The Mauser that never became a submachine gun
Mauser carbine with detachable stock. Left view. Photo by Alain Daubresse
“...then he opened the treasured closet
and pulled out a hefty Mauser -
ten shot monster
born in the Mauserwerk special department,
favorite, famous in civilian life
the war weapon commissars in dusty helmets,
as well as Japanese imperial officers
in overcoats with dog fur collars.
The Mauser was clean, shining blued,
looks completely ready for battle,
but, unfortunately, with a ground striker..."
“Doomed City”, Strugatsky brothers
and pulled out a hefty Mauser -
ten shot monster
born in the Mauserwerk special department,
favorite, famous in civilian life
the war weapon commissars in dusty helmets,
as well as Japanese imperial officers
in overcoats with dog fur collars.
The Mauser was clean, shining blued,
looks completely ready for battle,
but, unfortunately, with a ground striker..."
“Doomed City”, Strugatsky brothers
History weapons. It often and even very often happens that a previously invented design turns out to be in demand in something slightly different than expected. Or, on the contrary, she begins to lack something in the new conditions. This is how it was with the Germans in the First World War, although not only with them: the soldiers fighting in the trenches needed a short and quick-firing weapon, completely different not only from a rifle, but even from a carbine!
And in Germany, already in 1915, a special commission was created that invited weapons manufacturers to think about just such a model. Naturally, it had to shoot with pistol cartridges, since it didn’t require anything else for short-term combat in trenches, and in addition, it had to have an automatic firing mode.
The first design in this situation was the famous “Lugger” with an elongated barrel and a “snail magazine” for 32 rounds. Of course, the “snail” sticking out of the handle of the parabellum was not very convenient, and it was a typical palliative, but we had to put up with this state of affairs, since more advanced designs had not yet arrived at that time.
It has been said, and not without reason, that bad examples are contagious. Apparently, this is why the specialists of the Mauser Arms Factories did approximately the same thing - they took their C96 self-loading pistol and, after a whole year of work (!), issued a commission for testing the “trench carbine mod. 1917”, firing 9x19 mm Parabellum pistol cartridges.
Moreover, the most surprising thing is that the Mauserists already had a commercial long-barreled carbine and produced it in a small series. It was eagerly purchased by travelers and adventurers of all stripes, and it differed from a serial pistol only in its longer barrel and the presence of a fore-end.
In addition, if an ordinary Mauser had an attached holster as its butt, the commercial Mauser had a removable butt. Before installing it, the pistol grip was removed, and the buttstock, which already had a handle, was installed in its place. The new carbine for the army differed from it only in that it had not a removable, but a fixed wooden butt and fore-end, and a sight designed for a distance of up to 500 m.
So it becomes completely unclear what the Mauserwerke engineers have been racking their brains over for a whole year? True, they provided a limiter on the handle that protected the hand from the blows of the trigger when shooting, but that was all the innovations were limited to!
Mauser carbine with detachable stock. Right view. Photo by Alain Daubresse
By the way, a Mauser holster at that time was not a very simple product, requiring both labor and high-quality walnut wood to manufacture. On its front section there was a steel insert with a locking mechanism for attaching to the pistol handle, and its hinged cover rested on the shooter’s shoulder. The holster could be lined with leather on the outside and have pockets for storing accessories for disassembling and cleaning weapons, as well as spare magazines.
The length of the holster-butt was 35,5 cm, the width in the front part was 4,5 cm, and in the rear part it was 10,5 cm. By attaching it to the pistol, it was possible to shoot effectively at 100 m. It is difficult to say whether the all-wood butt was more convenient such a hollow butt-holster, but the commercial model was still equipped with it. It is difficult to say what advantages the butt connected to the handle gave the “assault carbine”. Moreover, it would hardly be possible to use it in hand-to-hand combat!
"Model 712" Schnellfeuer - Mauser model 1932. There are two different shops nearby, equally suitable for it. Photo by Alain Daubresse
The only thing completely new in this carbine was the box magazine for 40 rounds, although smaller capacity magazines could also be inserted into it. But the main requirement of the military was not met: the new carbine was still self-loading, but not automatic, that is, it could not fire in bursts, and without this there was no particular need for a 40-round magazine!
These were the boxes they were sold in! Photo by Alain Daubresse
It is completely incomprehensible why the Mauserwerke engineers could not make the assault Mauser automatic. Or it would be more correct to say that they did it, but for some reason only in 1931. Then a Mauser pistol appeared called “model 712” Schnellfeuer - a Mauser model 1932.
It differed from its predecessors only in that it had a fire switch and could fire both single shots and bursts in automatic mode. At the same time, its rate of fire was not too high for a submachine gun - 850 rounds/min. This made it relatively easy to control the weapon.
And so, as it turned out, in 1917 it was impossible to do this, but in 1931 for some reason it was possible. Although it was not such a technically complex design element - this very translator.
In any case, this carbine had many advantages over the Parabellum pistol with a snail magazine. Moreover, despite the presence of fairly large wooden parts, it overall turned out to be lighter than the Lugger. But for all its positive qualities, the new Mauser did not meet the main requirements of the military and could not fire in bursts. And also, like all Mausers, it was tricky to assemble and disassemble and difficult to manufacture. In addition, the new product would require a reduction in the production of mass-produced Mausers.
Therefore, the new model of this weapon was never accepted for service, but they managed to produce about 40 pieces for testing, of which only 4 have survived to this day.
Well, later Hugo Schmeisser presented his MP-18 submachine gun and immediately overshadowed all other developments, since it was he who managed to fulfill all the requirements of the German military as accurately as possible. And it was his machine that became the progenitor of all future submachine guns, but the assault Mauser did not.
This pistol used 7,63mm cartridges. Therefore, a lot of them were placed in the store. Photo by Alain Daubresse
But what would happen if suddenly the Mauserwerke designers thought a little and put the same automatic fire switch, similar to the Schnellfeuer model, on their 1917 carbine?
Let's imagine a little and see what they could come up with.
Let's start with the stock, along with the pistol grip and trigger stop. Well, let them remain that way. The fire switch is also quite in place. The store shaft could be completely redone. That is, simply remove it altogether, leaving only a very small neck for the disk magazine. And this would have to be done, since otherwise a disk magazine with an extremely high neck would be very inconvenient to use.
Such a mount for a heavy disk magazine could not be called rigid and durable. Therefore, a T-shaped groove should be made on the end wall of the trigger guard, and on the outer surface of the magazine, accordingly, a T-shaped protrusion that would fit into it and thereby impart rigidity to the connection of the magazine to the body of the submachine gun.
Such a magazine could have a capacity of 50 or even 100 rounds of ammunition, similar to the Thompson submachine gun, that is, it would be a very solid ammunition load for any assault squad member. Moreover, the use of flat magazines for 20, 30 and 40 rounds would not be ruled out. The only thing is that they would also need to change the mounting method and weld a T-shaped pin.
Mauser C96 device diagram
It would be best to place the barrel of the new Mauser in a perforated casing, and attach another Mauser pistol grip to it from below for a more secure hold. And then (why not?) the German military could well have received a submachine gun already in 1917. Yes - expensive, yes - structurally complex, but... mastered by industry as a whole and familiar to shooters on the battlefield.
However, then for some reason it was not possible to do all this, and why - well, who can answer this question today. In any case, history does not know the subjunctive mood, which is why everything happened the way it happened!
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