What do I have here?

[pre1989]

Hello all,

This is my first posting as I am new to the Milsurps.com forum. I am having a little trouble figuring out what I have here. I recently received this Mauser in trade and there does not seem to be a whole lot of information on it. I believe it to be a Belgian M1889/36 Mauser?..... It is cambered in 7.65X53mm Argentine and appears to be in excellent condition compared to what I have seen on the interweb.

Any idea on possible value? Any and all help will be much appreciated.

Information

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[Gil Boyd]

Pre1989,
Welcome to the site. I am sure those that own or fire these will be on to give you chapter and verse in assistance on identifying the exact model you have there, which looks as if it has been well looked after.

You are partially right that it is a Belgium bolt action Mauser, and the magazine and the stamp give that away as Manufactured by d'Armes de L'Etat. Can't help you on the model though probably 1889 version, so over to those who can assist.

[pre1989]

Gil Boyd,

I appreciate your posting and thought I was on the right track thinking it was a M1889. I'm looking forward to learning on this sight. I recently got into collecting milsurps and find that the research and history behind these guns is very interesting. I just wish I would have taken an interest in them when they were still cheap........

[Salt Flat]

Pre1989, Very nice--I'm envious. It is so hard to find milsurps in that fine of condition anymore (that I can afford). The local gunshops here seem to have mostly butchered milsurp sporters and some Yugos.
Salt Flat

[Calif-Steve]

A very nice Belgium M1889/36 Mauser. The Belgiums brought in all of the rifles and re-built them in 1936. All captured by the Germans early in WWII. Very uncommon in near mint condition.

[mtoms]

The Belgium army had adopted a Mauser 1935 design prior to WW2, but still had 10's of thousands of obsolete m1889 long rifles. So an effort was made, primarily by the Belgium state arsenal, to convert many to a short rifle configuration similar to their recently adopted m1935.

The modifications needed to effect the conversion are numerous and pretty complicated. Hard to imagine it was cost effective.

Here is a pic of the original m1889 mauser complete with barrel jacket.


Here is my recently restored m89/36 - no comparison with yours condition wise.


Here are some of the modifications made to effect the conversion:

Barrel jacket discarded and new short rifle barrel with tangent sight installed

Model 98 type bolt shroud welded to the back of the cock on close original bolt creating a cock on opening bolt

Original stock shortened, spliced, and inlet for new barrel

Action lock screws added.

This is not a very common rifle today. Your rifle is one of the nicest 89/36 Belgiums I've seen.


Regards
Marty

[pre1989]

Thank you all for your input. Anyone have an idea on value? I haven't seen one for sale anytime in recent time on the interweb. I just want to know if I made a good trade. I traded a 1951 Colt Challenger .22lr pistol for it that was immaculate.

I went out on a limb and traded for the Mauser just because I saw that there was not a whole bunch of info on them so I figured it was somewhat scarce. In my experience scarcity sometimes equals value......

[Calif-Steve]

You have to find the buyer. I would guess around $700.00 but it will take the right guy.

[Gil Boyd]

I think in that rare very clean condition with a good bore you could expect closer to 1000 IMHO

[mtoms]

No doubt to a Belgium Mauser collector, given the condition of yours, it might bring over $700. Problem is it is a pretty small market.