The Mauser Model 1908 were series of

Gewehr 98 The Gewehr 98 (abbreviated G98, Gew 98, or M98) is a German bolt-action rifle made by Mauser, firing cartridges from a five-round internal clip-loaded magazine. It was the German service rifle from 1898 to 1935, when it was replaced by the Ka ...

pattern bolt-action rifles. First produced by

Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken ''Deutsche Waffen- und Munitionsfabriken Aktiengesellschaft'' (German Weapons and Munitions public limited company), known as DWM, was an arms company in Imperial Germany created in 1896 when ''Ludwig Loewe & Company'' united its weapons and amm ...

(DWM) and

Mauser Mauser, originally Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik ("Royal Württemberg Rifle Factory"), was a German arms manufacturer. Their line of bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic pistols has been produced since the 1870s for the German arme ...

, they were exported to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. In this latter country, Brazilian War Material Industry produced upgraded versions until the rifle was replaced by the

FN FAL The FAL (a French acronym for (English: "Light Automatic Rifle")), is a battle rifle designed in Belgium by Dieudonné Saive and manufactured by FN Herstal (simply known as FN). During the Cold War the FAL was adopted by many countries of th ...

Design

Model 1908

The Model 1908 rifle was a copy of the Mauser Gewehr 98, chambered in

7×57mm Mauser The 7×57mm Mauser (designated as the 7 mm Mauser or 7×57mm by the SAAMI and 7 × 57 by the C.I.P.) is a first-generation smokeless powder rimless bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It was developed by Paul Mauser of the Mauser company in 189 ...

and with a simple tangent-leaf sight and a longer upper hand-guard. A variant was also shortened to a -short rifle configuration.

Models 1935 and 08/34

The 7mm Mauser-made Model 1935 rifle was similar to the Model 1908 but featured grasping grooves. A short rifle variant also existed. Not to be confused with the Czech-made Model 1908/34 police carbine ( Vz. 12/33), the Model 1908/34 short rifle was an upgraded version of the Model 1908 using local wood.

Later variants

The Mosquetão Itajubá M1949 was a 08/34 short rifle chambered in

.30-06 Springfield The .30-06 Springfield cartridge (pronounced "thirty- aught-six" ), 7.62×63mm in metric notation, and called the .30 Gov't '06 by Winchester, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and later standardized; it remained in military use ...

. The Mosquetão Itajubá M954 was a variant fitted with a threaded muzzle, that enabled the use of a

flash suppressor A flash suppressor, also known as a flash guard, flash eliminator, flash hider, or flash cone, is a muzzle device attached to the muzzle of a rifle that reduces its visible signature while firing by cooling or dispersing the burning gases that ...

or of a

grenade launcher A grenade launcher is a weapon that fires a specially-designed large-caliber projectile, often with an explosive, smoke or gas warhead. Today, the term generally refers to a class of dedicated firearms firing unitary grenade cartridges. The mos ...

. Its buttplate was inspired by the one of the

Gewehr 43 The Gewehr 43 or Karabiner 43 (abbreviated G43, K43, Gew 43, Kar 43) is a 7.92×57mm Mauser caliber semi-automatic rifle developed by Germany during World War II. The design was based on that of the earlier G41(W), but incorporated an improved ...

(a copy of which was manufactured under the same designation). Carcará (4968096673)

The Mosquetão 7,62mm Modelo 968 or M968 was one of the last Mauser service rifles produced. This rifle fired the

7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first been introduced in U.S. service fo ...

cartridge, a grenade launcher was fixed to its barrel and its stock was reinforced with

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

. These features were also used on the FN FAL, hence the ''Mosquefal'' nickname.

History and service

Large numbers of Model 1908 rifles and short rifles was purchased between 1908 and 1914. While DWM was the main manufacturer, Mauser produced 100,000 Model 1908 with ''DWM Oberndorf'' stamps. Some Mauser 1908 saw combat during the

Contestado War The Contestado War ( pt, Guerra do Contestado), broadly speaking, was a guerrilla war for land between settlers and landowners, the latter supported by the Brazilian state's police and military forces, that lasted from October 1912 to August 1916 ...

. Later, Model 1935 rifles and short rifles were purchased in unknown quantities from Mauser. They were fielded against the

Cangaço ''Cangaço'' () was a phenomenon of Northeast Brazil in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This region of Brazil is known for its aridness and hard way of life, and in a form of "social banditry" against the government, many men and women d ...

bandits. To improve the country's independence from foreign suppliers, the Model 08/34 was produced in Itajuba. Uruguay received DWM-made Model 1908 rifles and short rifles before 1914 and used them into the 1950s. Several ''Mystery Mausers'', similar to the Model 1908 but chambered in 7.92×57mm Mauser, can be found with Arabic markings or an

hexagram , can be seen as a compound composed of an upwards (blue here) and downwards (pink) facing equilateral triangle, with their intersection as a regular hexagon (in green). A hexagram ( Greek language, Greek) or sexagram (Latin) is a six-pointed ...

. In the early 1950s, surplus Brazilian 1908 rifles and short rifles were exported to the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

. The Brazilian markings were replaced by Dominican markings and the rifles were designated Model 1953. During the US intervention in the

Dominican Civil War The Dominican Civil War (), also known as the April Revolution (), took place between April 24, 1965, and September 3, 1965, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It started when civilian and military supporters of the overthrown democraticall ...

, these Mauser rifles were found to be very effective since they had longer range than the

M16 rifle The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States military. The original M16 rifle was a 5.56×45mm automatic rifle with a 20-roun ...

. Post-war, Itajuba plant produced the M1949 and M954 short rifles for the Brazilian armed forces. During the

Araguaia Guerrilla War The Araguaia guerrilla ( pt, Guerrilha do Araguaia) was an armed movement in Brazil against its military government, active between 1967 and 1974 in the Araguaia river basin. It was founded by militants of the Communist Party of Brazil (PC do ...

, the rebels were able to acquire 7.62 Mausers from the state police of

Pará Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...

. The M968 was produced for the Brazilian police.

References

* * {{Mauser Firearms 7×57mm Mauser rifles Rifles of Brazil Weapons of the Dominican Republic Mauser rifles Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1908