Peruvian Mausers: 1891 and 1909
Forgotten Weapons
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15m
Peru’s first standardized repeating rifle was the Model 1891 Mauser, as purchased in 1901 through Argentina. About 30,000 of these rifles were obtained when Argentina was unable to pay for them - although this may have been a quasi-diplomatic effort to hide Argentina’s interest in helping rearm Peru in light of their mutual hostility towards Chile). The rifles were standard 1891 pattern Mausers, with 5-round inline magazines, chambered for the early round-nose version of the 7.65x53mm Argentine Mauser cartridge.
Between 1910 and 1914, Peru was able to update its arsenal with about 50,000 new Models 1909 Mausers purchased from Germany - these being basically export versions of the German World War One Gewehr 98. The Peruvian rifles were still chambered for the 7.65mm cartridge, but now the new spitzer version, which offered much better ballistic performance.
Later, in the 1930s, the Peruvian military would go back and retrofit its old 1891 pattern rifles with new langevizier rear sights to use with spitzer ammunition, and put the rifles into reserve storage. There they would stay until sold as surplus, many of them arriving in the United States through Sam Cumming’s Interarms company.
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