NGD (pics) 1909 Arg. Mountain carbine.

[Fruler]

I wasn't sure if I should make a new thread or just continue my previous one but I just figured I'd make a fresh start... It just seemed better to do it this way and easier for me... Hopefully the moderators are fine with that. I also wanted to thank everyone who read my previous post and to those especially, who took time to reply...

I picked up this Argentine 1909 mountain carbine, that has set on the shelf for nearly four months I think and I could not be happier... I can't believe no one snatched this old girl up... My excuse is I was doing research on it... I am a vacillator in every sense and it can take me a while to decide upon things... Most of the time this indecisiveness works in my favor and it did, this time for sure. I did know for sure when I laid eyes on it, that it was love at first sight... Sorry, corny I know.

I'm not trying to brag but my rifle looks to be in better shape (IMO) than the ones I've seen for sale of GBroker... And those sellers are asking several hundred dollars more than I paid... Sometimes a guy gets lucky and find the right one at the right price.
I ended up paying $470 for the rifle... I'm not a Argentine Mauser expert but I would assume I paid a decent price??? Especially for the condition??? As for bargain, I did get him to lower it $80. Not a spot of rust anywhere and the bore is the best 111 year old bore I've ever seen. I haven't taken the stock off and probably won't... Ever... Even though it looks great on the outside I don't want to disturb the wood to metal fitment on the inside.
I just wanted to show this rifle off because I know you guys here love milsurps as much as I do... And to say thanks, I have learned a bunch from you guys and the knowledge here, whether it be about Enfield's or Mosins and Mausers

This LGS also has a whole rack of Finnish mosin rifles, even a "T" stock mosin... (This has the letter T carved into the stock.) He bought the whole lot from a collector... Cannot remember what he was asking for on that one.

I have ammo and stripper clips on the way... Will shoot this weekend and report here on how it did.

About the rifle.
All numbers matching.
Nice tiger stripe walnut stock.
Bolt in pristine shape with no signs of wear.
DWM, Berlin.
Bluing in great shape... Some parts look fire blued to me...
Wood is near perfect with only just a few dings.

In case you're wondering I'm not going to sporterize the rifle... I will keep it original.

Thanks for reading.

P.S. if you have specific photos you'd like to see, let me know... I took a bunch, more than I posted here. Last pic. Is to show barrel length and scale... Arggie next to German k98

Information

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[browningautorifle]

Neat little carbines, about my first milsurp was a 7.65 Argentine carbine. These have nice wood and as long as they aren't trashed they look great. They seem to have taken care of them.

[Fruler]

Neat little carbines, about my first milsurp was a 7.65 Argentine carbine. These have nice wood and as long as they aren't trashed they look great. They seem to have taken care of them.

Some certainly do look like they were well taken care of. Not sure why some are in great shape and others not so much. Did you have the Calvary carbine or is your arg just like mine?

[Surpmil]

Very nice, but does the back edge of the handguard always taper down to sharp edge like that?

[Fruler]

@surpmil yes, generally from the ones I've viewed online, yes. The Calvary carbines do have a different profile over the mountain carbines... If your talking specifically about the wood above and near the rifle crest. Keep in mind I've never seen another example of my rifle In person... So I may be speaking out of line. Rifle is over 100 years old so some wood maybe missing around that area

[browningautorifle]

Did you have the Calvary carbine or is your arg just like mine?

Hard to remember now as it was 1974 or '75 when I bought that one. It seems to me it was the "Engineers" carbine or "Mountain" carbine with a stock that looks like a K98. Outside was ok but the bore was suffering from erosion.

[oldfoneguy]

That's just beautiful. You don't see wood like that on even high end rifles today. Enjoy it and use it often. Keep it clean and oiled and the 2 of you will have a happy lifetime together. It really does look like a K98.

I bought my 1909 infantry rifle in 1978 my first rifle at 18 and still have it. Came with bayonet and sling the latter having mostly disintegrated about 15 years ago. That's one rifle my descendants will have to dispose of. Had a well used calvary carbine that I bought in the late 80's and hunted with for a couple of seasons but sold it when I got an offer I couldn't refuse.

In case you didn't know the alpha prefix of the serial number denotes 10,000. It's unknown if they started without one or started with A but in either case yours is an early one.

[Fruler]

That's just beautiful. You don't see wood like that on even high end rifles today. Enjoy it and use it often. Keep it clean and oiled and the 2 of you will have a happy lifetime together. It really does look like a K98.

I bought my 1909 infantry rifle in 1978 my first rifle at 18 and still have it. Came with bayonet and sling the latter having mostly disintegrated about 15 years ago. That's one rifle my descendants will have to dispose of. Had a well used calvary carbine that I bought in the late 80's and hunted with for a couple of seasons but sold it when I got an offer I couldn't refuse.

In case you didn't know the alpha prefix of the serial number denotes 10,000. It's unknown if they started without one or started with A but in either case yours is an early one.

That's awesome about your 1909... These 1909 rifles are a piece of art, I really believe that... the craftsmanship is second to none and you're definitely right, they don't make rifles this nice anymore... It's hard to believe that a rifle that made it to 111 years can be in this condition... It's almost too pretty looking. Kind of weirds me out see something so old, so pristine. This rifle will have a good home with me and will definitely get well taken care of... Even my beater Yugo k98 I take great care of, I like to keep the history alive, so to speak.

My few guesses as to why mine looks this way could be is because Argentina wasn't involved in any wars from the time of adoption until they went with the FN FAL. So maybe mine sat in a warehouse somewhere... Or maybe it was refurbished by the Argentinean's at some point. I do notice some of these mountain carbines have blued receivers while a small number are in the white... It could also be possible that a decent percent are in similar condition to mine...

About the prefix A at the beginning of the serial number... All the ones I've viewed on GunBroker have the same A prefix... I saw about 3 different carbines for sale over a 3-4 month period.
I also heard that only 10,000 were made. I have no sources for that number... A seller put that in the description of a carbine he was trying trying to sell. I am trying to track down a legitimate source for that number, but haven't found any yet.

My next task is trying to find the correct sling for this rifle... It's proving to be difficult. I will probably put a Spanish 1916 Mauser sling on the rifle until I find the correct one... I like to have a sling on my rifles when I shoot them, unless it's a mosin.

Thanks for commenting. I appreciate it.

[jon_norstog]

Beautiful piece of wood on that carbine!

jn

[Singer B]

Congrats! That is a beautiful gun. Someone definitely took care of her and now you have the honor of doing the same.