Questions on the M1895 Chilean Mauser

[Aragorn243]

I never saw a Chilean with the crest ground off. Not saying it didn't happen but those with the crest are not rare at all if that's what he's suggesting. Argentina did have a tendency to grind the crests off their items, especially their bayonets, so much so that even the ground off crest bayonets are collectible because those with the crest are so uncommon. I have seen Argentine rifles with ground crests.

You need to be careful in what is a mint rifle and what is a rifle in good condition. There are some photos of mint rifles on here that you can look at to see. If it has age wear like you suggested it is not mint. Price just seems very high to me and the price drop from a mint to a good rifle is considerable. The Chilean's are one of the lower priced South American rifles, probably due to their availability. Those of Brazil and especially Argentina command higher prices.

My Peterson price guide 5th edition (there is a 6th) lists the 1895 as follows:

Excellent $550
Very good $425
Good $275
Fair $150
Poor $100

Excellent is near mint 98% condition and 100% original factory condition
Very good is 92% and 100% factory condition
Good is 80% metal and wood finish, may be refinished (if old), may have small repairs, bore may have slight wear.
Fair is basically 30% and in working condition.

The rifles I generally encounter are those which would be classified as "Good" and they are selling in the $200-$250 range so Peterson's is more of a guide than a rule.

Information

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[seabot2]

I've had two near mint Chilean 1895 mauser rifles for a short time which I then sold. They both would shoot nearly a foot high on the lowest sight setting at 100 yards. I couldn't find a high enough front sight blade to correct the problem. The rifle was probably zeroed for 300 yards, maybe more.

[RogerD]

Well looking at the rifle, the majority of the bluing is still there and in good condition. Obviously from age, some of it's going to ware off (and it hasn't been re-blued at all from what I can tell), but looking at this one it has I'd say about 95-98% blueing. The stock has some dings and dents, but nothing serious or eye catching if you were to just look it over and say, "hey, that's a nice rifle," like I did at first before going back to check it out again. (Interesting to note, but the same crest is stamped into the butt-stock.) By what you gave, I'd say it's between Very Good and Excellent condition, because the stock hasn't been sanded (or too sanded if it was,) and the blueing like I said is mostly all there except for some spots where it's obviously not.

Also, what he meant about the crest, and I just didn't word properly, was that from all the South American Mausers he'd ever come across (his own in some cases) the crest was non-existant on the receiver, or if it was, was not as brightly shown as this one is. (There isn't any sanding or anything of it, it's mint itself.)

I'll take a look at some of the ones posted on here, to get a better idea of what condition the rifle really is in, and if it is worth the amount he wants, or if I should try and haggle him down to something more reasonable. I might just have to do that anyway.

[Aragorn243]

I uploaded some pics of my rifle for you to look at. This is the rifle I paid $125 for about a year or two ago. Stock was black with grime when purchased so this has been cleaned and given a linseed oil finish. Bore is near perfect.













Bayonet was purchased separate as was the sling. Sling is a modern reproduction.

Sorry about photos being upside down. I've tried to fix them three times now and it seems to be an issue at Photobucket. They were not uploaded upside down.

[Aragorn243]

Roger,

I've been buying rifles for a long time but still don't consider myself an expert on condition. I buy the best I can afford which usually means fixer uppers and put a little time and effort into them to make them a nice looking gun. Your description is setting alarm bells off for me. You say it's near mint but it has wear and tear on it from age. Wear and tear weather it be from age or abuse is still an item which immediately removes it from near mint condition. Near mint means its from the factory as new. If you can visibly tell there is wear on the bluing, it's probably dropped down to the 80-90% bluing at a minimum. Uniform wear of bluing is still a reduction from the crisp dark bluing as new. In other words, it may be thinned but still uniform in color just not as dark as it originally was. Near mint, or excellent or even the next higher grades have no repairs, no sanding and you state it may have had light sanding and if there is any question of that in your mind it removes it from the higher grades as well. I have a beautiful Krag listed on the Krag boards that has been lightly sanded. It was probably done by the arsenal 80 years ago but it was still sanded and is not as new even though it looks like it. A near mint or excellent rifle will stand out immediately. It will look fresh and there will be no question that it is what it is. They are very rare and thus that is why the high premiums. Good rifles on the other hand are common.

If you have any auctions nearby, or gun shows, I'd strongly suggest checking them out to get a feel for types, conditions and prices, especially before shelling out that kind of cash on a rifle that probably is not worth it. But then again, any items value is what someone is willing to pay for it. Whether you would ever get your money back out of it later is another question.

Chilean Mausers don't often come up in my local gun auction but the gun shops have plenty of them. 1917's do come up regularly at the auctions and I've seen very good examples of them sell between $400-$600 recemtly which in several cases was on the low side for what was selling (the $400 end not the $600. The CMP was (is?) selling examples with no rifling for $500 if I'm not mistaken. Given what I've seen at auctions, that seems high at the CMP but someone must be buying them for that because they don't seem to stay in stock for long. As Patrick said, shop around, don't limit yourself to this one fellow. His starting price is way high for the Chilean and if he's way high on that one, I'd seriously question the condition of the 1917 as well.

[RogerD]

Well after some thinking and rechecking, I decided to scrap getting the Mauser as well. Instead, I've invested not nearly what I probably would have in either that or the M1917, and got myself a real rarity around these parts!


I got myself a French MAS-36. I've already taken it to the range twice, and put a couple of boxes through it both times. It shoots wonderfully, even though I'm still getting use to the larger sights it has. Can't say it's all that great at distance shooting, but then again I think I'm starting to get it down on where I need to point and get the results.

[gulliver62]

Was the Chilean made in a short version also? Discussing some Chilean and Spanish Mauser purchases and trying to find out as much as I can.
Need to save my pennies for the Olson book!

[geladen]

The Chilean M1895 is one of those made in long rifle, short rifle, and carbine versions. They are very similar except for barrel length and rear sights. The long rifle has a straight bolt handle while the others are bent. The swivels are on the bottom of the long rifle while the others have side swivels.

Mauser Military Rifles of the World by Ball would be a better "only" Mauser book to have than Mauser Bolt Rifles by Olson.

[gulliver62]

Thanks I found a cheap copy of the Olson book on fleabay but the book you suggest looks good and is pretty cheap at 29 so I am going to pick up one of them also.