Help me with this "Egyptian" gun -actually Mauser?

[fracmeister]

A guy that works for me (Egyptian) offered me this gun for sale. It is a bolt gun and links to pics follow. The condition is fair. There is a fair amount of pitting but the action is smooth and the internals look (at a glance) to be ok. He wants 50$ for it. On the side of the chamber it says

<span style="font-weight: bold">FAB. NAT. D'ARMES de GUERRE
HERSTAL-BELGIQUE </span>

which pretty much rules out Egyptian origin. On the top of the gun is an elongate hexagon with capital letters <span style="font-style: italic">I O B </span>

There is a serial number in the 4000s and on the bottom metal a few numbers. The ID of the barrel is roughly 0.280 or roughly 7 mm. I am guessing this is an old 7mm Mauser??

I am guessing it is worth 50$ (!). I am more curious if I could shoot it....naturally i would have a gunsmith check it out

Ideas on age?

Any comments appreciated

 

[Nuttshooter]

Re: Help me with this "Egyptian" gun -actually Mauser?

FN Herstal 8X60s maybe?
Does it look like this?
http://www.gunsinternational.com/popup.c...F1D49B99D96AD2D

 

[fracmeister]

Re: Help me with this "Egyptian" gun -actually Mauser?

Sorry...forgot to post pics...now loading up a hughe batch to flickr,,,and i have a few of the gun. will post later tonight

someone emialed me that IOB meant it was a Dutch made gun for the East Indies service, probably police and likely just after WWII. pics late tonight

 

[DMann]

Re: Help me with this "Egyptian" gun -actually Mauser?

It is an FN Mauser. When the Germans took Belgium, they had FN start making Mausers. After the war, FN kept making and upgrading Mausers for post-war armies. Many South American countries that had 7mm Mausers later had FN retrofit them to .30-06.

Could be Brazilian. Really need those pics.

 

[fracmeister]

Help me with this "Egyptian" gun (Pics now) Mauser

Pics

 

[fracmeister]

Re: Help me with this "Egyptian" gun (Pics now) Mauser

Probably just easier to go to my flickr and see them in a row

thanks again

http://www.flickr.com/photos/62151356@N00/4093632705/

and just go through photostream... of course I should remember how to post pics!

 

[DMann]

Re: Help me with this "Egyptian" gun (Pics now) Mauser

Go to this link: http://books.google.com/books?id=KlReVu0...est&f=false

and scroll down to item #20 - The Dutch East Indies bit appears to be spot on.

The bore concerns me though - it should be an 8mm (7.92x57mm) Mauser. The .280 measurement should be .323 - it appears it has been rebarreled somewhere in its lifetime. Definitely have a gunsmith check it out and maybe make a chamber casting. Most of the rust looks superficial. Fifty bucks isn't too much for an FN action if you are into Mausers.

 

[Nuttshooter]

Re: Help me with this "Egyptian" gun (Pics now) Mauser

I would buy it for $50.

 

[fracmeister]

Re: Help me with this "Egyptian" gun (Pics now) Mauser

The 50$ was sort of a no brainer. I needed a relatively old rifle to illustrate some things for my Scouts. I am finally an NRA certified instructor in rifle, shotgun and muzzle loader rifles... so I need one like this for a lot of reasons...

 

[fracmeister]

Re: Help me with this "Egyptian" gun (Pics now) Mauser

Many thanks Mr. Dmann. Excellent, precisely what I wanted to learn. I took my cleaning gear out and it is now clean with very bright rifling. No rust or internal wear visible but some pitting on the exterior of the barrel. Any idea what the grommeted hole in the stock is for?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: DMann</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Go to this link: http://books.google.com/books?id=KlReVu0...est&f=false

and scroll down to item #20 - The Dutch East Indies bit appears to be spot on.

The bore concerns me though - it should be an 8mm (7.92x57mm) Mauser. The .280 measurement should be .323 - it appears it has been rebarreled somewhere in its lifetime. Definitely have a gunsmith check it out and maybe make a chamber casting. Most of the rust looks superficial. Fifty bucks isn't too much for an FN action if you are into Mausers. </div></div>

 

[JoeSmith]

Re: Help me with this "Egyptian" gun (Pics now) Mauser

That "grommet" is a bolt takedown tool.