@ForgottenWeapons The unit markings on the buttplate tang reflect the Königlich Bayerisches 17. Infanterie-Regiment „Orff“, 10. Kompanie, 23rd weapon. The regiment was stood up in 1878, which corresponds to an 1877 date of production for this Amberg I.G. Mod. 71. Imperial German unit markings can get quite byzantine but they’re an invaluable asset to the collector.
@@Rensune I personally really like the Werndel, the Rolling Block and the Martini. I am slightly biased by what I own, I'd like a 1871 Beaumont or Type 18 Murata next.
The Mauser Gewehr 1871 really showcases the craftsmanship of its time. Black powder rifles like these offer a unique experience, especially when you dive into handloading your own ammo. It’s fascinating to see how accessible they are for enthusiasts.
@@reliantncc1864 and before the war too. The rifle took five years from the start of design to adoption, and another two years before issuance. The six month long Franco-Prussian war was just coincidentally during that time frame.
I may well be mistaken, but the 1871 could have seen service here in Namibia. ( German Sud West Afrika). I think by the time of the Nama and Herero wars the Germans used a newer model Mauser rifle. It could make a interisting episode. Firearms of the many Southern African wars, say up to 1900, and excluding the two Anglo Boer wars, which have been widely covered. I must add that I have seen some youtube videos on the Boer wars that was realy badly done. Most of my info on the firearms of these two wars has been gotten from Man Magnun magazine. I believe they are a well regarded and factual publication. Thank you for a fun episode. Greetings from Namibia.
Black soldiers of african colonies Schutztruppe, and Kaiserliche Landespolizei used M71s in colony Deutsch Ostafrika ( current Tansania) as long as they had ammunition. As longer as wwl lasted , german troops under Lettow- Vorbeck had to use captured british/ belgian/ portugiese weaponry. Schutztruppe of Deutsch Ostafrika surrendered three weeks after German Army in Europe. Firearms of Südsee Polizeibataillon ( only armed german forces in german south sea territories outside Samoas Fita Fita unit) i don' t know, but google their impressive uniforms:-))) Chinesische Polizeikompagnie in Tsingtao was only armed with cavallry swords, when mounted, and baton, when on foot. In Europe In wwl M71 or M71 / 84 was used by elderly reservists ( Landsturm) , Naval Personal and Police, only rearline. Very last existing rifles and cartidges had been given to Volkssturm ( as far as i know).
I have always loved the Mauser bolt action ever since I got a 8mm 98k in my 20's. They just have a great lock up and run smooth. Awesome to see the earlier Mauser running. Love the channel and these black powder videos guys.
Colonel Jeff Cooper wrote a fictional piece about defending the very real Fort Namutomi and one of the rifles was a Gewehr 1871. Always informative and entertaining. Thanks Ian.
According to my great grandfather's war diary, these were issued out to German troops who weren't infantry but might need guns as late as when preparing for the spring offensive in 1918. He wasn't a gun guy, but in his memoir describes it as "an old model 71". The ammo they were issued for it was the flatnose round meant for the 71/84 repeaters, because all the original roundnose ammo had been sent off to the colonies already and they didn't restart production so all they had available was flatnose which wouldn't shoot to correct point of aim in a 71. The rear echelon troops were trying to talk their way out of being armed as they feared being used as infantry, so they tried to argue the lead flatnose bullets were illegal according to the Hague convention. Command wouldn't listen to this, so they had to carry those long awkward smokepoles. He writes that they (a unit of labour soldiers) were sent forward behind the infantry during their last offensive, being tasked with guarding any POWs and scavenging anything of military value from the recently captured French positions. So the old gew.17 probably didn't see actual combat use on any sort of scale in WWI, but it was issued out to troops who served well within artillery range and who might need a rifle- if only to guard POWs.
The company got dissolved after WW2. But a few years later a brand new company was formed around some ex-Mauser engineers. They looked around for someplace to set up, noticed that nobody'd repurposed the old Mauserwerke properties in Oberndorf, and snapped them up. Which is why, to all intents and purposes, Heckler & Koch is Mauser, chugging merrily along under a new name.
German native troops, askaris, were still using black powder Mausers in German East Africa during WWI. They were nicknamed "smokies' for obvious reasons. Not sure if they were Model 71s or 71/84's.
In the 1950's you could buy a '71 Mauser rifle or carbine for about $10-15US, or a brand new 71-84 for about $25. There were so many CIL in Canada strted making boxer ptimed ammo for them. My question is whwere were they hiding at the end of ww2? The allies were destroying every firearm, going back to matchlocks and wheel locks, and they left a good many thousands of these. I'm glad they did, of course, but it makes you wonder.
Really great to see these venerable arms in action. I think quite a few of these were in service with German colonial forces in the East Africa campaign in WW1. They look to be pretty durable.
Just now watched the C&Rsenal video on this gun and look what pops up. Hopefully the dumb algorithm sends some views the other way too. Love those guys videos
I regret in my youth when I could’ve gotten these rifles for half the usual prices today… Folks , if you like these items and want to sustain historic guns, save to get them. Take care and learn their history.
Wow thata crazy i was just watching your other black powder episodes and made me itch to play some WWI FPS game and just when im ready to quit isee this upload now. NICE
Ya, there is a ton of stuff to set up and take down . I ended up carrying 2 possibles bags. One for the rifles and another one for the pistols. Then I screwed up and got a shotgun. And the there were 3.
@My_Commentez_Matter usually using black powder means carrying loose lead balls, loose powder in jugs, funnels, wads, sometimes even grease lube if you are really cautious, and of course you need powder measures, ram rods, seating tools, etc. It's not short of saying that when you shoot black powder on the range, usually you have to have all your gear set up on a truck bed. But there are alternatives. I have a black powder revolving rifle that I converted to shoot 45LC because getting percussion caps is virtually impossible now, and most black powder revolvers have conversion cylinders you can buy
The last true combat use was in 1914-18 in German East Africa ( Tanganyika, Nagaland across into Nothern Rhodesia and Southern Rodesia etc. Von Lettow-Vorbeck, undefeated German commander of Shutztruppe and Askaris , armed with M71s and some G98s and a lot of captured MLEs led the British and zsouthAfrican and:Indian Troops on a merry chase of Bush Guerilla warfare across Southern Africa. Attacking Belgian, British and Portuguese colonies with equal results. He finally surrendered after the Armistice on about the 18 November and returned to Germany to Hero's welcome.. Great test fire show. Although some of the Howth M71s were used by rhe IRA in the Easter Uprising, I have a ULSTER RIFLE WITH The(RED) Hand of the O'Neil on the buttstock impression... Also a normal German issue Gewher 71 and a Kar71 in good order as well. DocAV Australia.
Dumb question for most of you, but does black powder burn hotter than smokeless? You never seem to hear comments about newer guns reaching uncomfortable temperatures.
The US Civil War happened before the modern cartridge was in use. Except for the 1841 Dreyse and 1842 Kammerlader, the only deliberate choice for the US military was the muzzleloader; even France was still using the Minie Rifle till ~1866.
Deliberate choice? This Mauser was made 6 years after the American Civil War ended (and a decade after it started). The Union Army during the war even had cartridge based lever action rifles, but couldn't produce them in enough quantity to field them broadly, only in a few select cavalry units. I think it's safe to say both sides used the most advanced weapons they could get a hold of at the time.
It's important to consider that in 1861/1862 both sides of the ACW needed to raise their armies almost entirely from scratch, neither the weapons nor the manufacturing capability existed to equip hundreds of thousands of new soldiers at the beginning of the war. Both sies scrambled to acquire as many firearms as possible which at that time were muzzleloading weapons, many of which were decades out of date. Having armies equipped with state of the art breechloading guns was just impossible given the circumstances.
Well actually 13 years(Model 71/84), 17 years(Model 1888), and 22 years (Model 1893). There were also limited production models in between mainly for export that introduced progressive changes in design which eventually led to the Gewehr Model 98. The Germans were quite pragmatic in using export orders to test design features which they could adopt themselves if successful.
Custom proprietary ammunition - means that the Enemy can't simply just cast their own musket balls and use their own black powder against you(using captured weapons). Like with older flint lock muskets from 60 years earlier - when millions of French Charleville muskets ended up arming whole armies in the Americas and Europe.
Wrt, last use in combat. The colonial troops had the 71 as their standard rilfe. Some might have been used by von Lettow Vorbeck's forces until the end of the war.
