Compadres,
Thank you for letting me join this forum and for sharing your collective wisdom. I've been around guns all my life (was a factory salesman for Savage back in the 60s) and have continued to be a happy member of the firearms community well into my seventh decade.
I've handled only one or two 1896 Mauser pistols in my life, so it's fair to say I know very little about them. A buddy brought by a 1896 that appears to be a commercial model (no stock cut, VonLengerke and Detwolde markings on the left side) made in 1902 or 03.
What is interesting to me is that he also had a wooden shoulder stock into which the gun fit perfectly. It appears to be of the same vintage as the gun. I couldn't find any serial numbers on the stock. It is complete with the correct attachment for a slotted 1896, which this is not. It has suffered the years and has a few longitudinal cracks.
Could VonLengerke et al have offered a wooden buttstock with the gun, even though it wouldn't attach? Perhaps it was given out in the way some gun shops hand out a gun rug with a used pistol.
Maybe the original owner bought the buttstock years later because the gun fit inside. I would appreciate your thoughts on this interesting combination.
Thanks,
Pete
New Mexico
Thank you for letting me join this forum and for sharing your collective wisdom. I've been around guns all my life (was a factory salesman for Savage back in the 60s) and have continued to be a happy member of the firearms community well into my seventh decade.
I've handled only one or two 1896 Mauser pistols in my life, so it's fair to say I know very little about them. A buddy brought by a 1896 that appears to be a commercial model (no stock cut, VonLengerke and Detwolde markings on the left side) made in 1902 or 03.
What is interesting to me is that he also had a wooden shoulder stock into which the gun fit perfectly. It appears to be of the same vintage as the gun. I couldn't find any serial numbers on the stock. It is complete with the correct attachment for a slotted 1896, which this is not. It has suffered the years and has a few longitudinal cracks.
Could VonLengerke et al have offered a wooden buttstock with the gun, even though it wouldn't attach? Perhaps it was given out in the way some gun shops hand out a gun rug with a used pistol.
Maybe the original owner bought the buttstock years later because the gun fit inside. I would appreciate your thoughts on this interesting combination.
Thanks,
Pete
New Mexico