3389

EXTREMELY RARE AND HIGHLY DESIRABLE SYSTEM MAUSER, STEPPED BARREL, CUTAWAY #24.

Currency:USD Category:Antiques / Firearms & Armory Start Price:9,000.00 USD Estimated At:18,000.00 - 25,000.00 USD
EXTREMELY RARE AND HIGHLY DESIRABLE SYSTEM MAUSER, STEPPED BARREL, CUTAWAY #24.
SN 24. Caliber 7.63mm. Mauser made fewer than 200 System Mauser marked guns with a stepped bbl. This well known gun, having been shown in many of Joseph Schroeder's displays, is consecutive to #23 pictured in the Erickson & Pate text. "System Mauser" is hand inscribed in capital letters on top of the chamber. A Crown U appears on the left side of the bbl extension. This example has a 5.5" bbl and a fixed rear sight. As true for the early stepped bbl System Mausers, the rails are solid, the locking block has a single locking lug and the front and back straps are slightly rounded to better contour with the grips. This example has a narrow backstrap that was never cut for a shoulder stock. The grips were apparently taken from a later production Conehammer as they are serrated rather than checkered but internally matched with number H24. PROVENANCE: Joseph J. Schroeder, Jr. Collection. CONDITION: Although much of the surface has transitioned to a mellow patina, the remaining blue is more lustrous than usual, more in keeping with the mirror blue of an early Zig-Zag than the usual C96 rust blue. The safety retains at least 90% of its original fire blue and most of the strawed small parts have over 95% of their original luster. This high condition is shared by the original varnish on the grips. Only a few stepped bbl System Mausers are known to be in private hands and there are even fewer factory cutaways. Only three are known to this reviewer. An exceedingly rare and all original C96 that would highlight the most sophisticated collection. 4-48540 LMA24