as the ratio for the long rifle - as can be seen in the photo.



From the above it should now be clear why I tend to agree with Vintage Hunter - it appears to a cut-down rifle, not a carbine. And not a short rifle either. However, it might be a short rifle system mounted in a cut-down long rifle stock.

Of course, I could be wrong - but before deciding, please check out the observations made above.