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| Krause Publications, "Mauser Military Rifles of the World, 3rd Ed" by Robert W. D. Ball |
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"The purpose of this book is to examine the significance of the Mauser rifle in the military and political histories of countries around the world. Mauser rifles have been , in all likelihood, the most widely used weapons system the world has ever seen."
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Mauser Military Rifles of the World, 3rd Edition.
By Robert W.D. Ball
2003, 368 pages, 1000 black and white and 64 page color sections. Hard cover.
$44.99, Krause Publications, Iola, WI. www.krausebooks.com or 1-800-258-0929
This is an updated version of Ball’s successful reference book dealing with Military Mauser rifles from around the world.
As with previous editions, this book covers world wide Mauser rifles, dating from 1871 to 1945. New to this edition is a section on early black powder models in the Germany section of the book. There are also 200 new photos in this edition as well.
The book is broken down alphabetically by country where a description of what types and models of Mauser rifles were used by the country, followed by individual descriptions, photos and specifications (weight, length, rifling, sights etc) are listed. Most have a photo to show an example. A lot of close up photos of manufacturer markings, proof marks, receiver crests and, what I would categorize as “interesting trivia” (examples being bayonet mounts, sling hardware, plaques, etc) are shown as well. You will find black and white photos on each page throughout the book, but there are also sections of color photos, again arranged alphabetically by country, showing examples of crests and rifles for each country. Production data and where rifles were employed are also supplied as tables for three big manufactures of Mauser rifles; Germany, Belgium and Czechoslovakia.
The Germany section of the book has by far the most information presented both in detail and in quantity. The author has excerpted information from the book “Black Powder Mauser Rifles” (David Stefanye) to present information on the very earliest Mauser rifle developments. The Germany section then progresses through all sorts of model variants, transitional rifles, specialized rifles (sniper, anti tank) to the end of WW2.
At the end of the book is a section entitled “Mauser Curiosa” which includes information and photos on trial and experimental examples as well as special use rifles such as those adapted with periscope type devices for firing over trench walls. Some “mystery” rifles and markings are presented as well. Finally, at the end of the book, just before the bibliography, is a section that deals with the principal weapons of WW1. These are black and white drawings that reference short descriptions of each weapon.
I found “Mauser Military Rifles of the World” to be a very interesting read. First, of course, I looked up the various Mauser rifles in my collection and read about each. The book could be used to look up and identify rifles based on crests and markings or you could peruse each country looking at photos of examples. A very thorough text for any collector of Mauser military rifles.
R. Ted Jeo |
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List of Chapters
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- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Argentina
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Czechoslovakia
- Denmark
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Estonia
- Ethiopia
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Japan
- Latvia
- Liberia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Manchuria
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- Nicaragua
- Norway
- Orange Free State (OVS)
- Paraguay
- Persia/Iran
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Saudi Arabia
- Serbia/Yugoslavia
- Slovak Republic
- South Africa
- Spain
- Sweden
- Syria
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Yemen
- Mauser Curiosa
- Bibliography
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