Lot 561S5
An extremely rare 7.63mm 'Model 1902 Gelenksicherung' C96 self-loading pistol by Mauser, no. 40157
29 November 2018, 10:30 GMT
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £12,500 inc. premium
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An extremely rare 7.63mm 'Model 1902 Gelenksicherung' C96 self-loading pistol by Mauser, no. 40157
Retaining much blued finish, the circular barrel with fixed sight, the top of the breech and the right side stamped Waffenfabrik Mauser Oberndorf A/N, integral 5-shot magazine, joint-action offset hammer safety lever, the butt with two-piece wooden grips and lanyard ring
3.9in. barrel, German nitro proof
3.9in. barrel, German nitro proof
Footnotes
This pistol may be held under both categories of s.7 Heritage Pistols in the U.K.
This is a very rare development introduced by Mauser based on their 1902 patent (number 142359) and introduced a mechanism which acted as both safety and hand-cocking, relying upon mechanical arcs of levers.
The "joint-safety" lever cocked the hammer when pulled back but when pushed forward, left the hammer cocked but would act as a hammer bock on the firing pin, preventing the hammer from striking the firing pin. Consequently, the hammer cold be lowered without fear of discharge, the joint-safety only being needed to pull the hammer back to be ready for firing. Hence the pistol could be carried loaded with a much greater degree of safety.
With this mechanism the pistol could be cocked with one hand and it is possible that this was at the back of Paul Mauser's mind with the German army pistol trials then being undertaken.
Very few examples of this model are known all within the lower 40xxx serial number range. The system was not generally offered commercially, and the mechanism appears to have been applied randomly rather than in a block of serial numbers. Numbers made may be within the few dozens.
For a similar example, please see James D. Julia Inc., Fairfield, Maine, 15 & 16 March 2015, lot 2204