Argentina's Slightly French Model 1909 SOM Sniper
Bolt Action Rifles
•
12m
Argentina was one of the first countries to adopt Mauser rifles, with the Model 1891. These were replaced by newer Model 1909 rifles a couple decades later, and in 1913 they bought 500 telescopic sights to make sniper rifles. All of them appear to have been put on cavalry carbines like this one, rather than full-length infantry rifles. The scopes were 3x fixed power types made by SOM in France. The mounting system was either developed by the French or later copied by the French, as it is very similar to the late-war WW1 pattern of scope mount used by the French Army on the Lebel (and the Argentine scopes are very similar to the APX 1916 French scopes).
This is a quite rare complete matching rig, with the rifle, mounts, scope, and scope case.
Up Next in Bolt Action Rifles
-
Finland's M39 PH Sniper from the Cont...
The basic equipment of the Finnish Army came from what was left in Finland by departing Russian soldiers when Finland declared independence. As the Russians had no scoped rifles at that time, Finland didn't have any either. The Finnish Army began experimenting slowly with the concept of a scoped ...
-
L8(T) Enfield: The British Army Fails...
We looked at the 7.62mm conversion of the No4 Enfield into Rifle L8 yesterday. Part of that program was an attempt to develop a new sniper rifle on the L8 platform. To this end, six good-quality No4(T) Lee Enfield sniper rifles were tested for accuracy, then made into L8 rifles and fitted with No...
-
The French FR-F2: Best of the Cold Wa...
In 1986, the French Army adopted the FR-F2 (Fusil à Répétition F2) as its standard sniper rifle. The F2 was never manufactured new; it was an improvement made on existing FR-F1 rifle by giving them new 7.62mm NATO barrels, new flexible bipods, and thermal sleeves over the barrels. Of 6,000 FR-F1 ...
