1891 PERUVIAN CAVALRY CARBINE (Short Rifle) PICTURE LIBRARY

[Riflechair]

Howdy Friends
I recently acquired this beautiful little specimen and I've got some information on the rifle but there is VERY little data available on these.

Here is what I think I know
There were two short rifle 1891 7.65X53 carbines issues in the Peruvian Military.
1. Peruvian Navy Short Rifle
2. Peruvian Cavalry (or Artillery) Carbine - what I think I have here.

As I understand it the Mauser modelo 1891 was in service for some time with the Peruvians but around 1911-1914 these rifles were re-barelled by the Peruvians when the 150gr spitzer bullet entered the scale of issue. As you can see this carbine has a Belgian proof mark on the barrel. Before these rifles had too many miles put on them they were slathered with grease, put into storage and sold off. This rifle has an excellent barrel with mirror sharp lands and grooves. The Peruvian Crest seems to have been partially scrubbed.

Most of the Peruvian 1891 Short Rifles (that I have seen) have 1963 stamped into the side of the buttstock however it has been conjectured that this may have been applied to the rifle when imported into the USA? That doesn't make much sense to me...

It is very difficult to get any information on these rifles and indeed to prove if it is indeed a cavalry (or artillery) carbine. Any help acquiring more information is deeply appreciated. I am especially interested in knowing what the life of a Peruvian cavalry soldier would have been like between 1910 and 1914 post Pacific War with Chile. I know that the Peruvian military was in chaos and enlisted the assistance of the French to assist them with re-organization and training. Even their uniforms looked French for a while....

I'd sure like to see a Peruvian Soldier holding one of these rifles. Difficult to research without speaking Spanish.

Regards
Riflechair

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Psyoper]

Ok. So I just noticed this thread. So the Peruvians made two smaller versions of their M1891/12 rifles. The shortest was the M1891/12 Navy Carbine. Then there was the M1891/12 Short rifle. This would be the intermediate length between the Carbines and the full-length Infantry rifles. My understanding is that the Short rifles were used by the Peruvian Engineers and Artillery. There is much confusion about which is which, and the Carbines and Short rifles are often confused with each other (I have both). As for the date stamped on the Carbine stocks, the best explanation I’ve seen was in the comments section in the excellent Navy Carbine video that Forgotten Weapons did. A commenter from Peru opined that they were stamped with the year they were taken out of Peruvian naval service. That seems to make the most sense. I have never seen a picture of the year stamp on a Short or Long rifle. I hope this helps!